Ermin Bičakčić (; born 24 January 1990) is a Bosnian 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

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 ...

club

1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 189 ...

and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Bičakčić started his professional career at

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

, playing mainly in its

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, before joining Eintracht Braunschweig in 2012. Two years later, he moved to 1899 Hoffenheim. Bičakčić represented

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Bosnia and Herzegovina at youth levels, but decided to represent the latter at senior level. He made his senior international debut in 2013, earning over 30

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since. Bičakčić represented the nation at their first major championship, the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Because of the outbreak of Bosnian War, Bičakčić's family fled from his native Bosnia and Herzegovina and moved to Germany, where he started playing football at local clubs, before joining

's youth academy in 2005. He made his professional debut against

Chemnitzer FC Chemnitzer Fußballclub e.V. is a German association football club based in Chemnitz, Saxony. The club competes in Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German football. The roots of the club go back to its establishment as Chemnitzer BC 19 ...

on 27 October 2010 at the age of 20. On 29 July 2011, he scored his first professional goal in a triumph over Wehen Wiesbaden. In January 2012, he switched to Eintracht Braunschweig.

1899 Hoffenheim

In May 2014, Bičakčić was transferred to

for an undisclosed fee. He made his official debut for the side in

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

game against

USC Paloma USC Paloma Hamburg is a German association football club from the city of Hamburg.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag History The club was formed in August 1909 by a group of sports-mad juveniles and takes its name fr ...

on 17 August and managed to score a goal. A week later, he made his league debut against

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 4 February 2015, he scored his first league goal in a loss to

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

. In September 2016, he extended his contract until June 2020. Bičakčić helped 1899 Hoffenheim make their first historical

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

appearance in 2018–19 season. On 23 October 2018, he debuted in the competition against

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

. He played his 100th game for the team on 19 December. Bičakčić signed a new three-year deal with the club in May 2019. In September 2020, he suffered a severe knee injury, which was diagnosed as anterior cruciate ligament tear and was ruled out for at least six months. He returned to the pitch on 14 May 2022, over 19 months after the injury. In June, he put pen to paper on a new one-year contract.

International career

Despite representing

at under-18 level, Bičakčić decided to play for

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

at senior level. He was first part of Bosnia and Herzegovina under-19 team. In August 2013, his request to change sports citizenship from German to Bosnian was approved by FIFA. Later that month, he received his first senior call-up, for a friendly game 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 territori ...

, and debuted in that game on 14 August. On 10 September, in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, Bičakčić scored his first senior international goal. In June 2014, Bičakčić was named in Bosnia and Herzegovina's squad for 2014 FIFA World Cup, country's first major competition. He made his tournament debut in the opening group match against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 15 June.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bičakčić goal.''

References

External links