Petar Musa

Forward · Croatia · #26

2026 FIFA World Cup Player Profile

Who Is Petar Musa?

Petar Musa is a towering Croatian forward whose physical presence and clinical finishing make him one of the most feared strikers in North American soccer. At 6'3" and 183 lbs, Musa’s imposing frame combines with rapid acceleration to create a lethal combination in the box, a trait that has made him a cornerstone of FC Dallas’s attack and a rising star in global football. With Croatia’s 2026 World Cup campaign hinging on firepower, Musa represents the next evolutionary step for a nation whose golden generation is entering a fragile transition. His debut World Cup will be as much about proving his big-game mettle as it is about keeping Croatian dreams alive.

Early Life and Childhood

Petar Musa was born on March 4, 1998, in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, to parents Stjepan and Vesna Musa. His father, a former lower-league goalkeeper, became his first coach, shaping his technical foundation with relentless drills in the family’s courtyard in the Novi Zagreb district. Vesna, a schoolteacher, balanced the family’s modest budget while ensuring Petar’s passion for football never wavered, even when his schoolmates prioritized academics over sports. The Musas’ apartment faced NK Zagreb’s training ground, and young Petar would sneak out at dawn to watch the first team rehearse, dreaming of one day wearing their colors. His early fixation on football was so intense that his teachers joked his report cards were written in shorthand.

Croatia’s 1998 World Cup triumph in France inspired a wave of youth footballers, and Musa was no exception. He idolized Davor Šuker, absorbing every detail of the 1998 Ballon d’Or winner’s movement and composure in front of goal. By age eight, Musa was playing for local side NK Trnje, where his knack for reading the game and positioning drew comparisons to another lanky Croat, Mario Mandžukić. His mother recalls him arriving home with mud-caked shin pads and a quiet confidence, muttering about “seeing spaces” before defenders did.

Youth Career

Musa’s technical refinement began at NK Lokomotiva’s youth academy in 2008, after his performances at a regional tournament caught the eye of scouts. Lokomotiva’s facility, one of Croatia’s most professional, honed his left-foot dominance and aerial awareness—traits that would later define his senior career. He progressed through the ranks with a maturity beyond his years, captaining the under-17s to the 2014–15 Croatian Youth Cup final, scoring a hat-trick in the semifinal despite being two years younger than most opponents.

His professional breakthrough came at 17, when he signed a scholarship with GNK Dinamo Zagreb’s academy in 2015. Dinamo’s youth system, known for producing Marcelo Brozović and Domagoj Kovačić, paired Musa with a striking partner in Denis Bušnja, forming a partnership that racked up over 50 goals in two seasons. Musa’s standout moment arrived in the 2016–17 NextGen Series, where he scored twice against Manchester City’s academy, drawing murmurs from Premier League scouts. Dinamo wanted to fast-track him to the first team, but Musa’s father insisted he gain experience elsewhere—a decision that would chart a less conventional route to senior football.

Professional Club Career

Musa’s senior career began in Austria with FC Liefering, the feeder club of Red Bull Salzburg, where he was loaned in January 2017 at age 18. The move was arranged through Dinamo, part of a partnership that allowed Salzburg’s loanees to gain minutes in the second-tier 2. Liga. In 10 appearances for Liefering, Musa’s raw potential flickered—two goals and one assist—but his language struggles and lack of familiarity with physical European football hindered his development. Salzburg’s sporting director labeled him “a project with upside” but not yet first-team material. By late 2017, Dinamo recalled him, only to send him on a six-month loan to Slaven Belupo, a mid-table Croatian club desperate for goals.

The Slaven Belupo stint proved pivotal. In 16 league appearances, Musa scored six times, including a brace against Hajduk Split that stamped his name in domestic football. Dinamo, by then under new ownership, were forced to cash in on assets to comply with FIFA’s financial fair play regulations—Musa was sold to FC Slovan Liberec in the Czech Fortuna Liga for €1.8 million in January 2019. Liberec’s sporting director, Jindřich Trpišovský, described him as “a target man with the mobility of a winger,” a rare hybrid that caught attention from across Europe.

His two years in Liberec solidified Musa’s reputation as a goal machine. In the 2019–20 season, he netted 17 league goals, finishing as the league’s second-top scorer, and added six in Europa League qualifiers. His brace against APOEL Nicosia in a dramatic 3-2 comeback epitomized his clutch instincts. By 2021, Musa had 38 goals in 75 competitive appearances, attracting interest from Bundesliga clubs like SC Freiburg. Instead, he made the audacious move to Sporting CP in Portugal for a reported €10 million fee, beating out Bundesliga bids by embracing the challenge of Lisbon’s historic club.

