Elvis Rexhbeçaj (born 1 November 1997) 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for German club

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

and the Kosovo national team.

Club career

VfL Wolfsburg

On 20 August 2017, Rexhbeçaj signed a professional contract with

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

. On 28 January 2018, he made his debut in a 1–0 away win against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

after coming on as a substitute at 84th minute in place of

Daniel Didavi Daniel Didavi (born 21 February 1990) is a former German professional footballer. Club career Didavi started his career with SpV 05 Nürtingen. He was scouted in summer 2003 by VfB Stuttgart, and he was promoted to the first team in July 2009. ...

Loan at 1. FC Köln

In January 2020, it was announced that Rexhbeçaj would be loaned to

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

until June 2021. The move included an option to remain permanently at the club.

Loan at VfL Bochum

On 2 August 2021 Rexhbeçaj was loaned to

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

for the 2021–22 season.

FC Augsburg

On 27 July 2022, Rexhbeçaj signed a four-year contract with

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

International career

Rexhbeçaj was born in the village of

Gjonaj Gjonaj is an Albanian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adriana Gjonaj, Albanian politician * Algert Gjonaj (born 1987), Albanian basketball player * Etilda Gjonaj (born 1981), Albanian politician * Kujtim Gjonaj (1946–2021), Al ...

and raised in

Spremberg Spremberg or Grodk (, ; Polish: ''Gródek'' ) is a municipality near the Saxon city of Hoyerswerda and is in the Spree-Neiße district of Brandenburg, Germany. First mentioned in 1301, the town alone has 14,028 inhabitants, and the municipalit ...

and

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel (; ) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

by Kosovo Albanian parents who fled Kosovo during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

. In February 2021, he confirmed his desire to represent

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 ...

and stated that he was contacted by

Stefan Kuntz Stefan Kuntz (born 30 October 1962) is a German professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was most recently the head coach of the Turkish national team. Kuntz represented the Germany national team between 199 ...

as a candidate for the Olympic team for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. A month later, there were reports that Rexhbeçaj would switch his allegiance to

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 ...

. On 13 July 2024, the

Football Federation of Kosovo The Football Federation of Kosovo (; FFK) is the governing body of football in Kosovo, with headquarters in Pristina. The Football Federation of Kosovo was established in 1946 as a branch of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, it has since be ...

announced that Rexhbeçaj had decided to play for the Kosovo national team, and the delay in his decision was due to the restrictions of the old

German nationality law German nationality law details the conditions by which an individual is a national of Germany. The primary law governing these requirements is the Nationality Act, which came into force on 1 January 1914. Germany is a member state of the Euro ...

, which did not allow dual citizenship. On 30 August 2024, he received a call-up from Kosovo for the

2024–25 UEFA Nations League The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League is the fourth season of the UEFA Nations League tournament, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The competition is being held f ...

matches against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. His debut with Kosovo came seven days later in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League match against Romania after being named in the starting line-up. On 20 March 2025, during the first leg of the

2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs are matches deciding promotion and relegation for some teams in the 2024–25 season of the UEFA Nations League, the fourth season of the international football competition involvin ...

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

, he scored his first international goal as

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

defeated

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

2-1.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rexhbecaj, Elvis 1997 births Living people Footballers from Prizren Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers German men's footballers Kosovan emigrants to Germany Kosovan refugees German people of Kosovan descent Yugoslav Wars refugees Naturalized citizens of Germany Men's association football midfielders Bundesliga players Regionalliga players VfL Wolfsburg II players VfL Wolfsburg players 1. FC Köln players VfL Bochum players FC Augsburg players 21st-century German sportsmen