Jan Oblak

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Oblak's path to becoming Atlético Madrid's cornerstone began in the Upper Carniolan town of Škofja Loka. He started playing football at age five for local club Ločan, then moved to the Olimpija youth academy at ten. At age 16, on 17 May 2009, he made his professional debut for Olimpija Ljubljana in a 7–2 win against Mura 05 in the Slovenian Second League. He rejected a contract from Italian club Empoli for a trial at Fulham, but instead extended his contract until 2011. In the 2009–10 season, after Olimpija earned promotion, Oblak became the team's main goalkeeper, missing only three league games as the club finished fourth. In June 2010 he signed with Benfica, who loaned him to Beira-Mar, Olhanense, and União de Leiria. At Leiria, on 29 April 2012, after most of the squad rescinded contracts due to financial struggles, Oblak was one of only eight players to take part in a 4–0 home defeat to Feirense. In July 2013 he failed to present for pre-season training, claiming he had no contract, but later signed an extension until 2018, calling it a 'misunderstanding.' Midway through 2013–14, after long-time starter Artur made mistakes, Benfica manager Jorge Jesus dropped him for Oblak, who kept several clean sheets — notably in a 2–0 home win against Porto and a 0–0 draw at Juventus in the Europa League semi-finals. He won the league's Best Goalkeeper of the Year award on 6 July 2014.

In Their Own Story

The air inside the Vicente Calderón grew thin on 3 May 2016. In the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals at the Allianz Arena, Thomas Müller stepped up to take a penalty. Oblak saved it. Though Atlético lost the match 2–1, they advanced to the final on away goals. In the final, however, Atlético lost to Real Madrid 5–3 on penalties, with Oblak failing to save any of the five attempts. Despite that, he was included in the 2015–16 Champions League squad of the season. That domestic season, he won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for best goalkeeper, conceding an all-time record low of 18 goals in 38 games, equaling the 22-year-old record of Deportivo's Francisco Liaño. On 17 March 2015, he replaced the injured Moyà in the 23rd minute of a Champions League last-16 second leg against Bayer Leverkusen, kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 home win, and saved Hakan Çalhanoğlu's penalty in the shootout. Four days later, he made his league debut, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win over Getafe. On 15 March 2017, in another Champions League game against Leverkusen, he made three saves in succession to ensure a goalless draw and passage to the quarter-finals. He told UEFA's website: 'These are things that happen. Sometimes you save three efforts and other times they score all three.'

Reader's Guide

When Oblak steps onto the pitch at the Metropolitano, the atmosphere shifts from anticipation to palpable security. Fans know that as long as he stands in his box, hope remains alive until the final whistle blows. On 6 November 2018, he kept his 100th clean sheet for Atlético in just 178 official games, in a 2–0 home win over Borussia Dortmund. On 17 June 2020, he kept a clean sheet in a 5–0 away win against Osasuna, his 182nd league game, becoming the fastest goalkeeper to achieve 100 clean sheets in La Liga history, breaking an almost 50-year-old record of Miguel Reina who did it in 222 appearances. He also became the first non-Spanish goalkeeper to keep 100 clean sheets in La Liga. On 27 June 2020, he played his 250th game for Atlético in a 2–1 win over Deportivo Alavés. In the 2020–21 season, he won the La Liga title with Atlético, keeping 18 clean sheets in 38 matches with an 80% save rate, and won the Zamora Trophy for the fifth time, equaling the record of both Antoni Ramallets and Victor Valdés. He won the award again in 2025 for a record six trophies. Oblak was nominated for the 2017 and 2018 Ballon d'Or awards — finishing 26th with 4 votes in 2017 and 25th with 2 votes in 2018. On 17 April 2019, he agreed to a four-year contract extension keeping him at the club until 2023.

Did You Know?

• Oblak made his professional debut at age 16 for Olimpija Ljubljana in the Slovenian Second League on 17 May 2009, in a 7–2 win against Mura 05.
• He was one of only eight União de Leiria players to take part in a league match on 29 April 2012 after most of the squad rescinded contracts due to financial struggles.
• In the 2015–16 season, Oblak conceded an all-time record low of 18 goals in 38 La Liga games, equaling Francisco Liaño's 22-year-old record.
• He became the fastest goalkeeper to reach 100 La Liga clean sheets, doing so in 182 games — breaking Miguel Reina's nearly 50-year-old record of 222 appearances.
• Oblak has been named Slovenian Footballer of the Year on nine occasions.