Betim Fazliji ( sq, Betim Fazlija; born 25 April 1999) is a Kosovan 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

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

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

and the Kosovo national team.

Club career

St. Gallen

On 21 June 2019, Fazliji signed his first professional contract with

side

after agreeing to a two-year deal. His debut with St. Gallen came on 27 July in a 1–2 away win against

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 ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

St. Pauli

On 15 June 2022, Fazliji joined

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

side

St. Pauli St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. ...

. His debut with St. Pauli came a day later in a 3–2 home win against

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...

after coming on as a substitute at last minutes in place of

Adam Dźwigała Adam Dźwigała (born 25 September 1995) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for FC St. Pauli. He is the son of former footballer Dariusz Dźwigała. Career Dźwigała scored his first goal in Ekstraklasa on 3 March 20 ...

Return to St. Gallen

In June 2023, after one season in Germany, Fazliji returned to St. Gallen on a four-year contract.

International career

Switzerland

In September 2019, Fazliji becomes part of Switzerland U20 with which he made his debut in a 2–2 away draw against Portugal U20 after coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute in place of Yannick Marchand. On 2 October 2020, he received a call-up from Switzerland U21 for

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 footballtournament that determined the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Hungary and Slovenia in the 2021 UEFA European Unde ...

matches against Georgia U21 and Liechtenstein U21, but Fazliji refused to join the team after he was in process of completing the necessary documents, which would allow him to play for Kosovo in November 2020 matches.

Kosovo

On 28 September 2020, Fazliji confirmed through an interview that he has started the process of completing the necessary documents which if completed in time, Fazliji would be ready to join with Kosovo national team in the next

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 in November 2020. On 3 November 2020, he received a call-up from Kosovo for the

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 ...

and 2020–21 UEFA Nations League matches against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and

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 ...

. Eight days later, Fazliji made his debut with Kosovo in a friendly match against Albania after being named in the starting line-up.

Personal life

Fazliji was born in

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. The municipality of Vranje has a population of 83,524 and its urban area has 60,485 inhabitants. Vranje is the economical, polit ...

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

parents from the village

Miratovac Miratovac ( sr, Миратовац; sq, Miratoc) is a village located in the municipality of Preševo Preševo ( sr-cyrl, Прешево; sq, Preshevë, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. It is the s ...

Preševo Preševo ( sr-cyrl, Прешево; sq, Preshevë, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. It is the southernmost town in Central Serbia and largest in the geographical region of Preševo Valley. Preševo ...

, and he is the second player of Kosovo that comes from the

Preševo Valley The Preševo Valley ( sr-cyrl, Прешевска долина, Preševska dolina, al, Lugina e Preshevës) is a geopolitical region in southern Serbia, along the border with Kosovo. The valley geographically includes municipalities of Bujanova ...

after Gjelbrim Taipi.

Career statistics

References

External links

* *
Betim Fazliji
at

FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the Swiss Super League. History Founde ...

1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Vranje Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Swiss people of Kosovan descent Swiss people of Albanian descent Sportspeople of Albanian descent Men's association football central defenders Swiss Super League players FC St. Gallen players 2. Bundesliga players FC St. Pauli players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany {{Kosovo-footy-bio-stub