Andi Zeqiri (born 22 June 1999) is a Swiss professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a striker for

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

club

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, on loan from

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. He is a Swiss international and has made seven caps at senior level to date.

Club career

Early career and Lausanne

At the age of nine, Zeqiri started playing football for local team Stade Lausanne-Ouchy, where after three years he was transferred to

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, playing with the youth teams in 24 matches and scoring 15 goals. On 22 May 2015, Zeqiri made his professional debut in a 2–1 away defeat against Le Mont, coming on as a substitute in the 71st minute in place of Anđelko Savić.

Loan at Juventus

On 30 August 2016, Zeqiri joined

Campionato Primavera 2 Campionato Primavera 2 is an Italian football youth competition. The first edition of the Campionato Primavera was held in the 1962–63 season, and a separate playoff for Serie B club took place. This tradition was discontinued after 1969. In ...

side Juventus Youth, on a season-long loan with an option to buy. On 1 October 2016, he made his debut in a 2–0 home win against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

after coming on as a substitute in the 68th minute in place of

Moise Kean Bioty Moise Kean (, ; born 28 February 2000) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Serie A club Juventus F.C., Juventus and the Italy national football team, Italy ...

Return from loan

On 1 July 2017, Zeqiri returned to

side

. On 12 August 2017, he played the first game after the return in the 2017–18 Swiss Cup first round against NK Pajde Möhlin after coming on as a substitute at 89th minute in place of

Gabriel Torres Gabriel Arturo Torres Tejada (born 31 October 1988) is a Panamanian professional footballer who plays for Deportes Antofagasta and the Panama national team. Career Club He was widely regarded as the top prospect from Panama and in 2007 he t ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 1 October 2020, Zeqiri signed a four-year contract with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

. He made his debut for ''The Seagulls'' in a 1–1 home draw against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

on 20 December coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute. He made his first start for ''The Seagulls'' on 10 January 2021 in a third round FA Cup tie away at Newport County where Brighton eventually won on penalties with Zeqiri being replaced in the 63rd minute. Zeqiri came on as a substitute in Brighton's 1–0 away victory over defending champions Liverpool on 3 February claiming their first league win at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

since 1982. A few months later, he came on as a substitute in another huge win, Brighton's 3–2 home victory over champions

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

on 18 May, with fans returning to football, in which ''The Seagulls'' went from 2–0 down to beat ''The Sky Blues'' for the first time since 1989. Zeqiri scored his first Brighton goal in his first game of the 2021–22 season scoring ''Albions second in the 2–0 EFL Cup second round away win over

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in what was also his

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

debut.

FC Augsburg (loan)

On 30 August 2021, it was announced that Zeqiri had signed for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

on loan for the 2021–22 season. He made his debut on 11 September, coming on as a substitute in the 0–0 away draw at

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

. Zeqiri scored his first goal for the club on 2 October, scoring the equaliser in an eventual 2–1 away loss against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

FC Basel (loan)

On 2 August 2022, it was confirmed that Zeqiri had returned to his home country and joined Swiss Super League side

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

on a one season loan. He joined Basel's first team for their 2022–23 season under head coach

Alexander Frei Alexander Frei or Alex Frei (born 15 July 1979) is a Swiss professional football coach and a former player who played as a forward. He is currently the manager of Basel. He began his career at Basel, going on to various other clubs in Switzerla ...

and made his debut two days later. The game was in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the

2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League is the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final will be played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. The winner ...

, an away game on 4 August against danish club Brøndby. He scored his first goal for his new club one week later on 11 August, the return leg in the

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

, as Basel won 3–1 on penalties to qualify for the next round. Zeqiri played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game on 7 August as Basel played a goalless draw against

Young Boys Bern BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, rea ...

. He scored his first league goal for them in the away game in the

Letzigrund is a stadium in Zürich, Switzerland, and the home of the athletics club LC Zürich, and the football clubs FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich. LC Zürich is a spin-off of FC Zürich whose members constructed the stadium in 1925. Grasshopper ...

on 28 August. In fact he scored two goals as Basel won 4–2 against

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

International career

Youth career with Switzerland

Since 2013, Zeqiri is part of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

at youth international level, respectively part of the U15, U16, U17, U18, U19,

U20 U20 or U-20 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , a sloop of the Royal Navy * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Great truncated cuboctahedron * Meizu U20, a smartphone * Roland U-20, a synthesizer * Small nucleolar RNA SN ...

and U21 teams and he with these teams played 61 matches and scored 29 goals.

Proposed Kosovo switch

On 17 June 2020, Zeqiri's father confirmed that Zeqiri had obtained the

Kosovan passport The passport of Kosovo ( sq, Pasaporta e Kosovës; sr, Косовски пасош / ) is a travel document that is issued to the citizens of Kosovo. The document facilitates international travel as well as serving as proof of citizenship. The i ...

and will start the process of completing the necessary documents, which would allow him to play for

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

immediately after the end of the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ch ...

with Switzerland U21s. On 26 August 2020,

Agim Ademi Agim Ademi (born 19 October 1961) is a Kosovan football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Football Federation of Kosovo from 6 July 2018. Life and career Agim Ademi was born on 19 October 1961 into an Albanian ...

, president of

Football Federation of Kosovo The Football Federation of Kosovo ( sq, Federata e Futbollit e Kosovës; FFK) is the governing body of football in Kosovo, with headquarters in Pristina. The Football Federation of Kosovo was established in 1946 as a branch of the Football Associa ...

, confirmed that Zeqiri was planned to be called up to Kosovo in September 2020 for the

2020–21 UEFA Nations League The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septembe ...

matches against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, but due to problems with documentation, could not be part of the team.

European U21 Championships

On 15 March 2021, Zeqiri was named as part of the Switzerland U21's squad for 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He played in all three of Switzerland's group matches, including playing the whole match of the 1–0 victory over England U21's as they finished third in Group D and not qualifying for the knockouts as a result.

Pledging future with Switzerland

Euro 2020 call-up

Zeqiri pledged his international career to

after he was named in Switzerland's 29-man preliminary squad for

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

on 19 May 2021, this also being his first call-up for the Swiss senior side. The tournament took place in the summer of 2021, postponed from the previous year as a result of

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

. He was an unused substitute in his first match day squad appearance; a 2–1 friendly win at home against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on 30 May 2021 in a warm up match for the Euros. A day later he was one of three players cut from the squad for the finals. He made his national debut on 1 September 2021, coming on as a substitute in the 2–1 friendly victory over

at home.

Personal life

Zeqiri was born in

, Switzerland to Kosovan Albanian parents from the village Talinoc i Muhaxhirëve of

Ferizaj Ferizaj, . or Uroševac, . Also formerly known as Ferizovići ( tr, Firzovik). is the sixth largest city in Kosovo by population and seat of Ferizaj Municipality and Ferizaj District. Ferizaj has been populated since the prehistoric era by t ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Lausanne *

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

: 2015–16, 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeqiri, Andi 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Lausanne Association football forwards Swiss footballers Switzerland youth international footballers Switzerland under-21 international footballers Switzerland international footballers Swiss expatriate footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in England Swiss people of Kosovan descent Swiss people of Albanian descent Kosovan footballers Kosovan expatriate footballers Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in England Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Swiss Challenge League players Swiss Super League players FC Lausanne-Sport players Premier League players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Bundesliga players FC Augsburg players