Ardian Ismajli (born 30 September 1996) is a 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 ...

who plays as a centre-back for club Empoli. Born in Kosovo, he plays for the Albania national team.

Club career

Early career

Ismajli went through the ranks of

First Football League of Kosovo The First Football League of Kosovo ( sq, Liga e Parë e Futbollit të Kosovës) is the second level of the Kosovar football league system. The First League is organized by the Football Federation of Kosovo and the division currently has 2 group ...

side 2 Korriku from

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians an ...

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 ...

. He made his senior debut in the second half of the 2013–14 season and in mid-2015, Ismajli went on a one season loan to

Football Superleague of Kosovo The Football Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, Superliga e Futbollit të Kosovës), also known as the ALBI MALL Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, ALBI MALL Superliga e Kosovës) for sponsorship reasons with Albi Mall, is the top level of the Kosovar football ...

side

Prishtina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

Hajduk Split

In February 2016, Ismajli signed a three and a half year scholarship contract with Croatian First Football League side Hajduk Split after a trial. Ismajli initially played for Hajduk Split II in the

3. HNL The Druga nogometna liga ( eng, Second football league), commonly Druga NL or 2. NL) is the third tier of the football league system. The league was established in 1991 following the dissolution of the Yugoslav League. It is operated by the Cro ...

. On 14 May 2016, he made his senior debut for Hajduk against

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

in the Croatian First Football League and playing the full 90 minutes as a central defender in a 3–2 win. Ismajli was booked in the 48th minute. In the 2016–17 season, Ismajli became a regular player under coach

Marijan Pušnik Marijan Pušnik (born 1 November 1960) is a Slovenian football manager. Managerial career Pušnik started his managerial career with Dravograd in 1994 but landed his first serious job as Celje manager in 2000. During his four years at Celje, his ...

. In the first match of the season, a 2016–17 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round match against Politehnica Iași in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, he was included in the match day squad, but did not participate in the match. Ismajli started the next match in a 2–0 league win over newly-promoted Cibalia and playing as right back. On 18 August 2016, he made his

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

debut in a 2–1 defeat against

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

Netanya Stadium The Netanya Stadium ( he, אצטדיון נתניה), commonly known as The Diamond Stadium, is a multi-use stadium in Netanya, Israel. It is used as the permanent home ground of Maccabi Netanya, and it has been used as the temporary homegroun ...

in the playoff round after being named in the starting line-up. On 21 August 2016, Ismajli scored his first goal for Hajduk in a 4–2 defeat against Rijeka at

Poljud Stadium Gradski stadion u Poljudu ( en, City Stadium in Poljud), better known as Stadion Poljud ( en, Poljud Stadium) or simply Poljud, is a multi-use stadium in Split, Croatia, which has been the home ground of Hajduk Split football club since 1979. ...

Spezia Calcio

In September 2020, Ismajli signed a three-year deal with Italian club

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest cit ...

. He joined the club ahead of their first ever season in the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

International career

Kosovo

Youth

On 5 June 2017, Ismajli received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for a

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition that determined the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Italy in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tourn ...

match against Norway U21 and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.

Senior

On 2 October 2016, Ismajli received a call-up from

for a

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

matches against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, but a day before joining with national team, he was injured during a

derby match A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violen ...

between

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

and Hajduk Split. On 29 May 2018, Ismajli made his debut with Kosovo in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Albania

Ismajli received the Albanian citizenship on 26 October 2018. On 7 November 2018, Ismajli received a call-up from

for the

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural 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 league phase of the competiti ...

match against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and

against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Albania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ismajli goal''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ismajli, Ardian 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Podujevo Kosovo Albanians Men's association football defenders Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Kosovo men's youth international footballers Kosovo men's under-21 international footballers Albanian men's footballers Albania men's international footballers Dual men's international footballers Football Superleague of Kosovo players FC Prishtina players Croatian Football League players Serie A players HNK Hajduk Split players Spezia Calcio players Empoli FC players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Albanian expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy