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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 16 January 2004 | ||
| Place of birth | Zagreb, Croatia [1] | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rijeka | ||
| Number | 11 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2021 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020–2022 | Dinamo Zagreb II | 27 | (4) |
| 2022–2024 | Dinamo Zagreb | 8 | (0) |
| 2024 | → Gorica (loan) | 15 | (2) |
| 2024– | Rijeka | 22 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2020 | Croatia U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | Croatia U17 | 6 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Croatia U18 | 7 | (2) |
| 2021–2023 | Croatia U19 | 18 | (4) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 March 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 August 2023 | |||
Gabriel Rukavina is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Prva HNL club Rijeka. [2]
Rukavina was born in the Croatian capital Zagreb in January 2004. He is the son of former professional footballer and current manager Tomislav Rukavina.
Rukavina played for Dinamo Zagreb from a young age, and made his professional debut for the club's B team, coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute, in a 1–1 draw against Osijek II, [3] in the Prva NL. Rukavina scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw away to Craoatia Zmijavci, after coming on at half-time for Ante Crnac. [4] Rukavina would go on to make 27 appearances in the league, registering 4 goals, including a brace against Dugopolje in a 3–1 win, [5]
Rukavina would be promoted to the first team the next season, and would make his first team debut in a 3–1 away win against NK Varaždin, coming on as a 89th minute sub for Luka Ivanušec. [6] He would go on to make 5 more substitute appearances that season, helping the side to the 2022–23 Prva HNL title.
On 9 February 2024, Rukavina joined Gorica on loan until the end of the season. [7]
Rukavina joined fellow Prva HNL club HNK Rijeka in July 2024, signing a four year contract with the club. [8]
Rukavina has competed for Croatia's U16, U17, U18 and U19 teams, amassing over 20 appearances.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb II | 2021–22 | Druga HNL | 27 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 4 | ||
| Total | 27 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 4 | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2022–23 | Prva HNL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2023–24 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 [a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Gorica (loan) | 2023–24 | Prva HNL | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| Rijeka | 2024–25 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 [b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2 | |
| Career total | 72 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 8 | ||
Dinamo Zagreb
| | This biographical article relating to Croatian football is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |