Benjamin Verbič (born 27 November 1993) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Slovenian PrvaLiga club Celje and the Slovenia national team.
Verbič began his senior career with his hometown club Celje, where he made a total of 126 appearances and scored 35 goals in all competitions. With Celje, he was the runner-up of the Slovenian PrvaLiga in 2014–15, and a three-time runner-up of the Slovenian Football Cup. In 2015 Verbič transferred to Copenhagen, where he won a double of Danish Superliga and Danish Cup in both of his full seasons. In January 2018, he signed for Dynamo Kyiv, with whom he won a league and two cup titles, before temporarily moving to Polish club Legia Warsaw when the Russian invasion of Ukraine started.
Having represented Slovenia at various youth levels, Verbič made his senior debut in March 2015 against Qatar.
Club career Celje Born in Celje, Verbič made his Slovenian PrvaLiga debut for hometown club Celje on 29 May 2011 in a 3–2 home defeat to Primorje, replacing Iztok Močivnik for the last 24 minutes in his only appearance of the season.
He made twelve league appearances the following season (eight starts), contributing a first career goal on 3 April 2012, a consolation goal in a 2–1 home defeat against Olimpija Ljubljana. On 23 May 2012, in the 2011–12 Slovenian Football Cup final against already-crowned league winners Maribor, Verbič scored in extra time in a 2–2 draw but missed the first penalty as his team lost in a shoot-out.
Verbič made 26 league appearances for Celje in the 2012–13 season, scoring 3 goals. On 24 August he was loaned to Šampion of the Slovenian Second League, where he made three appearances, two as a starter. Celje again reached the cup final, losing 1–0 to Maribor at Bonifika Stadium in Koper on 29 May 2013, with Verbič playing the entire match. In the quarter-final first leg on 24 October 2012, he scored both of the team's goals to defeat Dravinja, netting in the second minute and in added time.
On 25 October 2014, Verbič scored a first career hat-trick in a 5–0 home win against Radomlje.
Copenhagen On 27 April 2015, Verbič signed a four-year contract with Copenhagen, to join at the end of the season. He scored two minutes into his debut on 16 July, a 2–0 home win over Newtown of Wales in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round. His Danish Superliga debut came ten days later, playing the entirety of a 3–1 win at Esbjerg on the first day of the season, and his first league goal on 16 September, opening their 3–0 home win over Randers.
Copenhagen won the Danish Superliga and Danish Cup double in both of Verbič's full seasons. On 17 April 2017, he scored the only goal in a Copenhagen Derby win against Brøndby IF.
Dynamo Kyiv On 23 December 2017, Verbič signed a five-year contract with the Ukrainian Premier League side Dynamo Kyiv. In 2018 he was recognized as the player of the month in the Ukrainian Premier League on three occasions, in May, July, and August 2018.
On 8 July 2020, Verbič scored the equalizing goal in the final of the Ukrainian Cup. He would also convert his penalty kick in the shoot-out, after the match finished 1–1 after extra time, with Dynamo prevailing 8–7 over Vorskla Poltava.
Legia Warsaw In March 2022, Verbič left Kyiv because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His contract with Dynamo was suspended under new FIFA rules, which allowed players to sign with clubs outside Ukraine until 30 June 2022. Therefore, he joined Ekstraklasa side Legia Warsaw for the remainder of the 2021–22 season. On 31 May 2022, he left the club following the expiration of his contract.
Panathinaikos On 29 July 2022, Verbič signed a three-year deal with Super League Greece club Panathinaikos.
International career On 30 March 2015, Verbič made his debut for the Slovenia national team, starting in an eventual 1–0 friendly defeat to Qatar at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha. He scored his first international goal on 11 November 2016 in an away win over Malta in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.
On 20 November 2023, Verbič scored the winning goal for Slovenia in the 86th minute in a 2–1 victory over Kazakhstan, which qualified his country for UEFA Euro 2024, their first European Championship appearance since 2000 and their first major tournament since the 2010 World Cup.
Career statistics Club
+Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsCelje2010–11Slovenian PrvaLiga1000——102011–12Slovenian PrvaLiga12132——1532012–13Slovenian PrvaLiga2636320—3462013–14Slovenian PrvaLiga32103020—37102014–15Slovenian PrvaLiga321571——3916Total1032919640—12635Šampion (loan)2012–13Slovenian Second League30———30Copenhagen2015–16Danish Superliga2632042—3252016–17Danish Superliga27630100—4062017–18Danish Superliga16700114—2711Total691650256—9922Dynamo Kyiv2017–18Ukrainian Premier League1242100—1452018–19Ukrainian Premier League217101151034122019–20Ukrainian Premier League251141721037142020–21Ukrainian Premier League1230090002132021–22Ukrainian Premier League921130001332022–23Ukrainian Premier League0000200020Total7927833272012137Legia Warsaw (loan)2021–22Ekstraklasa7010——80Panathinaikos2022–23Super League Greece26231——2932023–24Super League Greece2242040—2842024–25Super League Greece000010—10Total486515000587Career total309783810661320415101
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSlovenia201510201681201761201861201982202050202140202290202391202450202531202620Total667
Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Verbič goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Benjamin VerbičNo.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition111 November 2016National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta81–01–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification24 September 2017Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia133–04–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification316 November 2018Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia201–01–12018–19 UEFA Nations League C49 September 2019Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia251–03–2UEFA Euro 2020 qualification53–2620 November 2023Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia562–12–1UEFA Euro 2024 qualification710 June 2025Stadion Z'dežele, Celje, Slovenia631–02–1Friendly
Honours Copenhagen Danish Superliga: 2015–16, 2016–17 Danish Cup: 2015–16, 2016–17
Dynamo Kyiv Ukrainian Premier League: 2020–21 Ukrainian Cup: 2019–20, 2020–21 Ukrainian Super Cup: 2018, 2019, 2020
Panathinaikos Greek Cup: 2023–24
References
External links