Admir Mehmedi Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Admir Mehmedi
Personal information
Mehmedi with Antalyaspor in 2022
Full name	Admir Mehmedi
Date of birth	(1991-03-16) 16 March 1991 (age 34)
Place of birth	Gostivar, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
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)
Total		319	(53)
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
2023–2024	Schaffhausen (sporting director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Admir Mehmedi, born on March 16, 1991, is a former professional football player from Switzerland. He played as a forward, often helping score goals or setting them up. Even though he was born in North Macedonia, he played for the Swiss national football team. After he stopped playing, he worked as a sporting director for a football club called FC Schaffhausen.

Early Life
Club Career
International Career
- Under-21 Team
- Senior National Team
After Playing Football
Personal Life
Career Statistics
- Club Appearances
- International Appearances
Honours
See also

Early Life

Admir Mehmedi was born in Gostivar, North Macedonia. His family has Albanian roots. When he was two years old, his family moved to Switzerland. In 2006, he moved to the city of Zürich.

Club Career

Playing for Zürich

By 2010, Mehmedi became a regular player for FC Zürich. He was known as a strong forward who was good at scoring goals. He was also fast and had great technical skills with the ball. During his time at Zürich, Mehmedi scored 19 goals and helped set up 9 others. In January 2012, Mehmedi moved to FC Dynamo Kyiv.

Time at Freiburg

On July 11, 2013, Mehmedi joined SC Freiburg. The club's sporting director, Klemens Hartenbach, was very happy about the transfer. He said Mehmedi was a "versatile attacking player" who understood the game well. Mehmedi had a great season while on loan, scoring 12 goals in 32 games. Because of his good performance, Freiburg decided to buy him permanently for about €6 million in May 2014.

Moving to Bayer Leverkusen

On June 11, 2015, Mehmedi moved to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. This happened after Freiburg was moved down from the top German football league, the Bundesliga.

Playing for VfL Wolfsburg

On January 31, 2018, Mehmedi joined VfL Wolfsburg. He signed a four-year contract for €8 million.

Antalyaspor and Retirement

On January 14, 2022, Mehmedi signed a 2.5-year contract with the Turkish club Antalyaspor. At the end of the 2022–23 season, he decided to end his contract early. On August 30, 2023, he announced that he was retiring from professional football. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family and start a career in coaching.

International Career

Mehmedi playing for Switzerland in 2012

Under-21 Team

Mehmedi was a very important player for the Swiss Under-21 team. He played in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. In this tournament, he scored three goals, earning him the "silver boot" award. He was also chosen for the UEFA Euro U-21 2011 Team of the Tournament.

Senior National Team

Mehmedi was part of the Swiss team that played in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He made his first appearance for the Swiss national team against England. This was during a qualifying match for the UEFA Euro 2012. He came into the game as a substitute.

Mehmedi scored his first goal for Switzerland in a 5–3 win against Germany. This was a special win because the Swiss team had not beaten Germany since 1956.

On June 15, 2014, he came on as a substitute in Switzerland's first match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup against Ecuador. Just two minutes later, he scored a goal with a header to tie the game. Switzerland eventually won the match 2–1.

Exactly two years after that World Cup goal, Mehmedi scored Switzerland's tying goal in a 1–1 group-stage match against Romania at UEFA Euro 2016.

Mehmedi played for Switzerland in the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, where they reached the quarter-finals for the first time. After this, he officially announced his retirement from the national team on July 16, 2021.

After Playing Football

Just three months after retiring as a player, Admir Mehmedi joined FC Schaffhausen as their new sporting director. This happened on December 5, 2023. His main goal was to help the team stay in the Swiss Challenge League, which he successfully did. However, he asked to end his contract early on May 27, 2024. This was because he disagreed with the club's plans to reduce their budget.

Personal Life

In 2016, Mehmedi and his father helped build a new house for a family in Padalište who were struggling. He said he appreciated what he had and wanted to help others feel good too. Mehmedi is married and has two children.

Career Statistics

Club Appearances

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Zürich	2008–09	Swiss Super League	11	2	2	0	2	0	15	2
	2009–10		22	3	2	3	2	0	26	6
	2010–11		33	10	4	3	—		37	13
	2011–12		18	4	3	1	10	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	Ukrainian Premier League	16	0	1	0	5	0	22	0
	Total		25	1	1	0	5	0	31	1
SC Freiburg	2013–14	Bundesliga	32	12	3	0	5	1	40	13
	2014–15	Bundesliga	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	5	41	7
	2016–17		22	3	2	0	6	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	1	26	3
	2020–21		18	0	1	0	3	2	22	2
	2021-22		1	0	1	0	—		2	0
	Total		71	9	5	1	8	3	84	13
Antalyaspor	2021-22	Süper Lig	7	1	1	0	—		8	1
	2022-23	Süper Lig	10	0	2	0	—		12	0
	Total		17	1	1	0	0	0	20	1
Career total			319	53	32	11	49	13	402	77

International Appearances

Appearances and goals by national team and year
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
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