Denis Vavro

Denis Vavro (born 10 April 1996) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for German Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg and the Slovakia national team.

Denis Vavro

Vavro with Copenhagen in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth	(1996-04-10) 10 April 1996 (age 29)
Place of birth	Partizánske, Slovakia
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	VfL Wolfsburg
Number	3
Youth career
2005–2011	Tempo Partizánske
2011–2015	Žilina
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2017	Žilina	74	(7)
2017–2019	Copenhagen	61	(1)
2019–2022	Lazio	13	(0)
2021	→ Huesca (loan)	11	(0)
2022	→ Copenhagen (loan)	14	(1)
2022–2025	Copenhagen	64	(3)
2024–2025	→ VfL Wolfsburg (loan)	29	(2)
2025–	VfL Wolfsburg	0	(0)
International career‡
2012–2014	Slovakia U17	5	(1)
2015–2018	Slovakia U21	12	(1)
2017–	Slovakia	30	(2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:24, 17 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:17, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

Club career

Early club career

Vavro made his league debut for MŠK Žilina against AS Trenčín on 20 April 2013.^[1] On 26 August 2017, he signed a five-year contract with FC Copenhagen.^[2]

Lazio and loan to Huesca

On 4 July 2019, Vavro moved to Serie A team S.S. Lazio for a reported transfer fee of €10 million.^[3] On 1 February 2021, he moved to La Liga club Huesca on loan until the end of the season.^[4]

Return to Copenhagen

On 24 January 2022, Vavro returned to Copenhagen on loan with an option to buy.^[5] On 6 July 2022, it was announced that Copenhagen had triggered the option clause and he re-signed with the Danish team on a four-year contract. His spell at Lazio was described as unimpressive and Vavro appreciated the return to Denmark.^[6][7]

Days before Vavro confirmed his stay at Parken Stadium, a video surfaced on social media in which Vavro was asked if he hated Lazio, to which he quickly responded positively. Vavro soon apologised on social media, stating that the club was "big and historic" and even "too big for a player like him".^[8][9]

Wolfsburg

On 30 June 2024, Vavro was loaned to VfL Wolfsburg in Germany.^[10]

On 19 May 2025, VfL Wolfsburg exercised the option to buy and signed a two-year contract with Vavro.^[11]

International career

Vavro was called up for two unofficial friendly fixtures held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, against Uganda and Sweden – debuting and scoring the team's only goal in a 3–1 loss against the former.^[12] He also played the full minutes in a 6–0 loss against the latter on 12 January.^[13]

Vavro returned to the Slovak senior team for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, playing six matches in Group E, as well as the play-off semi-final against the Republic of Ireland.^[14]

At the UEFA Euro 2020, Vavro was an unused substitute in the team's opening match against Poland, before testing positive for the COVID-19 pandemic on 17 June.^[15] This prevented him from playing in the remainder of the team's Group E matches as they failed to qualify for the knockout stage.^[16]

Vavro was included in Slovakia's squad for UEFA Euro 2024, starting in central defence in all of the team's matches as they reached the round of 16, losing 2–1 to England after extra time.^[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 17 May 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
MŠK Žilina	2012–13	Slovak First League	4	0	0	0	0	0	—		4	0
	2013–14		11	0	0	0	2[b]	0	—		13	0
	2014–15		6	0	0	0	—		—		6	0
	2015–16		23	1	5	1	8[b]	1	—		36	3
	2016–17		25	6	2	0	—		—		27	6
	2017–18		5	1	0	0	2[c]	0	—		7	1
	Total		74	8	7	1	12	1	—		93	10
MŠK Žilina B	2014–15	2. Liga	11	2	—		—		3[d]	0	14	2
	2015–16		1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2016–17		1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	Total		13	2	—		—		3	0	16	2
Copenhagen	2017–18	Danish Superliga	26	1	1	0	8[b]	0	—		35	1
	2018–19		35	0	1	0	14[b]	2	—		50	2
	Total		61	1	2	0	22	2	—		85	3
Lazio	2019–20	Serie A	11	0	0	0	6[b]	0	0	0	17	0
	2020–21		1	0	1	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2021–22		1	0	1	0	0	0	—		2	0
	Total		13	0	2	0	6	0	0	0	21	0
Huesca (loan)	2020–21	La Liga	11	0	0	0	—		—		11	0
Copenhagen (loan)	2021–22	Danish Superliga	14	1	0	0	2[e]	0	—		16	1
Copenhagen	2022–23	Danish Superliga	29	1	1	0	6[c]	0	—		36	1
	2023–24		29	2	4	1	13[c]	0	—		46	3
	2024–25		5	0	0	0	6[e]	0	—		11	0
	Total		63	3	5	1	25	0	—		93	4
VfL Wolfsburg (loan)	2024–25	Bundesliga	29	2	3	1	—		—		32	3
VfL Wolfsburg	2025–26	Bundesliga	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Career total			278	17	19	3	67	3	3	0	367	23

1. Includes Slovakian Cup, Danish Cup, Coppa Italia
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
4. Appearances in Slovakian 2. Liga Promotion
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 7 June 2025

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Slovakia	2017	2	1
	2019	7	0
	2020	2	0
	2021	1	0
	2023	7	1
	2024	9	0
	2025	2	0
Total		30	2

As of 7 June 2025

Scores and results list Slovakia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vavro goal.

List of international goals scored by Denis Vavro

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 January 2017	Armed Forces Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	1	Uganda	1–2	1–3	Unofficial Friendly
2	20 June 2013	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	15	Liechtenstein	0–1	0–1	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

Honours

MŠK Žilina

• Fortuna Liga: 2016–17

Copenhagen

• Danish Superliga: 2018–19,^[18] 2022–23
• Danish Cup: 2022–23^[19]

Individual

• Peter Dubovský Award: 2017