Vladimír Darida

Vladimír Darida (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvlaɟɪmiːr ˈdarɪda]; born 8 August 1990) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Czech First League club Hradec Králové. He represented the Czech Republic national team between 2012 and 2021.

Vladimír Darida

Darida lining up with Czech Republic in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Vladimír Darida
Date of birth	(1990-08-08) 8 August 1990 (age 35)
Place of birth	Plzeň, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Hradec Králové
Youth career
1995–2010	Viktoria Plzeň
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2013	Viktoria Plzeň	61	(12)
2011	→ Sokolov (loan)	13	(5)
2013–2015	Freiburg	54	(9)
2015–2022	Hertha BSC	171	(13)
2022–2025	Aris	83	(8)
2025–	Hradec Králové	0	(0)
International career
2011–2012	Czech Republic U21	5	(2)
2012–2021	Czech Republic	76	(8)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11 May 2025

Club career

Early football career in the Czech Republic

Born in Plzeň, Darida came through at Viktoria Plzeň whilst also spending time on loan at FK Baník Sokolov in 2011.^[2]

SC Freiburg

In late summer 2013, Darida transferred to SC Freiburg for a transfer fee reported as four million Euros,^[3] joining up with his compatriots Pavel Krmaš and Václav Pilař.^[4] According to Viktoria Plzeň owner Tomáš Paclík, Freiburg paid 6.2 million Euros for Darida and a 30% share of the next transfer.^[5]

On 24 October 2013, Darida debuted for SC Freiburg in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage match against Estoril Praia, scoring a goal in the 11th minute which ended in a 1–1 draw.^[6] The same year on 27 October, he made his Bundesliga debut in a 0–3 home defeat against Hamburger SV.^[7]

On 2 November 2014, Darida scored a penalty for the only goal of the game away to 1. FC Köln to give the club their first win in their 10th game of the season, moving them out of the direct relegation places.^[8]

Hertha BSC

Darida signed for Hertha BSC following Freiburg's relegation ahead of the 2015–16 Bundesliga for an undisclosed fee, wearing number 6 shirt.^[9] He made an immediate impact for his club by scoring on his debut in the first round of DFB-Pokal against Arminia Bielefeld, which ended in a 2–0 victory. Darida got his first assist of the season through setting up Salomon Kalou in a 3–1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund.^[10] On 27 September he got his first league goal of the season scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw away to Frankfurt.^[11]

Aris Thessaloniki

Darida signed for Aris Thessaloniki in December 2022.^[12]

Hradec Králové

On 23 May 2025, Darida signed a one-year contract with Hradec Králové with option.^[13]

International career

On 26 May 2012, Darida debuted for the Czech Republic national football team in a 2–1 friendly victory against Israel.^[14] Two days later, he was included in the Czech squad for the UEFA Euro 2012 to replace the injured defender Daniel Pudil.^[15] In the UEFA Euro 2012 quarter-final against Portugal, Darida earned his second international appearance as well as first in a competitive tournament, replacing the injured Tomáš Rosický before coming off as a substitute after 61 minutes for Jan Rezek, ending in a 1–0 loss for the Czechs.^[16]

Darida was included in the Czech Republic squad for UEFA Euro 2020,^[17] serving as captain,^[18] after which he retired from international football as he wanted to focus on spending time with his family.^[19] Tomáš Souček was named as his successor as national team captain.^[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of 11 May 2025^[21][22][23]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Viktoria Plzeň	2009–10	Czech First League	3	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
	2010–11		1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2011–12		22	4	0	0	6	1	1[b]	0	29	5
	2012–13		29	6	2	1	16[c]	3	—		47	10
	2013–14		6	2	0	0	6[d]	1	1[b]	0	13	3
	Total		61	12	2	1	28	5	2	0	93	18
Baník Sokolov (loan)	2010–11	Czech National League	13	5	0	0	—		—		13	5
Freiburg	2013–14	Bundesliga	23	3	1	0	3[c]	1	—		27	4
	2014–15		31	6	3	1	—		—		34	7
	Total		54	9	4	1	3	1	—		61	11
Hertha	2015–16	Bundesliga	31	5	4	2	—		—		35	7
	2016–17		25	2	2	0	4[c]	0	—		31	2
	2017–18		21	0	1	0	2[c]	0	—		24	0
	2018–19		10	0	1	0	—		—		11	0
	2019–20		28	3	2	1	—		—		30	4
	2020–21		27	1	1	0	—		—		28	1
	2021–22		26	2	3	0	—		—		29	2
	2022–23		3	0	1	0	—		—		4	0
	Total		171	13	15	3	6	0	—		192	16
Aris	2022–23	Superleague Greece	21	5	2	0	—		—		23	5
	2023–24		33	3	7	2	4[e]	0	—		44	5
	2023–24		29	0	3	1	—		—		32	1
	Total		83	8	12	3	4	0	—		99	11
Career total			383	47	37	8	41	6	2	0	460	61

1. Includes Czech Cup, DFB-Pokal, Greek Football Cup
2. Appearance in Czech Supercup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Darida goal.

List of international goals scored by Vladimír Darida^[24]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 September 2015	Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia	Latvia	2–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2	26 March 2017	San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	2–0	6–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3				6–0
4	1 September 2017	Eden Arena, Prague, Czech Republic	Germany	1–1	1–2	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	10 September 2019	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro	Montenegro	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
6	14 October 2019	Stadion Letná, Prague, Czech Republic	Northern Ireland	1–3	2–3	Friendly
7	7 October 2020	AEK Arena, Larnaca, Cyprus	Cyprus	2–1	2–1	Friendly
8	15 November 2020	Doosan Arena, Plzeň, Czech Republic	Israel	1–0	1–0	2020–21 UEFA Nations League B

Honours

Viktoria Plzeň^[22]

• Czech First League: 2010–11, 2012–13
• Czech Cup: 2009–10
• Czech Supercup: 2011

Czech Republic

• China Cup bronze: 2018^[25]

Individual

• Czech Footballer of the Year: 2017