Esmir Bajraktarevic (born March 10, 2005) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a winger for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club New England Revolution.

Professional career

Bajraktarevic moved from Wisconsin to

Foxborough, Massachusetts Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 at ...

to join the Revolution Academy in August 2021. He signed a professional contract with New England Revolution II on November 18, 2021. He signed a homegrown contract with the first team on May 23, 2022. In doing so he became the 9th homegrown player to sign for the Revolution first team, and the first from the club's residency program. Esmir made his MLS debut on August 17, 2022, appearing as a second-half substitute in a 2-2 draw against Toronto FC. He'd make his first start three days later on August 20, 2022, in the Revolution's 4-0 loss to

CF Montréal CF Montréal is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Montreal Impact (french: Impact de Montréal, links=no), ...

. Esmir spent the 2022 MLS offseason training with AZ Alkmaar. He scored his first professional goal, a 78th minute equalizer against

Querétaro F.C. Querétaro Fútbol Club, also called ''Gallos Blancos de Querétaro'', is a Mexican professional football club based in Querétaro City. Querétaro plays in the Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system. Their colors are blue, ...

in the Leagues Cup, on August 8, 2023. He recorded his first assist for the Revolution first team on February 29, 2024 in the club's 3-0 win over

C.A. Independiente de La Chorrera Club Atlético Independiente de La Chorrera, also known as CAI or CAI de La Chorrera, is a Panamanian football club based in La Chorrera that currently plays in the Liga Panameña de Fútbol. History CAI, as the club is often called, was found ...

in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

International career

At 17 years old, Bajraktarevic received a call-up to the United States under-19 national team ahead of the Slovenia Nation's Cup. He has additionally earned two call-ups to the United States under-20 national team, the first coming as an invitation to the team's January Camp, where, at 16 years old, he was the youngest member of the team's roster. In April, he rejoined the team for training camp in April 2022 ahead of the

2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will be the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (28th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It will be hosted in Honduras, ...

. On October 8, 2023, Bajraktarevic was called up to the United States under-23 national team ahead of friendlies against Mexico and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. On January 5, 2024, Bajraktarevic received his first call-up to the senior

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

ahead of the friendly against Slovenia.

Career statistics

International

Personal life

Born in the United States, Bajraktarević is of Bosnian descent. His family is from Srebrenica.

References

External links

* * 2005 births Living people American men's soccer players Soccer players from Wisconsin Sportspeople from Appleton, Wisconsin Men's association football midfielders Muslims from Wisconsin New England Revolution II players New England Revolution players USL League One players American people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent American people of Bosniak descent MLS Next Pro players Homegrown Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players United States men's international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players {{US-footy-midfielder-stub