Boban Nikolov

Boban Nikolov (Macedonian: Бобан Николов; born 28 July 1994) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Bosnian club Borac Banja Luka and the North Macedonia national team.

Boban Nikolov

Nikolov with Vardar in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Boban Nikolov
Date of birth	(1994-07-28) 28 July 1994 (age 31)
Place of birth	Štip, Macedonia
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Borac Banja Luka
Number	5
Youth career
0000–2010	Bregalnica Štip
2010–2012	Gheorghe Hagi Academy
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2015	Viitorul Constanța	38	(2)
2015–2018	Vardar	64	(8)
2018–2021	Fehérvár	73	(7)
2021	Lecce	15	(0)
2021–2022	Sheriff Tiraspol	14	(3)
2022–2023	FCSB	11	(0)
2023–2024	Kisvárda	22	(1)
2024–	Borac Banja Luka	27	(0)
International career‡
2010	Macedonia U17	3	(1)
2011–2012	Macedonia U19	9	(0)
2013–2017	Macedonia U21	22	(1)
2016–	North Macedonia	48	(4)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 30 June 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 20 November 2022

Personal life

Boban Nikolov is an ethnic Aromanian,^[1] and he speaks Aromanian.^[1][2]

Club career

Viitorul Constanța

On 8 March 2013, Nikolov made his debut for Viitorul Constanța in the Liga I, in a 4–1 defeat to Gaz Metan Mediaș.^[3] On 19 May of the same year, he scored his first Liga I goal in a 5–2 win against Steaua București.^[4]

Lecce

On 19 January 2021 he was signed by Italian Serie B club Lecce.^[5]

Sheriff Tiraspol

Seven months later, on 20 August 2021, he signed for Moldovan National Division club Sheriff Tiraspol.^[6]

FCSB

On 17 September 2022, Nikolov signed for Liga I club FCSB on a one-year deal, with an option to extend for a further year.^[7]

International career

On 29 May 2016, Nikolov made his international debut against Azerbaijan, and on 24 March 2017 he scored his first goal in the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein.^[8] He was also a regular in the U21 and U19 categories, where he also served as captain. As of April 2020,^[update] he has earned a total of 22 caps, scoring 2 goals.^[9][10] He represented the nation at UEFA Euro 2020, their first major tournament.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 April 2025^[11]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Viitorul Constanța	2012–13	Liga I	5	1	0	0	—		—		5	1
	2013–14		18	0	2	0	—		—		20	0
	2014–15		15	1	1	0	—		—		16	1
	Total		38	2	3	0	—		—		41	2
Vardar	2015–16	Macedonian First Football League	20	1	2	0	1	0	1	0	24	1
	2016–17		34	7	3	2	1	0	—		38	9
	2017–18		10	0	0	0	12	3	—		22	3
	Total		64	8	5	2	14	3	1	0	84	13
Fehérvár	2017–18	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	13	3	—		—		—		13	3
	2018–19		29	2	8	1	14	0	—		51	3
	2019–20		22	1	4	2	3	0	—		29	3
	2020–21		9	1	0	0	4	1	—		13	2
	Total		73	7	12	3	21	1	—		106	11
Lecce	2020–21	Serie B	15	0	0	0	—		—		15	0
Sheriff Tiraspol	2021–22	Moldovan National Division	14	3	1	0	7	1	—		22	4
FCSB	2022–23	Liga I	11	0	2	0	—		—		13	0
Kisvárda	2023–24	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	22	1	4	1	—		—		26	2
Borac Banja Luka	2024–25	Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina	20	0	4	0	9	0	—		33	0
Career total			244	21	31	6	51	5	1	0	327	32

International

As of match played 20 November 2022^[12]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
North Macedonia
	2016	2	0
	2017	4	1
	2018	7	0
	2019	9	1
	2020	7	0
	2021	11	1
	2022	8	1
Total		48	4

International goals

As of match played 5 June 2022. North Macedonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Nikolov goal.

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition^[13]

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	24 March 2017	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	3	Liechtenstein	1–0	3–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	19 November 2019	Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia	22	Israel	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
3	8 October 2021	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	37	Liechtenstein	3–0	4–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	5 June 2022	Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar	44	Gibraltar	2–0	2–0	2022–23 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

Vardar^[11]

• 1. MFL: 2015–16, 2016–17
• Macedonian Super Cup: 2015

Fehérvár^[11]

• Nemzeti Bajnokság I: 2017–18
• Magyar Kupa: 2018–19

Sheriff Tiraspol^[11]

• Divizia Națională: 2021–22
• Moldovan Cup: 2021–22