Mijat Gaćinović (Serbian Cyrillic: Мијат Гаћиновић, pronounced [mîjaːt ɡatɕǐːnoʋitɕ]; born 8 February 1995) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Greek Super League club AEK Athens and the Serbia national team.
![]() Gaćinović with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Mijat Gaćinović | |||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1995-02-08) 8 February 1995 (age 27) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Novi Sad, FR Yugoslavia | |||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||||
Club information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | AEK Athens | |||||||||||||||||||||
Number | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Leotar | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Vojvodina | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||
2013–2015 | Vojvodina | 50 | (12) | |||||||||||||||||||
2015–2020 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 115 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020–2022 | Hoffenheim | 27 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||
2022 | → Panathinaikos (loan) | 13 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||
2022– | AEK Athens | 12 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||
National team‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2017–2020 | Serbia | 23 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:00, 13 November 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2020 |
Gaćinović was born in Novi Sad while his father Vladimir played for FK Bečej.[1][2] His family is from Trebinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Gaćinović returned when his father finished his career. He started to play football at Leotar, before joining the youth academy of Vojvodina. He made his first team debut under manager Nebojša Vignjević on 19 March 2013, coming off the bench as a substitute for Miroslav Vulićević in a 3–0 home win over Donji Srem. On 18 May 2013, Gaćinović scored his first senior goal in a 3–2 home league victory over Radnički Niš.
After already establishing his place in the starting lineup, Gaćinović helped Vojvodina win the 2013–14 Serbian Cup in the club's centennial year. He was named the team's captain in early 2015, eventually becoming their top league scorer in the 2014–15 season, netting 11 goals.
In the summer of 2015, Gaćinović moved to Germany and signed with Eintracht Frankfurt. He made his official debut for the club on 28 November 2015, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–2 away league loss against Mainz 05. On 19 May 2016, Gaćinović scored the equalizer in the first leg of the 2015–16 Bundesliga relegation playoffs against Nürnberg, before assisting the only goal in the return leg away to keep his club in the top flight.[3]
On 4 August 2020, Gaćinović signed for Hoffenheim as part of a swap deal, with Steven Zuber going to Frankfurt. He put pen to paper on a 4-year contract.[4]
On 31 January 2022, in the last day of winter transfer window, Panathinaikos completed the loan signing of Gaćinović, until the summer of 2022.[5]
On 28 June 2022, Gaćinović signed a 4-year contract with AEK Athens.[6]
Gaćinović played for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Under-17 level, before eventually choosing to represent Serbia at the Under-19 level. He was a member of the team that won the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Furthermore, Gaćinović scored an equalizer against Portugal in the 85th minute of the semi-final. He also appeared at the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
Subsequently, Gaćinović represented Serbia at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the gold medal.[7]
He debuted for the senior national team on 24 March 2017 against Georgia, replacing Filip Kostić in the 81st minute, and scored the third goal for Serbia in the 86th minute. In May 2018 he was named in Serbia’s preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but he wasn't selected for the final squad.[8]
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||
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Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Vojvodina | 2012–13 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | |
2013–14 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 27 | 1 | ||
2014–15 | 25 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 28 | 11 | ||
Total | 50 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 61 | 13 | ||
Eintracht Frankfurt | 2015–16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | 9 | 1 | |
2016–17 | 28 | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 2 | |||
2017–18 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 3 | — | — | 33 | 4 | |||
2018–19 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 2 | |
2019–20 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1 | — | 35 | 1 | ||
Total | 115 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 156 | 10 | |
Hoffenheim | 2020–21 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | — | 32 | 1 | |
2021–22 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
Total | 27 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | — | 38 | 1 | ||
Panathinaikos (loan) | 2021–22 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||
AEK Athens | 2022–23 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 3 | ||
Career total | 205 | 15 | 30 | 4 | 34 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 275 | 26 |
Serbia national team | |||
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Year | Apps | Goals | |
2017 | 5 | 2 | |
2018 | 6 | 0 | |
2019 | 7 | 0 | |
2020 | 5 | 0 | |
Total | 23 | 2 |
No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1 | 24 March 2017 | Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia | 1 | ![]() | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
2 | 2 September 2017 | Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia | 2 | ![]() | 1–0 | 3–0 |
Vojvodina
Eintracht Frankfurt
Panathinaikos
Serbia
AEK Athens F.C. – current squad | |
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Awards | |||||
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