Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Roberto Punčec was born 27 October 1991. He is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defender in Major League Soccer.

A product of NK Varteks youth academy, Punčec joined the first team in the 2008–09 season and had his professional debut on 2 November 2008 in a league match against Hajduk Split. He went on to appear in 27 matches for the club in his first two professional seasons, with the club changing its name to NK Varaždin in mid-2010.

After filing for arbitration to Croatian Football Federation his contract with the financially troubled Varaždin was terminated due to unpaid wages, and on 31 August 2011, Punčec signed a two-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In July 2012, Punčec joined Union Berlin on a season-long loan with the option to buy. Following five years with Union Berlin, in June 2017, Punčec joined Rijeka on a three-year deal as a free-agent.
On 4 December 2019, it was announced Punčec would join Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City ahead of the 2020 season.

Punčec has been capped at every youth level for the Croatian national team, and was part of Croatia's squad at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia, playing in all three of their group stage matches.