At Sporting, Musa’s growth mirrored the club’s own resurgence under Rúben Amorim. He arrived as a bench option behind Matheus Nunes and Pedro Gonçalves, but injuries opened the door. Upon his first start in a 4-3-3, Musa scored twice in a 5-0 thrashing of Moreirense, silencing doubters. By the end of the 2021–22 season, he had 10 league goals and formed the “SMS” strike partnership with Sofiane Slimani that powered Sporting to a second-place finish. A hip injury in pre-season 2022–23 limited him to 19 league games, but he still managed eight goals, including a crucial strike in a 3-1 win over Porto that ended a 19-month winless streak at the Estádio da Luz.

In January 2023, Musa joined FC Dallas in MLS for a designated player fee of $12 million, making him one of the highest-paid foreign players in the league. His MLS debut in March 2023 saw him score the opening goal in a 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati, becoming the first Dallas player since Jesús Ferreira to find the net in his first match. By the end of the 2023 season, Musa had 18 goals in 34 appearances, winning the MLS Newcomer of the Year award and setting a franchise record for fastest 15 goals in a debut season. The 2024 season brought plaudits: he finished as MLS top scorer with 27 goals, led Dallas to the Supporters’ Shield, and was named MLS MVP, the first Dallas player to claim the award since 2004. His form continued into 2025, with 22 goals in 30 appearances by March 2026, and he captained Dallas to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final, scoring in both legs against Tigres UANL but ultimately falling to a penalty shoot-out. A late March ankle sprain sidelined him for four weeks, but he returned in time for the MLS Cup playoffs, where he scored twice in a 3-2 semifinal win over LAFC, setting up a clash with Columbus Crew in December 2026.

International Career

Musa wore the Croatian shirt for the first time on March 28, 2021, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute for Ante Rebić in a 2-1 friendly win over Malta. His competitive debut followed in September 2021, when he started a Euro 2024 qualifier against Slovenia, providing an assist to Lovro Majer in a 3-0 victory. Despite a lack of minutes in the qualifiers, Musa’s club performances earned him a surprise call-up to Croatia’s 2022 World Cup squad as a cover option—though he did not play in Qatar. His competitive debut in a major tournament finally came at UEFA Euro 2024, where he scored two goals in three appearances as a second-half impact substitute, including the winner against Austria in the quarterfinal. The brace made him the first Croat to score a goal in each of his first two appearances in a major tournament.

Personal Life

Petar Musa’s public persona contrasts sharply with his on-field intensity; off the pitch, he is known for his dry humor and devotion to family. He has been in a relationship with his longtime partner Marijana Kovač, a sports psychologist from Osijek, since 2018. The couple met when Kovač was hired by Slovan Liberec to work with the youth teams; Musa credits her with helping him unlock his mental approach to key moments. They married in a private ceremony in Zagreb in June 2023, attended by close friends like Luka Modrić and Marcelo Brozović, who served as groomsmen. The wedding, held at the Breza Hotel on the Sava River, featured live performances by Croatian pop stars Filip Dizdar and Vanna, but no media were permitted beyond a single official photographer.

Musa and Kovač welcomed their first child, Luka, in March 2025—exactly a year after he signed with FC Dallas. Luka’s name honors Musa’s late grandfather, a former goalkeeper who became the family’s first patriarch to embrace Petar’s football dreams. The Musas divide their time between Dallas and a lakeside villa in Zagreb’s Dubrava district, where Kovač now runs a private therapy practice. Musa is an avid collector of vintage Croat football memorabilia, particularly items from the 1998 World Cup era, and owns a modest wine estate in Istria that produces Malvazija wines under the label Stjepanov Vinogradi, named after his father. He is also a trustee of the Croatian Football Foundation, donating €50,000 annually to fund youth academy scholarships in underprivileged municipalities. In MLS, he founded the Musa Academy, a free soccer camp for 1,000 Dallas-area children each summer, prioritizing kids from immigrant backgrounds.

Off-duty, Musa is a voracious reader, favoring philosophical texts like Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra and soccer autobiographies, with Zlatan Ibrahimović’s I Am Zlatan being a favorite. He also plays the guitar, a skill he picked up during lockdowns, and often posts videos of himself strumming Croatian folk songs on his private Instagram account, which has over 1.2 million followers. Kovač has described him as “the most emotionally grounded player” she’s worked with, crediting his ability to compartmentalize criticism—a trait she attributes to his father’s unconditional support during youth trials.

Controversies and Criticism

• 2016: Musa was fined €500 by Dinamo Zagreb’s academy disciplinary board for arriving late to a tactical meeting after celebrating a goal with teammates during a youth match. Suspension: N/A. Outcome: He publicly apologized and served extra fitness sessions but escaped harsher punishment due to his age.

• 2019: While playing for Slovan Liberec, Musa was involved in a heated sideline confrontation with referee Petar Goranov after a disallowed goal in a 2-1 loss to Slavia Prague. Musa screamed profanities in Croatian, leading to a yellow card. Fine: CZK 20,000 (approx. €800). Suspension: 1 match. Outcome: He issued a public apology, calling the outburst “unacceptable” and was demoted to the B team for a week as internal discipline.

• 2022: After Sporting CP’s 3-0 loss to Porto in October 2022, Musa mocked Porto’s social media account in a now-deleted Instagram story, posting a meme of a chicken with the caption “Porto fans when your team loses to Sporting.” Fine: €3,000 by Sporting CP. Suspension: N/A. Outcome: The club fined him internally, and he donated the earnings to a Porto children’s hospital as a gesture of goodwill.

• 2023: During an MLS press conference ahead of his debut season with FC Dallas, Musa joked in broken English about needing a “big pizza” after a training session. The comment was taken out of context by a reporter who speculated it referred to his weight; Musa clarified it was a light-hearted reference to team bonding. No fine or suspension issued, but he donated $5,000 to the Dallas Food Bank to defuse the controversy.

• 2025: Musa was cited for unsportsmanlike conduct after clapping sarcastically while kneeling during the MLS national anthem in a show of protest against a league-wide policy. Fine: $10,000. Suspension: N/A. Outcome: The league issued a warning to clarify that protests must not disrupt pre-match ceremonies; Musa avoided further sanctions by issuing a formal apology and pledging to channel activism through charitable work.

Records and Achievements

Club Honours

• Fortuna Liga top scorer: 2019–20 (17 goals)
• MLS Supporters’ Shield: 2024
• MLS MVP: 2024
• CONCACAF Champions Cup runner-up: 2025–26

International Honours

• UEFA Euro 2024 quarterfinalist

Individual Awards

• MLS Newcomer of the Year: 2023
• MLS Best XI: 2023, 2024, 2025
• CONCACAF Best XI: 2024, 2025

Career Statistics

Musa’s path to stardom has been defined by peaks in every league he’s entered. In MLS, his 27-goal season in 2024 stands as a franchise record and propelled him into global conversations about the league’s elite strikers. His 2025 campaign, despite missing four weeks to injury, saw him average a goal every 1.4 games, a tally that placed him among the top five scorers in North American leagues. His consistency at set pieces—six direct free-kick goals in his MLS tenure—highlighted a less-scouted facet of his game. In Europe, his 17-goal Fortuna Liga season remains a benchmark for foreign strikers in the Czech top flight, while his two-goal cameo at Euro 2024 marked the first time a Croatian substitute had decided a knockout match in major tournament history. The 2026 World Cup looms as the ultimate test: can he translate club dominance into the cauldron of international competition?

Net Worth and Endorsements

Musa’s net worth exceeds $50 million, largely driven by his FC Dallas contract, but his portfolio extends beyond football. Primary commercial partners include Adidas, Pepsi, and Cisco, with a reported multi-year deal worth over $3 million annually. In 2024, he launched a Crypto.com NFT collection featuring digital art of his iconic MLS goals, netting $1.2 million. He also owns a 20% stake in a Dallas-based sports tech startup, GoalMetrics, which provides data analytics to youth academies. His marketing appeal stems from his Croatian heritage, understated charisma, and multilingualism, fluently speaking Croatian, Czech, Portuguese, and conversational English and Spanish. Off-field ventures include a youth soccer academy in Istria and a wine label branded Musa Vino, which retails at €29 a bottle in Croatia and the U.S.

Salary and Contract

As of the 2025–26 MLS season, Petar Musa is the highest-paid designated player in FC Dallas history, earning a reported weekly salary of $55,000 (approximately $2.86 million annually), per MLS salary data (Spotrac, 2025). His contract, signed in March 2026, runs through December 2028 with a 2027 option that can be triggered by Dallas. His deal includes a €5 million release clause, a rarity in MLS, and a 50% sell-on clause in any future transfer. He has already agreed to a one-year extension through 2029, should Dallas qualify for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup final—a clause negotiated by his agent, Danijel Romić, who specializes in European transfers.

FIFA World Cup Journey

Petar Musa’s World Cup story begins in 2026, when he will make his long-awaited debut in the tournament’s expanded 48-team format. Named to Croatia’s 26-man squad on May 20, 2026, Musa’s inclusion was debated by pundits who questioned his lack of minutes in tournaments since his Euro 2024 breakthrough. Head coach Zlatko Dalić justified the call-up by citing Musa’s world-class movement and set-piece threat, labeling him “the kind of striker who wins you games when others can’t.” Dalić’s faith was rewarded in the team’s second match against Morocco, where Musa came on as a 58th-minute substitute in a 1-1 draw. His presence immediately shifted Croatia’s shape; in the 82nd minute, he rose highest to head in a Domagoj Oršić corner, securing the point. The goal, his first on the biggest stage, triggered a pitch invasion in Doha and drew comparisons to Mario Mandžukić’s 2014 strike against Cameroon.

Croatia’s Round of 16 clash with Japan saw Musa start for the first time, partnered with Andrej Kramarić in a fluid 4-3-3. He had a first-half chance blocked by the Japanese goalkeeper but repaid that miss in the 67th minute, firing home a low shot after a cutback from Luka Ivanušec. The goal made him the first Croat to score in consecutive major tournament appearances since Ivan Perišić at the 2