Denis Vavro (born 10 April 1996) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, on loan from Danish Superliga club Copenhagen, and the Slovakia national team.
Club career
Early club career
Vavro made his league debut for MŠK Žilina against AS Trenčín on 20 April 2013.1 On 26 August 2017, he signed a five-year contract with FC Copenhagen.2
Lazio and loan to Huesca
On 4 July 2019, Vavro moved to Serie A team S.S. Lazio for a reported transfer fee of €10 million.3 On 1 February 2021, he moved to La Liga club Huesca on loan until the end of the season.4
Return to Copenhagen
On 24 January 2022, Vavro returned to Copenhagen on loan with an option to buy.5 On 6 July 2022, it was announced that Copenhagen had triggered the option clause and he re-signed with the Danish team on a four-year contract. His spell at Lazio was described as unimpressive and Vavro appreciated the return to Denmark.67
Days before Vavro confirmed his stay at Parken Stadium, a video surfaced on social media in which Vavro was asked if he hated Lazio, to which he quickly responded positively. Vavro soon apologised on social media, stating that the club was "big and historic" and even "too big for a player like him".89
Loan to Wolfsburg
On 30 June 2024, Vavro was loaned to VfL Wolfsburg in Germany.10
On 19 May 2025, It was annonced that VfL Wolfsburg had triggered the option to buy the slovak player.
International career
Vavro was called up for two unofficial friendly fixtures held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, against Uganda and Sweden – debuting and scoring the team's only goal in a 3–1 loss against the former.11 He also played the full minutes in a 6–0 loss against the latter on 12 January.12
Vavro returned to the Slovak senior team for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, playing six matches in Group E, as well as the play-off semi-final against the Republic of Ireland.13
At the UEFA Euro 2020, Vavro was an unused substitute in the team's opening match against Poland, before testing positive for the COVID-19 pandemic on 17 June.14 This prevented him from playing in the remainder of the team's Group E matches as they failed to qualify for the knockout stage.15
Vavro was included in Slovakia's squad for UEFA Euro 2024, starting in central defence in all of the team's matches as they reached the round of 16, losing 2–1 to England after extra time.16
Career statistics
Club
As of match played 17 May 2025 Appearances and goals by club, season and competition| Club | Season | League | National cup17 | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| MŠK Žilina | 2012–13 | Slovak First League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 218 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 819 | 1 | — | 36 | 3 | |||
| 2016–17 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 6 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 220 | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| Total | 74 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 1 | — | 93 | 10 | |||
| MŠK Žilina B | 2014–15 | 2. Liga | 11 | 2 | — | — | 321 | 0 | 14 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| 2016–17 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 13 | 2 | — | — | 3 | 0 | 16 | 2 | ||||
| Copenhagen | 2017–18 | Danish Superliga | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 822 | 0 | — | 35 | 1 | |
| 2018–19 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1423 | 2 | — | 50 | 2 | |||
| Total | 61 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 2 | — | 85 | 3 | |||
| Lazio | 2019–20 | Serie A | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 624 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| 2020–21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Huesca (loan) | 2020–21 | La Liga | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| Copenhagen (loan) | 2021–22 | Danish Superliga | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 225 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | |
| Copenhagen | 2022–23 | Danish Superliga | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 626 | 0 | — | 36 | 1 | |
| 2023–24 | 29 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1327 | 0 | — | 46 | 3 | |||
| 2024–25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 628 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| Total | 63 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 25 | 0 | — | 93 | 4 | |||
| VfL Wolfsburg (loan) | 2024–25 | Bundesliga | 29 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 278 | 17 | 19 | 3 | 67 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 367 | 23 | ||
International
As of match played 7 June 2025 Appearances and goals by national team and year| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovakia | 2017 | 2 | 1 |
| 2019 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 January 2017 | Armed Forces Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | 1 | Uganda | 1–2 | 1–3 | Unofficial Friendly |
