Mario Ilich

Mario Jozef Ilich (born 23 June 1995)^[2] is a semi-professional association football player from New Zealand who plays as a midfielder and captains Auckland City.^[3][4]

Mario Ilich

Personal information
Full name	Mario Jozef Ilich[1]
Date of birth	(1995-06-23) 23 June 1995 (age 30)
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Auckland City
Number	2
Youth career
	Central United
–2012	Auckland City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2014	Auckland City	3	(0)
2014–2015	Wanderers SC	12	(0)
2015–2016	WaiBOP United	14	(3)
2016	Eastern Suburbs	2	(0)
2017	Auckland City	2	(0)
2017	Central United
2017–2019	Team Wellington	36	(2)
2019	Bentleigh Greens
2019–	Auckland City	114	(10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Early career

Growing up in Auckland, Ilich played his youth football for Central United and Auckland City.^[5][6]

Ilich spent time at a number of New Zealand Football Championship clubs, before spending a short spell at Bentleigh Greens in the NPL Victoria.^[7]

Auckland City

After leaving Bentleigh Greens, Ilich joined Auckland City, for the third time on 23 September 2019.^[8] He has since played in three international FIFA tournaments, the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, 2023 FIFA Club Wold Cup, 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.^[9][10]

Personal life

Ilich works as a supermarket sales representative for Coca-Cola.^[3][11] Ilich has Croatian roots.^[12]

Career statistics

Club

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Auckland City	2011–12	Premiership	2	0	—		—		0	0	2	0
	2012–13		0	0	—		—		0	0	0	0
	2013–14		1	0	—		—		0	0	0	0
	Total		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Wanderers SC	2014–15	Premiership	12	0	—		—		—		12	0
WaiBOP United	2015–16	Premiership	14	3	—		—		—		14	3
Eastern Suburbs	2016–17	Premiership	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
Auckland City	2016–17	Premiership	2	0	—		1[a]	0	—		3	0
Team Wellington	2017–18	Premiership	18	0	—		8[a]	1	2[b]	0	28	1
	2018–19		18	2	—		5[a]	1	3[c]	0	26	2
	Total		36	2	0	0	14	2	5	0	55	4
Auckland City	2019–20	Premiership	14	1	—		3[a]	0	—		17	1
	2020–21		11	0	—		—		2[b]	0	13	0
	2021	National League	9	0	4	0	—		—		9	0
	2022		20	3	5	0	5[a]	2	0	0	25	5
	2023		27	1	3	0	4[a]	0	1[d]	0	32	1
	2024		26	2	3	0	2[a]	1	1[e]	0	32	3
	2025		9	3	0	0	0	0	3[d]	0	12	3
	Total		116	10	15	0	11	3	5	0	147	13
Career total

1. Appearance in OFC Champions League
2. Appearances in New Zealand Football Championship play-offs
3. Two appearances; one goal in New Zealand Football Championship play-offs; one appearance in FIFA Club World Cup
4. Appearance in FIFA Club World Cup
5. Appearance in FIFA Intercontinental Cup

Honours