Zlatko Hovland Tripić (born 2 December 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Viking FK. Born in Croatia, he represented Norway internationally.
Tripić has won six titles with various clubs, and won the Eliteserien Player of the Year award for 2024 He is the current holder of the Eliteserien assist record, after providing 19 assists in 20 games in 2026.
Club career Tripić was born in Rijeka, Croatia to Bosnian parents. When he was 9 months old, he moved to Norway with his parents and grew up in Lyngdal Municipality, playing youth football for Lyngdal IL. During his youth he attended a lot of Start's home matches. He moved to Sirdal Municipality in August 2008, and spent the next three years as a student at Sirdal VGS football. At the same time he joined Tonstad IL, playing league football for their first team at the sixth tier of the Norwegian football league pyramid. In his last match for Tonstad, at an indoor tournament, Tripic scored the winning goal when Tonstad beat Egersund IK by 2–1 in the final. Egersund, playing at level 3, was impressed by young Tripic, and signed him only two months later. Here, he played an instrumental role as his club pushed for promotion, going top of their league in early June after Tripic scored a goal direct from a free-kick against fellow promotion chasers Brodd.
After an impressive display against Viking in a 2011 Norwegian Football Cup first-round tie, he made headlines in several Norwegian newspapers. It was thought that Viking would be his next career stop, but in a hectic summer, where he had trials at both Strømsgodset and Molde, his move to Molde was completed in August 2011 for an undisclosed fee. He only made 11 league appearances for Egersund during the four months he stayed with the club.
He made his debut in Tippeligaen for Molde, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–1 win against Start before he had even trained with his new teammates. The club became league champions in late October.
The next year, Tripic was loaned out to Fredrikstad FK for the last part of the 2012 season, following Etzaz Hussain's transfer the other way around.
After the 2014 season had ended, Tripic moved to German 2. Bundesliga side Greuther Fürth, signing a contract until 2017.
On 3 August 2017, Tripic signed for FC Sheriff Tiraspol.
On 21 February 2018, after his contract with Sheriff Tiraspol had been terminated, Tripić signed for Viking. In 2019, he led the club to the 2019 Norwegian Cup final as team captain. He scored the lone goal in the final, as Viking defeated Haugesund 1–0.
On 15 January 2020, Tripić signed for Turkish Süper Lig side Göztepe. On 3 May 2021, his contract with Göztepe was terminated by mutual consent.
On 7 May 2021, Tripić returned to his former club Viking, signing a five-year contract until the end of 2025. On 4 July 2024, his contract was extended until the end of 2026. Tripić was named Eliteserien Player of the Year after the 2024 Eliteserien season. In 2025 he became the first Eliteserien player to reach ten or more goals and ten or more assists three seasons in a row. On 28 November 2025, his contract was extended until the end of 2027. On 30 November 2025, Viking won the 2025 Eliteserien, the club's first league title since 1991, with Tripić as team captain. He was named in the Eliteserien Team of the Year in both 2024 and 2025. In the 2026 Eliteserien, Tripić's 19 assists set a new Eliteserien record with 8 games remaining to play, surpassing the previous record of 18, set by Bodø/Glimt's Philip Zinckernagel in 2020.
International career Tripic made his debut for Norway U21 in a friendly match against Netherlands U21 on 11 October 2012.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonDivisionLeagueNational cupEuropeTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsMolde2011Eliteserien9110—1012012Eliteserien12040201802013Eliteserien1825160293Total39310180574Fredrikstad (loan)2012Eliteserien10100—101Start2014Eliteserien28642—328Greuther Fürth2014–152. Bundesliga9000—902015–162. Bundesliga14010—1502016–172. Bundesliga13121—152Total36131—392Sheriff Tiraspol2017Moldovan National Division50003080Viking2018Norwegian First Division25710—2672019Eliteserien24563—308Total491273—5615Göztepe2019–20Süper Lig11011—1212020–21Süper Lig31320—333Total42331—454Viking2021Eliteserien23652—2882022Eliteserien20531622982023Eliteserien291331—32142024Eliteserien281010—29102025Eliteserien2511304132122026Eliteserien1662011197Total1415117411416959Career total35077441222441693
Honours Molde Eliteserien: 2011, 2012 Norwegian Cup: 2013
Sheriff Tiraspol Moldovan National Division: 2017
Viking Eliteserien: 2025 1. divisjon: 2018 Norwegian Cup: 2019
Individual Eliteserien Player of the Month: July 2023, May 2026 Eliteserien Player of the Year: 2024
References
External links
Profile for Egersunds IK