Bekim Balaj

Vllaznia

Balaj joined his hometown club Vllaznia as an 11-year-old in 2002, and his father had told the youth team coach Astrit Premçi to initially test the player as a goalkeeper as he was tall for his age. However, after only a few training sessions with Balaj, the coach Premçi realised the player was an able outfield player as he was good with his feet, so he then played him as a centre forward. He was invited to train with the first team by the coach Mirel Josa during the latter stages of the 2007–08 season, and he made his first team debut on 17 May 2008 at the age of 17 years, 4 months and 6 days in an away game against Besëlidhja, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute for Albert Kaçi in the 4–2 loss. He became a first team regular the following season, and he scored his first senior goal on his first appearances of the campaign in an Albanian Cup tie against Sopoti, before going on to make 12 appearances in all competition, 7 of which were in the league and 10 of which were substitute appearances. He was part of the Vllaznia team that finished runners-up in the Kategoria Superiore, finishing 4 points behind the eventual winners Tirana. With the departures of Xhevahir Sukaj and James Boadu ahead of the 2009–10 season, Balaj became the club's main striker alongside Vioresin Sinani. He made his European debut on 2 July 2009 against Irish club Sligo Rovers, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Vioresin Sinani in the 2–1 away win. In April 2010 he went on…

Youth teams

Balaj was part of the Albania U-19 squad for the qualifying stage of the 2009 European Championship, where he made his debut on 8 October 2008 against England at Ballymena Showgrounds, Northern Ireland by replacing Guido Tepshi at half time and where the match finished in the 3–0 loss for Albania. He scored his first and also Albania's only goal of the qualifying campaign, against Northern Ireland on 13 October 2008 at The Oval, Belfast in a 2–1 loss. Balaj was called up at Albania national under-20 side by coach Artan Bushati to participate in the 2009 Mediterranean Games football tournament, which began on 25 June in Pescara, Italy. However he didn't feature in the tournament. He was part of the under-21 side in their 2011 and the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification campaigns, scoring four goals in 13 matches.

Senior team

Balaj made his debut for Albania national football team on 17 February 2010 in the unofficial match against Kosovo, where he scored a goal. He received his first official call up by coach Gianni De Biasi for the friendly match against Cameroon on 14 November 2012. Balaj was called up for the first time in competitive matches for Albania for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification two closing games against Switzerland and Cyprus on 11 and 15 October 2013. He made his competitive international debut in the final match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification on 15 October 2013 against Cyprus where he came in…

Club

As of 12 December 2021

International

As of 26 October 2022

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

Following Albania's historic participation at UEFA Euro 2016, Balaj was among the members of the national team who were issued diplomatic passports by the Albanian government in recognition of their achievement. Balaj is considered a 'Don Juan' and has been in relationships with several models, including Einxhel Shkira, Viola Spiro, Elita Rudi, and Ilda Bejleri.