Matija Kablar

The goal came in a friendly against Udinese. On 18 July 2026, with Istra 1961 drawing 2:2 with the Serie A side, Matija Kablar put his name on the scoresheet.

Two weeks later he was handed a debut in the real thing. Kablar started the opening round of the 2026/27 HNL season on 1 August, at home to Lokomotiva Zagreb, and stayed on until the 63rd minute, when Daouda Doumbia replaced him. Istra lost 2:3.

He has been in and around the side since. Against Hajduk on 9 August he came on in the tenth minute and the match finished 2:2; against Rijeka on 23 August, again an early introduction on twelve minutes, again a 2:3 defeat. In between, the 3:0 win over Slaven Belupo passed him by from the bench. By the end of August the ledger stood at three league appearances, 85 minutes, no goals and no assists.

The route to that point ran entirely through Pula. Kablar came up in Istra's academy and spent 2024/25 with the club's under-19s, picking up two friendly outings with the senior squad along the way. The following season brought 29 matches at youth level.

Croatia have called on him at youth international level, though the detail of those call-ups has not been made public. The senior national team has not come into it.