Ivan Rakitić Height, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ivan Rakitić

• Ivan Rakitic liked playing football since childhood. He spent his childhood in Switzerland while training in local clubs.
  

  A childhood photo of Ivan Rakitic

• He often attended the nearest schools to save time in his commute so that he could give more time to football.

• He later enrolled at a technical college and studied to be a construction draftsman but did not finish his education due to his professional commitments.

• His father and elder brother played football which inspired him to pursue a football career. He later started training at FC Basel and played for age-group teams of the club.
  

  Ivan Rakitic during training in his early teenage years

• When he was 16 years old, he gave trials for reputed clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea, and Juventus but he chose to play for FC Basel regularly.

• Rakitic later played for Switzerland’s Under-17, Under-19, and Under-21 teams but later switched to Croatia national team after he was approached by Croatia national team coach Slaven Bilić.

• Many right-wing political groups and most of the public threatened Rakitic and his family for leaving Switzerland to play for Croatia at the international level.

• The Swiss government also cancelled his father’s application for Swiss citizenship. Rakitic later said that he knew that he would see such things but he was focused on his football career.

• On 15 April 2006, he played his first match in the Swiss Super League for FC Basel against Neuchâtel Xamax.
  

  Ivan Rakitic playing for FC Basel

• On 22 June 2007, the German club Schalke 04 signed him up for €5 million.

• On 10 August 2007, he played his first match for Schalke 04 against VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga league and scored his first goal for the club in the match.

• On 12 September 2007, he scored his first international goal for Croatia which was his second match for the team.

• On 18 September 2007, he played his debut UEFA Champions League match for Schalke 04 against Valencia which they lost.
  

  Ivan Rakitic playing for Schalke 04

• In Euro 2008, he helped his national team to qualify for the quarterfinals which they lost to Turkey.

• He played 10 matches in the FIFA 2010 World Cup Qualifiers Tournament and scored 3 goals but Croatia failed to qualify for the tournament.

• On 28 January 2011, the Spanish club Sevilla signed a four-and-a-half-year contract for €2.5 million.

• On 6 February 2011, he played his first La Liga match for Sevilla against Málaga CF.
  

  Ivan Rakitic playing for Sevilla FC

• Rakitic’s love story began when he saw Raquel Mauri on the first night in Sevilla as she worked as a bartender at the bar of the hotel where he stayed. His elder brother was with him, and he told him that he would marry her.

• He later learned Spanish from local TV channels and radio stations. After 7 months, he went on a first date with Mauri and later married her.
  

  Ivan Rakitic with Raquel Mauri (right)

• He became captain of Sevilla FC before the 2013–14 La Liga season.

• He later played in the 2012 and 2016 editions of the Euro and 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil.
  

  Ivan Rakitic playing for Croatia in the 2014 FIFA World Cup

• On 16 June 2014, he signed a five-year contract with FC Barcelona for €18 million. On 24 August 2014, he made his La Liga debut for Barcelona against Elche CF.
  

  Ivan Rakitic (right) after signing with FC Barcelona

• On 21 September 2014, he scored his first goal for Barcelona against Levante UD.

• In the 2014-2015 season, Rakitic helped Barcelona to become two-time winners of the treble of domestic league, domestic cup and European Cup. They became the first club to achieve this feat.
  

  Ivan Rakitic playing for FC Barcelona

• In July 2016, he was on a summer holiday with his family in Ugljan, a Croatian island, where an unknown attacker threw a stone that broke the window of the house. He later left the island.

• In July 2017, during El Clasico (Real Madrid vs Barcelona), he got into a verbal fight with the referee Jair Marrufo and later claimed that Marrufo insulted him 3 times in the match.
  

  Ivan Rakitic during a verbal fight with the referee, Jair Marrufo (left)

• In September 2017, he revealed that he wanted to go to the city centre of Las Ramblas on the day when the Barcelona terrorist attack took place and would have been caught in the attack but his wife requested him to let his daughters play in the nearby park instead of going to city centre due to which his life got saved.

• When Croatia reached the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia, he jokingly said he would get a tattoo on his forehead if Croatia won. France defeated them in the final by scores of 4-2, with 2 goals from Karim Benzema.
  

  Ivan Rakitic while playing in the 2018 FIFA World Cup

• On 11 September 2018, he played his 100th match for Croatia, a 0–6 loss to Spain in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League.

• On 2 March 2019, Rakitić helped Barcelona defeat Real Madrid by scoring the match’s only goal. After the game, former Real Madrid manager José Mourinho praised him as ‘one of the most underrated players in the world.’

• On 13 June 2020, he played his 300th match for Barcelona, a 4-0 win against Mallorca. He was later included in the Barcelona Legends List but several critics claimed that he did not get the fame and hype he deserved during his playing time.
  

  Ivan Rakitic with the trophies he won while playing for FC Barcelona

• On 1 September 2020, he returned to Sevilla on a four-year contract for €1.5 million.

• On 21 September 2020, the Croatian Football Federation announced that Rakitić had retired from international football.

• On 23 August 2021, he played his 200th match for Sevilla, a 1–0 win against Getafe CF.
  

  Ivan Rakitic being given a t-shirt after playing his 200th match for Sevilla FC

• In 2023, he launched a wine brand Union in partnership with Cria Cuervos. He also likes to drink wine during parties or celebrations.
  

  Ivan Rakitic during the launch of his wine brand

• In January 2024, he signed a contract with Saudi club Al-Shabab for €15 million.
  

  Ivan Rakitic taking a free kick for Al-Shabab FC

• On 16 February 2024, he made his debut in the Saudi Pro League for Al-Shabab FC against Damac FC.

• Rakitic’s style of playing football is praised due to his good stamina and defensive skills which include good technique, close control, vision, passing, and an ability to read the game.

• He can stop the attack from opposing teams and make passes to create attacks. He is also known for scoring goals from long distances.

• He speaks six languages which are Croatian, German, Spanish, English, French, and Italian.

• He is a wildlife lover.
  

  Ivan Rakitic and his wife with a horse

• Here are the statistics of Rakitic’s international career: