page_title: Branislav Ivanović
section_title: Senior team
hierarchical_section_title: Branislav Ivanović / International career / Senior team
caption_attribution_description: English: Branislav Ivanović
context_page_description: Branislav Ivanović is a Serbian professional footballer. A versatile defender, Ivanović plays as a right back, although he can also play as a centre back.
  Ivanović began his career with hometown club FK Srem. In January 2004 he transferred to top division side OFK Beograd. Two years later, he moved to Russia to play for Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Premier League, where he would spend two seasons, winning his first honour, the 2007 Russian Cup. In January 2008, Ivanović was signed by Premier League side Chelsea for a £9 million fee. He won nine major honours with Chelsea, including three Premier League titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. Overall, he made 377 appearances and scored 34 goals, making him one of only five foreign players to appear in over 300 matches for the club and putting him behind only John Terry in terms of goals scored by a defender for Chelsea. Additionally, Ivanović was twice named in the PFA Team of the Year. He returned to Russia in February 2017, joining Zenit on a free transfer.
context_section_description: Ivanović received his first cap on 8 June 2005 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, when Serbia and Montenegro played a friendly against Italy, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for his club teammate Marko Baša in an eventual 1–1 draw. He was not included at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and did not play an international again until after the country's dissolution that year.
  Ivanović scored his first international goal on 12 September 2007 in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Portugal in Lisbon; following a Dejan Stanković in-swinging freekick, he scored with two minutes remaining to seal a 1–1 draw.
  Despite not having a regular spot at his club side Chelsea at the time, Ivanović continued being the automatic starting choice for Serbia at the start of qualification for the 2010 World Cup under new head coach Radomir Antić, scoring three goals in nine matches as they reached the finals in South Africa. He played every minute at the final tournament, a group stage exit.
  On 28 February 2012, Ivanović scored on his first appearance as captain, a 2–0 friendly win over Armenia in Cyprus. Under Siniša Mihajlović, he played as a centre-back during several friendly matches before returning to play as a right-back regularly. On 28 December 2013, Ivanović was named Serbian Footballer of the Year becoming the third player to win the award twice (others including Nemanja Vidić and Dejan Stanković) and the first Serbian player ever to win it in consecutive years. Ivanović scored twice for the first time in an international on 7 June 2015, as Serbia defeated Azerbaijan 4–1 in a friendly in Austria.
  In June 2018, he was included in the final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. There he appeared on two matches, against Costa Rica and Switzerland, and he became the player with most appearances for the Serbian football team in its history, having played 105 matches.
caption: Ivanović playing for Serbia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
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