Boban Nikolov

Boban Nikolov's route to professional football ran through Romania rather than his native Macedonia. After starting out at Bregalnica Štip, he joined the Gheorghe Hagi Academy and in May 2013 became the first foreign player to score for Viitorul Constanța in Liga I history, netting against Steaua București.

He returned to Macedonia in 2015 to sign for Vardar, winning back-to-back league titles in 2015–16 and 2016–17 as well as the Macedonian Super Cup. A move to MOL Fehérvár in Hungary followed in 2018, where he added a Nemzeti Bajnokság I title and a Magyar Kupa to his collection. His career then took him through Lecce in Italy and Sheriff Tiraspol, before spells at FCSB and Kisvárda.

Nikolov joined Borac Banja Luka on a free transfer from Kisvárda in September 2024, and was a runner-up with the club in the 2024 Bosnian Supercup.

At international level, Nikolov made his debut for North Macedonia in a friendly against Azerbaijan in May 2016 and has since built up 51 caps and four goals, among them strikes against Liechtenstein in 2018 World Cup qualifying and against Israel in Euro 2020 qualifying. He was part of the squad at Euro 2020, appearing in the group-stage matches against Austria and Ukraine, and has continued to feature in Nations League and World Cup qualifying campaigns since.