Anel Ahmedhodžić (; born 26 March 1999) is a 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. Born in Sweden, he played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Ahmedhodžić started his professional career at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, before joining

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

in 2019. He was loaned to

Hobro IK Hobro Idræts Klub (), commonly referred to as Hobro IK or HIK, is a professional football club based in Hobro, Denmark. The club currently competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of the Danish football league system, and plays its h ...

later that year and to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in 2022. Later that year, he moved to Sheffield United. A former Swedish youth international, Ahmedhodžić also made his senior international debut for

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, before switching his allegiance to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2020, earning over 20

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

until 2024.

Club career

Nottingham Forest

Ahmedhodžić started playing football at his hometown club

, before joining the youth academy of English team

in January 2016. He made his professional debut against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

on 30 December at the age of 17.

Malmö FF

In January 2019, Ahmedhodžić returned to Malmö FF on a contract until December 2022. He made his official debut for the squad against AIK on 30 June. In July, he was sent on a season-long loan to Danish side

, but was recalled in January 2020. On 21 July 2019, he scored his first professional goal against

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

. In April 2020, Ahmedhodžić signed a new three-year deal with Malmö FF. On 5 August, he scored his first goal for the team in a triumph over

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

. He won his first trophy with the club on 8 November, when they were crowned league champions. Ahmedhodžić debuted in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

on 14 September 2021. In January 2022, he was loaned to French outfit

until the end of the season.

Sheffield United

In July, Ahmedhodžić was transferred to

for an undisclosed fee. He made his competitive debut for the team on 6 August against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

. On 17 August, he scored his first goal for Sheffield United in a defeat of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. Ahmedhodžić was an important piece in Sheffield United's promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, which was sealed on 26 April. In December, he was named club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He played his 100th game for the side against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

on 1 March 2025.

International career

After representing

at all youth levels, Ahmedhodžić made his senior international debut in a friendly game against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

on 9 January 2020. However, in August, he decided that he would play for

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in the future. In September, his request to change sports citizenship from Swedish to Bosnian was approved by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. Later that month, he received his first senior call up, for the

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs The play-offs of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament decided the last four teams that qualified for the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, to be staged across Europe in June and July 2021. Unlike previous editions, the participants of the play ...

against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and

2020–21 UEFA Nations League A The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A was the top division of the 2020–21 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the second season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. Le ...

matches against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He debuted against Northern Ireland on 8 October. On 12 October 2021, in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, he scored his first senior international goal. Technical director of the national team,

Emir Spahić Emir Spahić (; born 18 August 1980) is a Bosnian football executive and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current director of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. During his club career, Spahić represented teams in his ...

, announced on 13 September 2024 that Ahmedhodžić will not be called up from now on due to indiscipline, thus ending his international career.

Personal life

Ahmedhodžić married his long-time girlfriend Marijana Cecillia in July 2022. Together they have two sons named Isak and Benjamin.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Malmö FF *

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmedhodzic, Anel 1999 births Living people Footballers from Malmö Swedish people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers Sweden men's international footballers Swedish expatriate men's footballers 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's international footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) Men's association football central defenders Nottingham Forest F.C. players Malmö FF players Hobro IK players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Sheffield United F.C. players English Football League players Allsvenskan players Danish Superliga players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in France Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Swedish expatriate sportspeople in France Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in England Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in France