Mario Ilich

Mario Ilich

Personal information
Full name	Mario Jozef Ilich [1]
Date of birth	(1995-06-23) 23 June 1995 (age 30)
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) [1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Auckland City
Number	2
Youth career
	Central United
–2012	Auckland City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2014	Auckland City	3	(0)
2014–2015	Wanderers SC	12	(0)
2015–2016	WaiBOP United	14	(3)
2016	Eastern Suburbs	2	(0)
2017	Auckland City	2	(0)
2017	Central United
2017–2019	Team Wellington	36	(2)
2019	Bentleigh Greens
2019–	Auckland City	121	(10)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mario Jozef Ilich (born 23 June 1995) ^[2] is a semi-professional association football player from New Zealand who plays as a midfielder and captains Auckland City. ^{[3] [4]}

Club career

Early career

Growing up in Auckland, Ilich played his youth football for Central United and Auckland City. ^{[5] [6]}

Ilich spent time at a number of New Zealand Football Championship clubs, before spending a short spell at Bentleigh Greens in the NPL Victoria. ^[7]

Auckland City

After leaving Bentleigh Greens, Ilich joined Auckland City, for the third time on 23 September 2019. ^[8] He has since played in three international FIFA tournaments, the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, 2023 FIFA Club World Cup, 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. ^{[9] [10]}

Personal life

Ilich works as a supermarket sales representative for Coca-Cola. ^{[3] [11]} Ilich has Croatian roots. ^[12]

Career statistics

Club

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Auckland City	2011–12	Premiership	2	0	—		—		0	0	2	0
	2012–13		0	0	—		—		0	0	0	0
	2013–14		1	0	—		—		0	0	0	0
	Total		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Wanderers SC	2014–15	Premiership	12	0	—		—		—		12	0
WaiBOP United	2015–16	Premiership	14	3	—		—		—		14	3
Eastern Suburbs	2016–17	Premiership	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
Auckland City	2016–17	Premiership	2	0	—		1 [a]	0	—		3	0
Team Wellington	2017–18	Premiership	18	0	—		8 [a]	1	2 [b]	0	28	1
	2018–19		18	2	—		5 [a]	1	3 [c]	0	26	2
	Total		36	2	0	0	14	2	5	0	55	4
Auckland City	2019–20	Premiership	14	1	—		3 [a]	0	—		17	1
	2020–21		11	0	—		—		2 [b]	0	13	0
	2021	National League	9	0	4	0	—		—		9	0
	2022		20	3	5	0	5 [a]	2	0	0	25	5
	2023		27	1	3	0	4 [a]	0	1 [d]	0	32	1
	2024		26	2	3	0	2 [a]	1	1 [e]	0	32	3
	2025		9	3	0	0	0	0	3 [d]	0	12	3
	Total		116	10	15	0	11	3	5	0	147	13
Career total

1. Appearance in OFC Champions League
2. Appearances in New Zealand Football Championship play-offs
3. Two appearances; one goal in New Zealand Football Championship play-offs; one appearance in FIFA Club World Cup
4. Appearance in FIFA Club World Cup
5. Appearance in FIFA Intercontinental Cup

References

1. "FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Squad List" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2025. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
2. "Mario Jozef Ilich". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
3. Borrowdale, James (14 June 2025). "Auckland City aiming to do amateur football proud in Bayern Munich mismatch". The Guardian . Retrieved 20 June 2025.
4. "Mario Ilich". Oceania Football Centre. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
5. "The Skipper at the Heart our Club World Cup Journey". Auckland City FC . 30 May 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
6. "GOOD LUCK SUPER MARIO!!! 💛💛". Central United F.C. 1 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
7. Saltori, Rafael (27 November 2019). "Mario Ilich: the new Auckland City man shares his experiences". Oceania Football Centre. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
8. "Mario Ilich makes Navy Blues return". Auckland City FC . 23 September 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
9. "Auckland City confirm Club World Cup squad". Oceania Football Confederation. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
10. "Mario Ilich - Auckland City Midfielder". ESPN . Retrieved 20 June 2025.
11. Fleming, Rory (13 June 2025). "Meet the amateur New Zealand team aiming to topple soccer's biggest names at the FIFA Club World Cup". CNN . Retrieved 20 June 2025.
12. "The amateur New Zealand club with Croatian roots to take on giants at FIFA Club World Cup". croatiaweek.com. 14 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.