Soccer
Dominik Szoboszlai's journey to the top of the Premier League
At 24-years-old the Hungarian has won trophies in three countries, become record-breaking captain of his national team and just won the Premier League with Liverpool. Here's how he got there.
Dominik Szoboszlai is unquestionably the star of Hungarian football today. The 24-year-old national team captain who lead his team to the 2024 European Championship in Germany, where he became the youngest captain in the history of the tournament, further reinforced this status during Liverpool's Premier League–winning 2024–25 season by establishing himself as a key player in England's best team.
The native of small town Székesfehérvár, who got his start in football playing for the Főnix Gold FC youth academy founded by his dad, Szoboszlai made his professional debut in the 2017-2018 season for Red Bull Salzburg's reserve team FC Liefering in the Austrian second tier. In the year's since the midfield general has played in three different countries and, incredibly, won a trophy with each of his clubs in every season he's played. He's been crowned Austrian champion four times (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021) and won three Austrian Cups (2019, 2020 and 2021) with Red Bull Salzburg, two German Cups (2022 and 2023) at RB Leipzig, claimed the Carabao Cup with Liverpool FC and this year reached the pinnacle of his young career by winning the Premier League title with the team.
Find out more about his incredible run of success below.
01
Red Bull Salzburg (2017-2021): League titles and Austrian Cup wins
Szoboszlai played his part in Salzburg's first major success
© uefa.com
Szoboszlai made his senior debut for Red Bull Salzburg in 2017, aged just 17, and immediately became a staple of the Austrian league as the team won the title. He went on to lift the trophy three more times with Salzburg in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and his key performances for Salzburg during the 2019-2020 season were rewarded with the Austrian Bundesliga Player of the Year award.
In addition to the league titles, Szoboszlai has also won the Austrian Cup three times with Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In total, the midfielder played 83 matches for Red Bull Salzburg, scoring 26 goals and providing 34 assists.
02
RB Leipzig (2021–2023): German Cup and Supercup winners
Szoboszlai moved on to win more trophies with RB Leipzig
© RB Leipzig
Soboslai's journey took him to Red Bull Salzburg's 'big brother' club, RB Leipzig, in January 2021, where he won the German Cup in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. The now Hungarian national team regular player played an active role in both finals, scoring a goal in 2023. The trophy crowned his time at Leipzig before Premier League giants Liverpool signed him up, leaving the club having made 91 appearances and scoring 20 goals, with 22 assists.
03
FC Liverpool (2024) - Carabao Cup winner
Szoboszlai, who signed for Liverpool for a record fee for a Hungarian player of €70,000,000, has had a busy first year in England. He picked up the pace relatively quickly for Jürgen Klopp's Reds and in his first season he won a trophy as Liverpool beat Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final. Although Soboslai missed the semi-final and final through injury, he still scored two goals in the cup campaign.
Dominik Szoboszlai
© Ádám Bertalan/Red Bull Content Pool
04
FC Liverpool (2025) - Premier League winners
In the 2024-25 season, Szoboszlai has made sporting history by winning the Premier League with Liverpool FC, becoming the first Hungarian footballer to win the English league title. He also provided two assists in the 5-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur that secured Liverpool's record-equalling 20th English league title with four games to spare. Szoboszlai has scored five goals and provided six assists in the league so far this season.
Szoboszlai is the definition of a midfield general on the pitch
© Ádám Bertalan/Red Bull Content Pool
On the national front, Szoboszlai made his debut for Hungary on March 21, 2019, against Slovakia, becoming the youngest Hungarian player selected for 12 years. For his first game, he came on as a substitute, but since then he's started every game for the national team and to date 53 caps and 15 goals to his name. His first goal came in September 2019, again against Slovakia at the Puskás Arena, but perhaps his most memorable goal came against Iceland – a 20m drive in the 91st minute that secured Hungary's place at the delayed 2021 European Championship.
At Euro 2024, at the age of 23 years, 7 months and 21 days, Szoboszlai became the youngest captain in the history of the European Championship when he lead out Hungary for their first match against Switzerland.
With his place in Liverpool's powerhouse squad secured and national hero status at home in Hungary, Szoboszlai is well on his way to becoming a legend of the modern game.