Niko Sigur

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Niko Sigur
Personal information
Full name Niko Kristian Sigur
Date of birth (2003-09-09) September 9, 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Hajduk Split
Number 8
Youth career
2016–2018 Mountain United FC
2018 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2021 Vaughan Azzurri
2022 NK Radomlje
2022–2023 Hajduk Split
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2021 York Lions 11 (2)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2023– Hajduk Split 72 (4)
International career‡
2023–2024 Croatia U21 6 (0)
2024– Canada 10 (2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of September 2, 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of September 5, 2025

Niko Kristian Sigur (born September 9, 2003) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a defensive midfielder or right-back for HNL club Hajduk Split and the Canada national team. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life

Sigur was born in Burnaby, British Columbia, and first began playing soccer with Mountain United FC in Burnaby, [5] in which he won the 2016 BC provincial championship and the 2018 BCSPL League Cup title. [1] He was then selected to play for the Whitecaps FC Academy, winning the USSDA Northwest Division championship in 2018. He attended at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School at the high school level, where he won the 2019 BC AA provincial championship. [1]

University career

Sigur played one year of university soccer at York University in 2021. During his university career, he started in 10 of 11 matches, scoring two goals and registering one assist. He was named York's athlete of the week in November for his semifinal play-off performance, which saw him score the winning goal against Ryerson in the 119th minute and recording an assist in the same game. York would later finish with a silver medal the OUA championship during his only season. [1]

Club career

Academy

Sigur played for Vaughan Azzurri's "C" team in 2021, making two appearances for the club. [6] Sigur moved to Slovenia in early 2022, joining Radomlje youth team. [7]

Hajduk Split

In 2022, Sigur transferred to Hajduk Split in Croatia to play for their academy, registering two goals and three assists in his first youth season. [8] He was ineligible to play in Hajduk Split's historic UEFA Youth League run due to a special rule where older players in the junior ages must have at least two years of club experience in order to be eligible to play. [9]

Due to injuries of Dino Mikanović and Gergő Lovrencsics, Sigur made his official senior debut as a right back in a 2–0 victory against Varaždin on April 22, 2023. [10] He scored his first goal for Hajduk Split against Varaždin on February 24, 2024. [11]

Style of play

Sigur is described as a very technical midfielder who can impact the game on both ends. [1] He regards himself as a defensive midfielder who can also play in several midfield positions. [8] Sigur also plays as right back, as shown on his senior professional debut. [10]

International career

Sigur holds dual citizenship of Canada and Croatia. [12] In 2023, he received call-ups to the Croatia U21 ahead of the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and Canadian national team, and opted to represent the former. [13] [12]

In August 2024, the Croatian Football Federation announced that Sigur had decided to switch his international allegiance and would be representing Canada. [14] [15] On August 27, he was officially called up by Canada for two friendly matches against the United States and Mexico. [16] Sigur made his debut in a goalless friendly draw against the latter opponent on September 10. [17]

In June 2025 Sigur was named to the squad for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup. [18] On June 17 in Canada's opening game against Honduras, he would score his first international goal in a 6-0 victory at BC Place. [19] He was named to the Gold Cup Group Stage Best XI after scoring his first goal and recording an assist during the group stage. [20]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played September 2, 2025 [21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague Croatian Cup Europe OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hajduk Split 2022–23 HNL 7010——80
2023–24 HNL341202 [a] 01 [b] 0391
2024–25 HNL283301 [c] 0—323
2025–26 HNL30004 [c] 0—70
Career total724607010864
  1. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  2. ↑ Appearance in Croatian Super Cup
  3. 1 2 Appearance(s) in UEFA Conference League

International

As of match played September 5, 2025
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Canada 202420
202582
Total102

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Niko Sigur
No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1June 17, 2025 BC Place, Vancouver, Canada6Flag of Honduras (2022-).svg  Honduras 1–06–0 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2September 5, 2025 Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania10Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 3–03–0 International Friendly

Honours

Hajduk Split

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Niko Sigur". YorkU Lions. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  2. ↑ Tolić, Josip (April 23, 2023). "Tko je Niko Sigur (19), Hajdukov debitant? 'Kad mi je Leko rekao da ću igrati, bio sam nervozan'". 24sata (in Croatian). Styria Media Group . Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  3. ↑ Krušelj, Dražen (April 26, 2023). "Evo Tko Je Sljedeći Na Redu Za Priključivanje Prvoj Momčadi Hajduka, On Već Sada Radi Razliku Na Terenu". jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  4. ↑ Zekić, Miloš (April 23, 2023). "Magičan put za 365 dana: Niko Sigur, od uličnog fudbalera do debija za prvi tim Hajduka". Nogomania (in Croatian). Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Alumni Players". Mountain United FC. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Niko Sigur". League1 Ontario. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Niko Sigur NK Radomlje NK Brinje Grosuplje". NK Radomlje (in Croatian). May 16, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Za Hajduk debitirao igrač koji je prošle godine igrao na ulici". Index Sport (in Croatian). April 23, 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  9. ↑ Alfirević, Slaven (April 22, 2023). "Tko je neočekivani debitant u momčadi Hajduka? Junior koji ne smije nastupati u Europi zbog posebnog pravila". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). Hanza Media . Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  10. 1 2 "Niko Sigur: Bio sam nervozan prije debija, ali suigrači su mi puno pomogli". HNK Hajduk Split (in Croatian). Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Dosad u karijeri nije zabio gol, a onda je golčinom spasio Hajduk". Index Sport (in Croatian). February 24, 2024. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Dual Citizenship Dilemma: Talented Niko Sigur chooses Croatia". Croatia Week. May 30, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Mlada zvijezda Hajduka prelomila između Kanade i Hrvatske?". Gol.hr (in Croatian). May 27, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Sigur odlučio promijeniti nogometno državljanstvo" (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. August 22, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  15. ↑ Kloke, Joshua (August 22, 2024). "Croatia dual national Niko Sigur switches to Canada". The New York Times – via The Athletic.
  16. ↑ Rainbird, Daniel (August 27, 2024). "Midfielder Niko Sigur, winger Stephen Afrifa added to Canada roster for September friendlies". CBC Sports . Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Canada's Niko Sigur reflects on his debut against Mexico: "An incredible feeling"". Nogomania. September 11, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  18. ↑ "CANMNT squad announced for 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup". June 5, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Tani time! Oluwaseyi leads Canada past Honduras in Gold Cup opener". June 18, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Navas, Buchanan, Díaz headline Gold Cup Group Stage Best XI". Gold Cup. June 26, 2025. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  21. ↑ Niko Sigur at Soccerway
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