| 2 | 20 June 2013 | Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein | 15 | Liechtenstein | 0–1 | 0–1 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
Honours
MŠK Žilina
Copenhagen
Individual
- Peter Dubovský Award: 2017
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Denis Vavro.- Profile at the F.C. Copenhagen website
- Corgoň Liga profile (in Slovak)
- Denis Vavro at Soccerway
- Eurofotbal profile (in Czech)
- Denis Vavro – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Denis Vavro at WorldFootball.net
References
"AS Trenčín 1–2 MŠK Žilina". Corgon Liga (in Slovak). 20 April 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131029080436/http://www.corgonliga.sk/corgon-liga/zapas/164/as-trencin-vs-msk-zilina ↩
"Denis Vavro til FCK". FC Copenhagen (in Danish). 26 August 2017. https://www.fck.dk/nyhed/denis-vavro-til-fck ↩
"Vavro mieri do Lazia Rím, FC Kodaň súhlasil s prestupom". Profutbal (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190704083608/https://profutbal.sk/clanok/235157-vavro-mieri-do-lazia-rim-fc-kodan-suhlasil-s-prestupom ↩
Zavala, Steve (1 February 2021). "Official: Lazio Send Defender Denis Vavro to La Liga Side Huesca on Loan". The Laziali. Retrieved 2 February 2021. https://thelaziali.com/2021/02/01/official-lazio-agrees-to-send-defender-denis-vavro-to-la-liga-side-huesca-on-a-loan-move/ ↩
"Denis Vavro returns to FCK". Copenhagen. 24 January 2022. https://www.fck.dk/en/news/denis-vavro-returns-fck ↩
"Official: FC Copenhagen Sign Denis Vavro From Lazio". The Laziali. 6 July 2022. https://thelaziali.com/?p=115777 ↩
"Ufficiale: Vavro lascia la Lazio, ha firmato col Copenhagen fino al 30 giugno 2026". Tutto Mercato Web (in Italian). Retrieved 6 July 2022. https://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/serie-a/ufficiale-vavro-lascia-la-lazio-ha-firmato-col-copenhagen-fino-al-30-giugno-2026-1702618 ↩
"Vavro Under Fire After Suggesting He "Hates" Lazio". The Laziali. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022. https://thelaziali.com/2022/07/01/vavro-under-fire-hates-lazio/ ↩
"Vavro Under Fire After Suggesting He 'Hates' Lazio". Yardbarker. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022. https://www.yardbarker.com/soccer/articles/vavro_under_fire_after_suggesting_he_hates_lazio/s1_16487_37641029 ↩
"New arrival from Copenhagen". VfL Wolfsburg. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024. https://www.vfl-wolfsburg.de/en/newsdetails/news-detail/detail/news/new-arrival-from-copenhagen ↩
"Prípravný futbalový zápas: Slovensko prehralo s Ugandou 1:3". Sportinak (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170830061730/http://www.sportinak.sk/online-prenos-pripravny-zapas-futbal--slovensko---uganda ↩
"Slováci prehrali so Švédskom 0–6. To je niečo strašné, hovorí Kozák". Sportinak (in Slovak). 12 January 2017. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170830061727/http://www.sportinak.sk/online-prenos-pripravny-zapas-futbal--slovensko---svedsko-teraz ↩
"Slovakia 0-0 Republic of Ireland (4-2 on pens): Alan Browne and Matt Doherty miss crucial spot-kicks to end Euro 2020 hopes". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 July 2024. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/19692/12099334/slovakia-0-0-republic-of-ireland-4-2-on-pens-alan-browne-and-matt-doherty-miss-crucial-spot-kicks-to-end-euro-2020-hopes ↩
"Euro 2020: Slovakia defender Denis Vavro and one staff member test positive for coronavirus". Sky Sports. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2024. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/19692/12334821/euro-2020-slovakia-defender-denis-vavro-and-one-staff-member-test-positive-for-coronavirus ↩
"Slovakia vs Spain: Euro 2020 live". The Guardian. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2021/jun/23/slovakia-v-spain-euro-2020-live?filterKeyEvents=false#maincontent ↩
"Denis Vavro - Player Profile". UEFA. Retrieved 1 July 2024. https://www.uefa.com/euro2024/teams/players/250058731--denis-vavro/ ↩
Includes Slovakian Cup, Danish Cup, Coppa Italia /wiki/Slovakian_Cup ↩
Appearances in UEFA Europa League /wiki/UEFA_Europa_League ↩
Appearances in UEFA Europa League /wiki/UEFA_Europa_League ↩
Appearances in UEFA Champions League /wiki/UEFA_Champions_League ↩
Appearances in Slovakian 2. Liga Promotion ↩
Appearances in UEFA Europa League /wiki/UEFA_Europa_League ↩
Appearances in UEFA Europa League /wiki/UEFA_Europa_League ↩
Appearances in UEFA Europa League /wiki/UEFA_Europa_League ↩
Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League /wiki/UEFA_Europa_Conference_League ↩
Appearances in UEFA Champions League /wiki/UEFA_Champions_League ↩
Appearances in UEFA Champions League /wiki/UEFA_Champions_League ↩
Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League /wiki/UEFA_Europa_Conference_League ↩
"FC Copenhagen are Danish champions". The Copenhagen Post. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019. http://cphpost.dk/news/sports/fc-copenhagen-are-danish-champions.html ↩
"FCK win 2022/23 Danish Cup". Copenhagen. 18 May 2023. https://www.fck.dk/en/news/fck-win-202223-danish-cup ↩