Qazim Laçi

Qazim Laçi (born 19 January 1996) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Czech First League club Sparta Prague and the Albania national team.

Raised in Greece from a young age, Laçi began his career with Olympiacos, spending three years there that included multiple loan spells. He signed with French club Ajaccio in 2018, helping them achieve promotion to Ligue 1 in the 2021–22 season. In late 2022, he joined Sparta Prague, winning a league and cup double in his first full season.

Laçi made his senior international debut for Albania in 2020 after playing for them at various youth levels. He represented his country at UEFA Euro 2024.

Club career

Early career

Laçi was born in Peshkopi, Albania, with origins from Laç which can be seen from his surname, but his family moved to Greece when he was young. His family was placed in Galatsi where he started his youth career with the most successful club in Greek football Olympiacos.

Laçi was part of the Olympiacos U-19 squad which participated in the new created championship 2013–14 UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA, which was contested by the under-19 youth teams of the 32 clubs qualified for the group stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League. He played 5 matches in this competition including two as a starter and Olympiacos U-19 were eliminated in the group stage.

In the following season 2014–15 UEFA Youth League he became a regular starter in the team where he played all matches as a starter and managed to score 4 goals. He scored in 3 consecutive group stage matches against Malmö (3–1) and two times in two matches against Juventus (1–1 & 3–0) and then another brace against Malmo in a 2–0 win. Olympiacos managed to qualify for the next round and played against Shakhtar Donetsk where they were eliminated after the Penalty shoot-out after regular time finished in a 1–1 draw, where Laçi himself scored the 4th penalty kick.

Despite he was 19-years-old according to UEFA rules, a team could take a maximum of three players born between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 1996 and Laçi managed participate with Olympiacos U-19 in another season 2015–16 UEFA Youth League. In this competition he played 5 out 6 group stage matches and all in the starting line up substituting off in just one case. Olympiacos U-19 were equally good with Arsenal and Bayern Munich, with each collecting 10 points, but Olympiacos were ranked last of them (3rd place) due to head-to-head rules.

Olympiacos

For the first time Laçi was included in the Olympiacos first team squad who participated in the 2014–15 Greek Cup semi-final game against Apollon Smyrni on 8 April 2015 by coach Vítor Pereira. He didn't manage to play in this match. Also after 3 weeks Laçi was included in the team for the second-leg against Apollon Smyrni but once again he didn't manage to make his debut and Olympiacos got a 1–1 draw to qualify for the Final with aggregate 4–1.

In the 2015–16 season Laçi took part with Olympiacos first team against Dinamo Zagreb on 20 October 2015, match valid for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage, where it was his first match to participate in a major competition such as the UEFA Champions League.

He made his professional debut on 3 February 2016 under coach Marco Silva in the 2015–16 Greek Cup 1/4 finals against Asteras Tripoli coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute in place of Andreas Bouchalakis.

Loan to APOEL

On 16 June 2016, Laçi joined reigning Cypriot champions APOEL on a one-year loan deal from Olympiacos, having the chance to appear in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers with his new team. On 4 January 2017, however, after failing to appear in any official games, APOEL announced that Laçi's loan was terminated, and the player would return to Olympiacos.

Loan to Levadiakos

In January 2017 Laçi was loaned to Levadiakos He made his debut a week later on 14 January 2017 against Veria F.C. playing in the last 15 minutes.

Ajaccio

In July 2017, Laçi was loaned to Ligue 2 club Ajaccio until the end of the 2017–18 season. He scored his first goal on 18 August 2017 against Paris FC, after coming on as a substitute in the 66th minute for fellow goalscorer Johan Cavalli. Laçi managed to score after a counter-attack to secure the 2–0 victory for his side.

Sparta Prague

On 29 December 2022, Laçi signed a contract with Czech First League club Sparta Prague. He scored his first goal for the club as a direct free-kick in a 3–3 draw against FC Copenhagen, which Sparta would go on to lose on penalties.

International career

Albania U17

Laçi was called up for the first time in international level at Albania national under-17 football team by coach Džemal Mustedanagić to participate in the 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round in October 2012. He made his debut against Hungary U17 on 20 October 2012 coming on as a substitute in the first half in place of Berat Beqiri. For the other two group matches he was an unused substitute.

Albania U19

He advanced higherly in international level as he was called up in the Albania U19 squad by coach Foto Strakosha for the friendly match against Italy U19 on 14 May 2014.

Laçi was invited by new Albania U19s coach Altin Lala to participate in the 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying round for the matches against Denmark, Portugal and Wales, in the match-dates 12–17 November 2014. Under the coach Altin Lala, he played every minute in the qualifying competition but Albania U19 lost all three group matches and were ranked in the 4th last place with total of goals collected 2–7, where all two goals were scored by Esad Morina of FC Schalke 04 youth.

Albania U21

Laçi continued higherly as he was called up also in the Albania national under-21 football team by coach Skënder Gega for the start of the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification against Liechtenstein U21 on 28 March 2015. Anyway a few days later he declared that wasn't unable to participate in this match due to the injury. However, in September he was called up by a new appointed coach at the Albania U21, Redi Jupi, for the next 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Israel & Portugal on 3 & 8 September 2015. In both matches he managed to play for the full 90-minutes. Albania U21 managed to take a 1–1 equaliser against Israel with a Penalty kick won by Milot Rashica and scored by Endri Çekiçi. He played another full 90-minutes match against Hungary U21 on 13 October 2015 to help his team to take a 2–2 draw. Laçi was called up for the next consecutive matches against Portugal U21 & Liechtenstein U21 on 12 & 16 November 2015. He played the full 90-minutes match against Portugal U21 where they were beaten 0–4. He scored his first goal for Albania U21 against Liechtenstein U21 on 16 November 2015 in the 83rd minute to sign the definitive result as a 2–0 victory.

Laçi was called up by coach Alban Bushi for the Friendly match against France U21 on 5 June 2017 and the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification opening match against Estonia U21 on 12 June 2017. During the gathering for these matches Laçi among Leonardo Maloku & Emanuele Ndoj suffered injures and missed out both matches and coach Alban Bushi called up Agim Zeka and Regi Lushkja as a replacement.

Albania

On 7 September 2020, Laçi debuted for the Albanian senior team in a 2020–21 UEFA Nations League C match against Lithuania. He scored his first senior international goal in a 5–0 victory against San Marino in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification on 8 September 2021.

In June 2024, he was called up to represent Albania at UEFA Euro 2024. He scored in a 2–2 draw against Croatia in the group stage.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Olympiacos
* Super League Greece: 2015–16
* Greek Cup: 2014–15; runner-up: 2015–16

Sparta Prague
* Czech First League: 2022–23, 2023–24
* Czech Cup: 2023–24

References

External links

APOEL official profile
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Laci, Qazim
1996 births
Living people
People from Peshkopi
Sportspeople from Dibër County
Albanian men's footballers
21st-century Albanian sportsmen
Albanian emigrants to Greece
Men's association football midfielders
Albania men's international footballers
Albania men's under-21 international footballers
Albania men's youth international footballers
UEFA Euro 2024 players
Super League Greece players
Cypriot First Division players
Ligue 2 players
Czech First League players
Olympiacos F.C. players
APOEL FC players
Levadiakos F.C. players
AC Ajaccio players
AC Sparta Prague players
Albanian expatriate men's footballers
Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
Albanian expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic
Albanian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic