Fran Karačić
Australian soccer player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fran Karačić (Croatian pronunciation: [frâŋ kâratʃitɕ];[A] born 12 May 1996) is a professional soccer player who plays as a right back for Croatian Football League club Hajduk Split. Born in Croatia, he plays for the Australia national team.
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Karačić with NK Lokomotiva in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fran Karačić[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 12 May 1996 | ||
| Place of birth | Zagreb, Croatia | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Right back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Hajduk Split | ||
| Number | 29 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Kustošija | |||
| –2012 | NK Zagreb | ||
| 2012–2016 | Lokomotiva | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2020 | Lokomotiva | 103 | (7) |
| 2015 | → Lučko (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | Dinamo Zagreb | 0 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | → Lokomotiva (loan) | 26 | (1) |
| 2021–2023 | Brescia | 54 | (0) |
| 2024 | Rudeš | 9 | (1) |
| 2024–2025 | Lokomotiva | 34 | (4) |
| 2025– | Hajduk Split | 11 | (1) |
| 2026 | → Osijek (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Croatia U21 | 7 | (2) |
| 2021– | Australia | 15 | (1) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15 June 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 March 2025 | |||
Club career
On 14 January 2021, Karačić joined Serie B side Brescia on a two-and-a-half-year deal.[3]
After departing Brescia at the end of the 2022–23 season which ended with relegation to Serie C, Karačić spent the rest of 2023 without a club before signing with Rudeš on 31 January 2024.[4]
Karačić would leave Rudeš at the end of the 2023–24 season to rejoin his first professional club Lokomotiva, eventually becoming captain of the side after six months.
On 8 July 2025, Karačić joined Hajduk Split until the end of the 2027–28 season.[5]
In January 2026, Karačić moved on loan from Hajduk Split to Osijek until the end of the 2025–26 season, with an option to make the transfer permanent.[6]
International career
Karacic was eligible to represent Croatia or Australia due to his father being born in Sydney.[7]
In May 2018, Karačić was named in Australia's preliminary 26-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[8] On 25 May 2018, he was officially cleared by FIFA to represent Australia.[9] Karačić was later cut from the final squad.[10][11]
Karačić was called up to the Australian squad again for a series of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying games in June 2021, where he made his international debut against Kuwait.[12]
He was named in Australia's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November 2022, making two appearances against Tunisia and eventual champions Argentina as Australia were knocked out by the latter.[13][14]
Karačić would not be called up to the national team after the World Cup for the next two and a half years owing to his club situation before being called up in March 2025 for Australia's crucial World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia and China, where he came off the bench in both games as Australia took big steps towards qualification by winning both games.[15][16][17]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 21 December 2024[18]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Lokomotiva | 2014–15 | 1. HNL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | 1. HNL | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | 1. HNL | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | — | 21 | 3 | ||
| 2017–18 | 1. HNL | 26 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 1 | |||
| 2018–19 | 1. HNL | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20 | 1 HNL | 30 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 33 | 3 | |||
| Total | 117 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 127 | 8 | ||
| Lučko (loan) | 2014–15 | 2. HNL | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2020–21 | 1. HNL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Lokomotiva (loan) | 2020–21 | 1. HNL | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | |
| Brescia | 2020–21 | Serie B | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[d] | 0 | 16 | 0 | |
| 2021–22 | Serie B | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[d] | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | Serie B | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[e] | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| Total | 54 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 59 | 0 | ||
| Rudeš | 2023–24 | HNL | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 1 | ||
| Lokomotiva | 2024–25 | HNL | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 218 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 239 | 12 | ||
- Includes Croatian Cup, Coppa Italia
- Appearance in UEFA Europa League
- One appearance in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
- Appearance in Serie B promotion play-offs
- Appearances in Serie B relegation play-out
International
- As of match played 3 December 2022[19]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2021 | 6 | 1 |
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 1 | |
- Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Karačić goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 June 2021 | Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait City, Kuwait |  Nepal |
2–0 | 3–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | [20] |
