Mërgim Brahimi (born 8 August 1992) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

FC Wil FC Wil (''Fussball Club Wil 1900'') is a Association football, football club based in Wil, Switzerland. They play in the ''Sportpark Bergholz'', which has a total capacity of 6,048. The club has consistently played in the Swiss Challenge League, ...

. A youth international for

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, Brahimi represented the Albania national team before switching to the Kosovo national team.

Early life

Brahimi was born in

Istog Istog ( sq-definite, Istogu; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Исток, Istok) or Burim is a town and municipality located in the District of Peja of western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the city of Istog has 5,115 inhabitants, while the municipality has ...

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

to Kosovar Albanian parents. He lived in Istog for two years before moving to

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland along with his mother, brother and two sisters due to the growing tension in Kosovo. Prior to moving, his father had been living for a number of years in Switzerland as a

Gastarbeiter ; ; both singular and plural) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally considered t ...

. He then signed for local side FC Red Star Zürich in 1997 before being spotted by

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

in 2007.

Club career

Youth clubs

At the age of five, Brahimi signed for local side FC Red Star Zürich before being spotted by Grasshopper Zürich in 2007. Brahimi moved up the ranks of the youth divisions at Grasshopper Zürich, eventually playing for the under-21s in 2010. In the under-21s, Brahimi made a total of thirty two appearances and scored three goals before joining the senior team.

Grasshopper Club Zürich

Brahimi made his first team appearance against city rivals

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

on 2 October 2011. He came on in the 21st minute and made a good impact, in a game that was later abandoned due to

fan violence. A 3–0 victory was awarded to GC. Brahimi made his first starting appearance in the second round of the

Schweizer Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

against

FC Chiasso FC Chiasso is a Swiss football club based in Chiasso. It was founded in 1905. Chiasso also played in the Italian first league between 1914 and 1923. The team currently play in 3. Liga, the seventh tier of Swiss football. History Between 1927 ...

on 16 October 2011. He started the game and was substituted in the 77th minute for Davor Landeka in the 1–0 win.

Panionios

On 14 January 2018,

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), ...

officially announced the capture of Kosovo-Albanian Mërgim Brahimi. The 25-year-old international (with Kosovo National Team) attacking midfielder will replace experienced Iranian attacking midfielder Masoud Shojaei who recently joined rivals

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

FC Wil

On 3 June 2019, it was confirmed that Brahimi a two-year contract with

with an option to one further year.

International career

Originating from Kosovo with ethnic Albanian parents and raised in Switzerland, Brahimi was eligible to play for Switzerland, Albania and Kosovo if a national team should be formed, but in March 2011 he answered the call by Albania's Under-21 coach Artan Bushati for a non official friendly tournament held in

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. On 26 August 2011 Brahimi was called up by Switzerland U-20 for two friendlies against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in September, but he refused the offer and decided to represent Albania instead. He officially gained Albanian citizenship on 26 August 2011 along with his Grasshopper teammate Imran Bunjaku, in order to compete in the UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifiers .

Albania senior team

He received his first senior international call up for friendliest by Gianni De Biasi against

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in May 2012. Brahimi made his international debut on 27 May 2012 against Iran, at age of 19.

Switzerland under-21

Brahimi switched to play for

Switzerland national under-21 football team The Switzerland national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Switzerland and is controlled by the Swiss Football Association. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which is held every two ...

in 2013–15 season. He scored 2 goals in 4 qualifying matches.

Kosovo senior team

Brahimi switched his nationality again in 2015. He scored a brace in his debut match for

Kosovo national football team The Kosovo national football team (; ) represents Kosovo in men's international association football, football. The team is controlled by the Football Federation of Kosovo, the governing body for football in Kosovo, and is under the jurisdictio ...

, against

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

. He also played another match for Kosovo in November 2015. He was invited by Albert Bunjaki, in a friendly with

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

on 3 June 2016. That match was the first match of Kosovo as a member of FIFA. However, as he also played for national teams of Albania and Switzerland, his switch to Kosovo competitively was dependent on the approval of FIFA's Bureau of the Players' Status Committee. Brahimi and Football Federation of Kosovo had to submit a formal request to the committee in order to know the eligibility of Brahimi. To sum up, Brahimi played twice for Kosovo in friendlies, but did not made his competitive debut yet.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Mergim Brahimi
at FSHF (archived) *
Switzerland U21 stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahimi, Mergim 1992 births Living people People from Istog Footballers from the District of Peja Kosovan men's footballers 21st-century Kosovan sportsmen Kosovo men's international footballers Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Albanian men's footballers Albania men's international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Kosovo Albanians Swiss people of Kosovan descent Swiss people of Albanian descent Sportspeople of Albanian descent Kosovan emigrants to Switzerland Men's association football forwards Dual internationalists (men's football) Grasshopper Club Zurich players FC Aarau players FC Wohlen players Panionios F.C. players FC Wil players Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate men's footballers Swiss expatriate men's footballers Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Swiss Super League players Footballers from Peja 21st-century Swiss sportsmen 21st-century Albanian sportsmen