Dorian Babunski

Macedonian professional footballer
Dorian Babunski
Babunski playing for Macedonia U21 team
Personal information
Full name Dorian Babunski
Дориан Бабунски
Date of birth (1996-08-29) 29 August 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Skopje, North Macedonia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Grasshopper Club Zürich
Number 99
Youth career
2005–2006 Gramanet
2006–2011 Cornellà
2011–2015 Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2016 Fuenlabrada 13 (2)
2016–2017 Olimpija Ljubljana 1 (0)
2017 → Radomlje (loan) 5 (0)
2017–2020 Machida Zelvia 55 (4)
2017 → Kagoshima United (loan) 1 (0)
2021–2022 Botev Vratsa 34 (13)
2022–2023 Debrecen 48 (18)
2023– Grasshoppers 12 (2)
International career‡
2011–2012 Macedonia U17 6 (0)
2014 Macedonia U19 3 (3)
2013–2018 Macedonia U21 9 (0)
2022– North Macedonia 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 June 2023

Dorian Babunski Hristovski (Macedonian: Дориан Бабунски, born 29 August 1996) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Swiss Super League side Grasshopper Club Zürich.

Club career

Born in Skopje, Macedonia, Dorian joined Real Madrid's youth setup in 2011, after representing Gramanet and UE Cornellà. On 1 October 2015, he signed a free contract with Fuenlabrada,[1] but was released in June 2016. Two months later, he signed a three-year contract with Olimpija Ljubljana.[2]

In February 2017, he was signed by Radomlje on loan.[3]

On 17 January 2022, he joined Debreceni VSC in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top tier of Hungarian football, on a two-and-a-half year deal.[4] In his first season and a half, he made 48 league appearances and scored 18 goals.[5]

On 28 August 2023, he signed a two-year contract with Swiss record champions Grasshopper Club Zürich,[6] with an option to extend for a further year. He joins them for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Babunski was first called up to the Macedonian senior national team for their World Cup qualifier matches in November 2021, but did not see any playtime.[7][8] On 2 June 2022, he finally made his senior debut for North Macedonia, in a Nations League match against Bulgaria, coming on in the 72nd minute of the game.[9] In his second appearance for the national team, he assisted the second and final goal in a 0–2 away victory against Gibraltar.[10]

Career statistics

As of match played on 7 October 2023[11]
Club statistics
Club Season League National Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Fuenlabrada 2015–16 Segunda División B 13 2 0 0 — 13 2
Olimpija Ljubljana 2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga 1 0 0 0 — 1 0
Radomlje (loan) 2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga 5 0 0 0 — 5 0
Kagoshima United (loan) 2017 J3 League 1 0 0 0 — 1 0
Machida Zelvia 2018 J2 League 24 4 1 0 — 25 4
2019 J2 League 19 0 0 0 — 19 0
2020 J2 League 12 0 0 0 — 12 0
Total 55 4 1 0 0 0 56 4
Botev Vratsa 2020–21 First Professional Football League 16 3 2 0 1[a] 0 19 3
2021–22 First Professional Football League 18 10 0 0 — 18 10
Total 34 13 2 0 1 0 37 13
Debrecen 2021–22 Nemzeti Bajnokság I 16 4 0 0 — 16 4
2022–23 Nemzeti Bajnokság I 30 13 3 0 — 33 13
2023–24 Nemzeti Bajnokság I 2 1 0 0 4[b] 0 6 1
Total 48 18 3 0 4 0 55 18
Grasshopper 2023–24 Swiss Super League 5 1 1 0 — 6 1
Career totals 162 38 7 0 5 0 174 38
  1. ^ Appearance in the 2020–21 First Professional Football League relegation play-offs
  2. ^ Apprarances in the UEFA Europa Conference League

Personal life

Babunski's father, Boban, was also a footballer, and played in several countries, including Spain. His brother, David, is also a footballer.[12][13] The two played together briefly at Debrecen in 2022.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Dorian Babunski, el tercer delantero que todos pedían para el Fuenla". Fuenlabradanoticias.com. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  2. ^ "D. Babunski signed three years contract with Slovenia champion". Golden Goal Sports Management LLC. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  3. ^ "Babunski posojen v Radomlje, Crnomarković na Norveško (en: Babunski transferred to Radomlje, Crnomarković to Norway)". PrvaLiga.si. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Dorian Babunski a DVSC játékosa" [Dorian Babunski is a DVSC player] (in Hungarian). Debreceni VSC. 17 January 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Dorian Babunski leaves DVSC". Debreceni VSC. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Grasshopper Club Zürich signs striker Dorian Babunski". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Armenia-North Macedonia match report". UEFA. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  8. ^ "North Macedonia-Iceland match report". UEFA. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Dorian Babunski bemutatkozott az északmacedón felnőttválogatottban" [Dorian Babunski made his debut in the North Macedonia senior national team] (in Hungarian). Debreceni VSC. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Gibraltar-North Macedonia match report". UEFA. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  11. ^ Dorian Babunski at Soccerway
  12. ^ Zlateski, Aleksandar (8 November 2011). "Babunski brothers play for heated rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid". Macedonian Football. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Super-tata! El klasiko u kući: Jedan sin u Realu, drugi u Barsi!". BN. Retrieved 2021-04-11.

External links

  • Dorian Babunski at Soccerway
  • Dorian Babunski at J.League (archive) (in Japanese) Edit this at Wikidata
  • PrvaLiga profile (in Slovene)
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Grasshopper Club Zürich – current squad
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