Lirim Kastrati (born 2 February 1999), also known as Lirim R. Kastrati, is a

Kosovar Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

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

right-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 Polish club

Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-white-reds). History ...

and the Kosovo national team.

Club career

Youth career

Bologna

On 23 July 2018, Kastrati signed a three-year contract with

Campionato Primavera 2 Campionato Primavera 2 is an Italian football youth competition. The first edition of the Campionato Primavera was held in the 1962–63 season, and a separate playoff for Serie B club took place. This tradition was discontinued after 1969. In ...

club

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. On 15 September 2018, he made his debut in a 1–1 home draw against

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, since ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Újpest

On 22 July 2020, Kastrati signed his first professional contract with

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, "National Championship"), also known as NB I, is the top level of the Hungarian football league system. The league is officially named OTP Bank Liga after its title sponsor OTP Bank. UEFA currently ranks the league 28th ...

side

Újpest Újpest (; german: Neu-Pest, en, New Pest) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary i ...

after agreeing to a four-year deal and receiving squad number 62. On 15 August 2020, he was named as a Újpest substitute for the first time in a Nemzeti Bajnokság I match against Paksi. His debut with Újpest came eight days later against

Budafoki MTE Budafoki Munkás Testedző Egyesület is a Hungarian football club from the town of Budafok, Budapest, Hungary. The club currently plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II. History The club was founded in 1912 as Világosság Football Club. At that ...

after being named in the starting line-up, and assists in his side's only goal during a 1–1 home draw.

Widzew Łódź

On 28 January 2024, Kastrati signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Polish

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

club

. He made his debut on 11 February, in a 1–3 loss with

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the Reserve Battalion in Białystok. Jagiellonia play their home g ...

International career

Albania

Under-17

On 16 October 2015, Kastrati was named as part of the Albania U17 squad for

2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification The 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification was a men's under-17 football competition organised by UEFA to determine the 15 national teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Azerbaijan in the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Champ ...

. On 22 October 2015, he made his debut with Albania U17 in a match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

Kosovo

First call-up

On 21 March 2017, Kastrati received his first 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 tour ...

match against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, he was an unused substitute in that match.

Promotion to the senior team

On 5 June 2017, Kastrati received a call-up from

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 ...

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 ...

match against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. On 9 October 2017, he made his debut with Kosovo in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

after coming on as a substitute at 78th minute in place of

Besar Halimi Besar Halimi (born 12 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Hallescher FC. Born in Germany, he plays for the Kosovo national team. Club career Early career Halimi first played for a local clu ...

Return to youth teams

=Under-19

= On 17 March 2018, Kastrati was named as part of the Kosovo U19 squad for 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite qualifications. On 21 March 2018, he made his debut with Kosovo U19 in a match against

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 ...

after being named in the starting line-up.

=Under-21

= On 27 May 2019, Kastrati returned to the Kosovo U21 and was called-up 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

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

and

. On 6 June 2019, he made his under-21 debut against

after being named in the starting line-up.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kastrati, Lirim 1999 births Living people People from Mališevo Kosovo Albanians Men's association football fullbacks Kosovan men's footballers Albanian men's footballers Kosovo men's youth international footballers Albania men's youth international footballers Kosovo men's under-21 international footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Újpest FC players Widzew Łódź players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Poland Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Poland