Croatian footballer, 25, collapses and dies during a match

Boban, who played for Marsonia in his homeland, was the leading marksman in the third tier (pictured in blue). Photo / Instagram

A Croatian footballer collapsed and died during a match aged just 25.

Bruno Boban, who played for Marsonia in his homeland, was the leading marksman in the third tier.

Just 15 minutes into a game against Croatian team Slavonija Pozega on Saturday, the ball hit Boban in the chest at close range.

He appeared to be okay at first and continued playing, but suddenly fell to the ground and seemed to lose consciousness.

Players immediately called for help and medics spent 40 minutes trying to revive him, but he tragically passed away.

As the shocking events unfolded at the Gradski Stadion uz Savu in the Croatian city of Slavonski Brod, his teammates and opponents struggled to fight back tears.

Boban was born in the eastern city of Pozega and his club NK Marsonia, based in Slavonski Brod, was founded in 1909.

His cause of death is not yet clear.

The footballer posted a picture to his Instagram account in 2014 of him lying in a hospital bed wearing a white gown.

He captioned it 'operation performed successfully'.

Weeks later he posted another picture of his leg with his thigh covered in electric shock pads during what appears to be a therapy session.

News of his tragic death comes three weeks after Fiorentina captain Davide Astori passed away in his sleep before a Serie A match with Udinese.