Admir Mehmedi

Admir Mehmedi

Mehmedi with Antalyaspor in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Admir Mehmedi [1]
Date of birth	(1991-03-16) 16 March 1991 (age 32)
Place of birth	Gostivar, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) [2]
Position(s)	Second striker, centre forward
Youth career
1999–2000	Bellinzona
2000–2006	Winterthur
2006–2008	Zürich
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2012	Zürich	84	(19)
2012–2014	Dynamo Kyiv	25	(1)
2013–2014	→ SC Freiburg (loan)	32	(12)
2014–2015	SC Freiburg	27	(4)
2015–2018	Bayer Leverkusen	62	(7)
2018–2022	VfL Wolfsburg	72	(9)
2022–2023	Antalyaspor	17	(1)
International career
2006	Switzerland U16	3	(3)
2007–2008	Switzerland U17	16	(5)
2008–2010	Switzerland U19	26	(11)
2010	Switzerland U20	2	(0)
2010–2011	Switzerland U21	9	(6)
2011–2021	Switzerland	76	(10)
2012	Switzerland Olympic	4	(1)
Managerial career
2023–	Schaffhausen (sporting director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Admir Mehmedi (born 16 March 1991) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a second striker or centre forward. ^[3] Born in North Macedonia, Mehmedi represented the Switzerland national team. He is the current sporting director of FC Schaffhausen. ^[4]

Early life

Mehmedi was born in Gostivar, North Macedonia. He is of Albanian heritage. At the age of 2, his family emigrated to Switzerland and he soon joined local side Bellinzona, before signing for FC Winterthur, from where Zürich scouted him. ^[5] In 2006, he moved to Zürich. Mehmedi came through the youth system after being spotted as a youngster and joined the senior team in 2008.

Club career

Zürich

Mehmedi began his senior career with FC Zürich at the age of 17. Within two years he was included in the first-team squad and by 2010 he was a first-team regular. He made his senior side debut on 20 July 2008 and scored two goals in eleven appearances, in addition to winning the Swiss Super League in his debut season with the club.

Being a first team regular in 2010, Mehmedi established himself as a physical striker, excellent in the box as well as having a good turn of pace, he was also technically great. ^[5] During his time with Zürich, Mehmedi scored nineteen goals and provided nine assists.

In the January transfer window in 2012, Mehmedi moved to Dynamo Kyiv.

Dynamo Kyiv

On 13 January 2012, Mehmedi signed for the Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv from FC Zürich on a five-year deal. During his season and a half with Kyiv, he mainly played coming off the bench. Seeking more playing time and to be included again in the Switzerland national team, Mehmedi moved to Bundesliga team SC Freiburg.

Freiburg

On 11 July 2013, Mehmedi moved to SC Freiburg initially to join on loan, although his contract also stipulated that Freiburg had an option to make the move permanent. ^[6] Freiburg's acting sporting director Klemens Hartenbach stated that he was delighted the transfer went through. Hartenbach stated "He's a very versatile attacking player who understands the game and has already proven he can play at the highest level". ^[6] On 26 May 2014, Freiburg decided to buy Mehmedi for a reported €6 million after having a good season, scoring 12 goals in 32 games during his loan spell with the Bundesliga side. ^[7]

Bayer Leverkusen

On 11 June 2015, Mehmedi joined Bayer Leverkusen after Freiburg was relegated from the Bundesliga. ^[8]

VfL Wolfsburg

On 31 January 2018, Mehmedi joined VfL Wolfsburg on a four-year-deal for €8 million. ^[9]

Antalyaspor and retirement

On 14 January 2022, Mehmedi signed a 2.5-year contract with Turkish club Antalyaspor. ^[10]

At the end of the 2022–23 season, the forward terminated his contract with the club by mutual consent; ^[11] on 30 August 2023, he publicly announced his retirement from professional football, citing his desire to spend more time with his family and pursue a coaching career as the main reasons behind his decision. ^{[11] [12]}

International career

Mehmedi playing for Switzerland in 2012

Under-21

Mehmedi was a crucial member of the Swiss U-21 side in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. ^[5] Mehmedi received the silver boot with three goals in the tournament and was selected in the UEFA Euro U-21 2011 Team of the Tournament. Along with Xherdan Shaqiri, Mehmedi was being tipped as the future of Swiss football. ^[5]

Senior

Mehmedi was part of the Swiss team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. ^[13]

Mehmedi made his debut for the Swiss national team against England, in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match, coming on as a substitute. Mehmedi scored his first goal for Switzerland in his side's 5–3 win over Germany. The Swiss national side had not beaten the Germans since 1956. ^[14]

On 15 June 2014, he replaced Valentin Stocker at half time in Switzerland's opening 2014 FIFA World Cup match against Ecuador. Two minutes later, he headed in Ricardo Rodríguez's corner to equalise as Switzerland eventually won 2–1. ^[15]

Two years to the day after he scored in the 2014 World Cup against Ecuador, ^[16] Mehmedi scored Switzerland's equaliser in their 1–1 group-stage draw against Romania in UEFA Euro 2016. ^{[17] [18]}

Following his participation in Switzerland's UEFA Euro 2020 campaign, in which they reached the quarter-finals for the first time, Mehmedi officially announced his retirement from the national side on 16 July 2021. ^[19]

Personal life

In 2016, Mehmedi visited Padalište, where he witnessed a family of six living in poverty. He gifted a house to the poor family in Macedonia, the country of his birth, stating: "You know, building a house is not cheap, but I appreciate what I have, and I want others to feel fine as well." ^[20]

Mehmedi is married with two children. ^[11]

Career statistics

Club

As of 24 April 2021 ^[21]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Zürich	2008–09	Swiss Super League	11	2	2	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	15	2
	2009–10		22	3	2	3	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	26	6
	2010–11		33	10	4	3	—		37	13
	2011–12		18	4	3	1	10 [lower-alpha 3]	3	31	8
	Total		84	19	11	7	14	3	109	29
Dynamo Kyiv	2011–12	Ukrainian Premier League	9	1	0	0	—		9	1
	2012–13		16	0	1	0	5 [lower-alpha 4]	0	22	0
	Total		25	1	1	0	5	0	31	1
SC Freiburg	2013–14	Bundesliga	32	12	3	0	5 [lower-alpha 2]	1	40	13
	2014–15		28	4	4	3	—		32	7
	Total		60	16	7	3	5	1	72	20
Bayer Leverkusen	2015–16	Bundesliga	28	2	2	0	11 [lower-alpha 5]	5	41	7
	2016–17		22	3	2	0	6 [lower-alpha 2]	1	30	4
	2017–18		12	2	3	0	—		15	3
	Total		62	7	7	0	17	6	86	13
VfL Wolfsburg	2017–18	Bundesliga	5	1	1	0	—		6	1
	2018–19		26	6	2	1	—		28	7
	2019–20		21	2	0	0	5 [lower-alpha 6]	1	26	3
	2020–21		18	0	1	0	3 [lower-alpha 6]	2	22	2
	Total		70	9	4	1	8	3	82	13
Career total			301	52	30	16	45	12	380	76

1. Appearances in UEFA Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Four appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
4. Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Seven appearances and five goals in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year ^[22]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Switzerland	2011	7	0
	2012	6	1
	2013	5	0
	2014	12	1
	2015	8	1
	2016	12	4
	2017	8	0
	2018	2	1
	2019	5	1
	2020	5	1
	2021	6	0
Total		76	10

Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mehmedi goal.

List of international goals scored by Admir Mehmedi ^[21]

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 May 2012	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland	9	Germany	5–3	5–3	Friendly
2	15 June 2014	Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília, Brazil	22	Ecuador	1–1	2–1	2014 FIFA World Cup
3	9 October 2015	AFG Arena, St. Gallen, Switzerland	35	San Marino	3–0	7–0	UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
4	3 June 2016	Cornaredo Stadium, Lugano, Switzerland	42	Moldova	2–1	2–1	Friendly
5	15 June 2016	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	44	Romania	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 2016
6	6 September 2016	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland	47	Portugal	2–0	2–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	10 October 2016	Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella, Andorra	49	Andorra	2–0	2–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
8	8 September 2018	Kybunpark, St. Gallen, Switzerland	59	Iceland	6–0	6–0	2018–19 UEFA Nations League A
9	8 September 2019	Stade Tourbillon, Sion, Switzerland	63	Gibraltar	2–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
10	11 November 2020	Den Dreef, Leuven, Belgium	69	Belgium	1–0	1–2	Friendly

Honours

Switzerland U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 2011 ^[23]

References

1. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players: Switzerland" (PDF). FIFA. 14 July 2014. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2020.
2. "Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fussball GMBH". Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
3. Admir Mehmedi at kicker (in German)
4. "Neuausrichtung beim FC Schaffhausen". fcschaffhausen.ch (in Swiss High German). FC Schaffhausen. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
5. "Sky Sports Euro Scout – Admir Mehmedi". Sky Sports . Retrieved 5 September 2013.
6. "Mehmedi joins Freiburg on loan". Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
7. "Transfer news: Freiburg make Admir Mehmedi's loan move from Dynamo Kiev permanent". Sky Sports. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
8. "Bayer 04 verpflichtet Schweizer Admir Mehmedi". Bayer Leverkusen. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
9. "Wölfe schnappen sich Mehmedi". Sport1. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
10. "Hoş Geldin Admir Mehmedi" (Press release) (in Turkish). Antalyaspor. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
11. "Mehmedi annuncia l'addio al calcio giocato". RSI (in Italian). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
12. "Mit 32 Jahren - Ex-Natispieler Mehmedi beendet per sofort seine Karriere". SRF (in Swiss High German). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
13. "Switzerland Football at the 2012 London Summer Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
14. "Admir Mehmedi: 'A step in the right direction'". Sports Mole. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
15. "Switzerland 2–1 Ecuador". BBC Sport . 15 June 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
16. Andy Hunter (15 June 2014). "Switzerland sink Ecuador in nick of time as Haris Seferovic secures justice". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
17. Foulerton, Jim (15 June 2016). "Mehmedi strike earns Swiss valuable point". uefa.com. Paris: Union of European Football Associations . Retrieved 16 June 2016.
18. "Switzerland savour 'fantastic' Mehmedi goal". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
19. "Mehmedi announces international retirement". VfL Wolfsburg. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
20. "Switzerland's Admir Mehmedi gifts house to Macedonian family". ESPN. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
21. "A. Mehmedi". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
22. "Admir Mehmedi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
23. "Under-21 2011 - History - Switzerland-Spain Lineups". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 June 2011. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2020.

External links

• Official Website
• Profile at FC Zurich Stats
• at Bundesliga Official Site
• A Team U21 U20 U19 U17 U16 profiles at Swiss FA