Thomas Strakosha

Early career

Strakosha was born in Athens, Greece, to Albanian parents; his father, Foto Strakosha, is a former Albanian international goalkeeper. He developed an interest in football at a young age and was supported by his family in pursuing the sport. Around the age of 15, he joined the youth setup of APOEL in Cyprus, where his father was working as a goalkeeping coach. Strakosha moved to the youth academy of Panionios in 2010 alongside his father, who once again worked as a goalkeeping coach, before joining Lazio in 2011 for a reported fee of €75,000. He later became regular for the Primavera team and was part of the squad that won the 2013–14 Campionato Nazionale, defeating Atalanta 3–0 in the final on 10 April 2014.

Lazio

Strakosha was first called up to the Lazio senior squad during the 2012–13 season, being included as third-choice goalkeeper for the 2012–13 Serie A match against Fiorentina on 28 October 2012 due to the absence of first-choice goalkeeper Federico Marchetti. Following the departure of Juan Pablo Carrizo in January 2013, he was included as third-choice goalkeeper for several Lazio first-team matches during the second half of the season, remaining an unused substitute throughout the campaign. He was also part of the squad for the 2013 Coppa Italia final against city rivals Roma on 26 May 2013, as Lazio won the match 1–0 to lift the trophy. On 18 August 2013, he was included in the squad for the 2013 Supercoppa Italiana against Juventus,…

Strakosha represented Albania at youth level from 2012 to 2016, starting with the U-17 side, continuing with the U-19 coached by his father Foto, and also featuring for the U-20 and U-21, where he debuted at the age of 18 as one of the youngest players and served as captain.

Strakosha received his first call-up to the Albania senior squad in August 2016 by coach Gianni De Biasi for a friendly against Morocco on 31 August 2016 and the opening 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Macedonia on 5 September 2016, but as fourth-choice goalkeeper he was not included in the matchday squads and made no appearances. Strakosha remained part of the national team in the second half of the 2016–17 season and, following Etrit Berisha's two-match suspension in November 2016, he was selected ahead of more experienced goalkeepers to start and played the full 90 minutes in a World Cup qualifier against Italy on 24 March 2017, a 2–0 defeat. He also started in the following match, keeping a clean sheet in a 3–0 win over Israel on 11 June 2017. After Berisha's return from suspension and the appointment of Christian Panucci as head coach, Strakosha returned to the bench for the remainder of the campaign, with Albania finishing third in the group with 13 points. In the inaugural UEFA Nations League, Strakosha played in Albania's first three matches in League C, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over Israel on 7 September 2018, before conceding twice in each of the next two 0–2 defeats…

Club

As of match played 18 August 2026

International

As of match played 31 March 2026

Strakosha was born in Athens, Greece, to Albanian parents from Memaliaj and holds dual citizenship for Greece and Albania. His father, Foto Strakosha, was also a goalkeeper who played for clubs in Albania and Greece and represented the Albania national team between 1990 and 2005, while his mother, Adelina, is his long-time spouse. He also has an older brother Dhimitri who played football at an amateur level but did not pursue a professional career. In a 2017 interview, Thomas stated that his main influence and idol as a goalkeeper was his father, whom he has tried to emulate.