Florijana Ismaili (1 January 1995 – 29 June 2019) was a Swiss

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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

BSC YB Frauen BSC YB Frauen is a Swiss women's football team representing BSC Young Boys in the Nationalliga A. Founded in 1970 as women's division of FC Bern, it is the second most successful team in the championship with 11 titles between 1978 and 201 ...

of Switzerland's Nationalliga A. She was a member of the Switzerland national team.

Early life

Ismaili was born in Switzerland to parents of

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 ...

origins.

International career

Ismaili debuted for

Switzerland women's national football team The Switzerland women's national football team represents Switzerland in international women's football. The team played its first match in 1972. Switzerland qualified for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada by winning their qualifyin ...

January 2014, in a 2–1 win over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. On 27 November 2015, she scored for Switzerland against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in a

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying The UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying competition was a women's football competition that determined the 15 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Netherlands in the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 final tournament. A total of 46 UEFA member nati ...

match. On 28 November 2017, she scored twice for Switzerland in a 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying match 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 ...

. 15 days before her death, she played in her final match for Switzerland on 14 June 2019 against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Death

On 29 June 2019, Ismaili dived into the water from a boat diving platform while on holiday at

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, but did not resurface. The next day, she was declared missing. Local authorities conducted an investigation, including using

remotely operated underwater vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''. Definition This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the ai ...

s (ROV). On 2 July, Ismaili's body was found at the bottom of Lake Como at a depth of 204 metres (669 feet). An

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

revealed that the cause of death was "an acute episode of

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

Career statistics

International (2014–2019)

International goals

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

References

External links

Profile
at

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

1995 births 2010s missing person cases 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2019 deaths Deaths by drowning Deaths in Italy Formerly missing people Missing person cases in Italy Swiss Women's Super League players People from Aarberg Switzerland women's international footballers Swiss people of Albanian descent Swiss women's footballers Women's association football forwards Women's association football midfielders BSC YB Frauen players Sportspeople from the canton of Bern {{Switzerland-footy-midfielder-stub