Ante Budimir is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Osasuna and the Croatia national team.
Born on 22 July 1991 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, he stands 1.90 metres tall and is known for his aerial ability, work rate, and clinical finishing.
His family originates from the village of Ozimica near Žepče.
Due to the war, they fled when he was an infant and settled in Velika Gorica near Zagreb, Croatia, where he was raised by his mother after his father’s death in a car accident.
He represents Croatia internationally despite his birthplace and has become a reliable goal threat in Spanish football later in his career.
Siblings
Ante has two older sisters, the twins Irena Budimir and Renata Budimir, who are one year his senior.
The three siblings were raised primarily by their mother, Janja, after the family relocated to Velika Gorica (Turopolje) in 1992 amid the war and following their father’s fatal traffic accident.
Career
Budimir began his youth career at Radnik Velika Gorica before brief spells elsewhere and progressed through Croatian clubs including HNK Gorica, Inter Zaprešić (where he scored regularly in the Prva HNL), and Lokomotiva Zagreb.
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In 2014 he moved to Germany with FC St. Pauli, then found greater success on loan and later permanently with Italian side Crotone, helping the club gain promotion to Serie A while finishing among the top scorers in Serie B.
A short stint at Sampdoria was followed by a return to Crotone and then a move to Spain with Mallorca in 2019.
There he contributed to promotion to La Liga and scored 13 league goals in the 2019–20 season.
In October 2020 he joined Osasuna on loan and made the transfer permanent the following year.
At Osasuna he developed into a consistent goalscorer, regularly netting in double figures and becoming one of the club’s most productive forwards in the top flight.
He has also featured for the Croatia national team since 2020, earning dozens of caps and contributing goals in qualifiers and major tournaments, including appearances at the 2022 FIFA World Cup (where Croatia finished third), UEFA Euro 2024, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Accolades
With Croatia, Budimir earned a bronze medal at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. At club level with Osasuna he reached the Copa del Rey final in 2022–23 as runners-up.
He holds several Osasuna records, including becoming the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in La Liga (surpassing the long-standing mark of Sabino Andonegui) and the top foreign goalscorer in the club’s history.
He has posted career-best seasonal tallies, including 21 La Liga goals in 2024–25 (finishing among the league’s top scorers) and further strong tallies in subsequent campaigns.
He has also received fan and club recognition, such as Osasuna supporters’ player-of-the-season honours and an award from the club’s former players’ association for his performances and conduct.
Additionally, he has been decorated by Croatian authorities in connection with the national team’s World Cup success.
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