Blerim Rrustemi

Rrustemi began his football career with 2 Korriku, and due to the Kosovo War, he emigrated to Canada, where he initially played for Weston Collegiate Institute in 1999 and then continued with Azzurri Toronto in 1999–2000, and Toronto Supra in 2000–2001, both competing in the Canadian Professional League. He also appeared for local Albanian community teams in the Toronto area. At the age of 17, he moved to South America, joining Portuguesa in Brazil for the 2001–02 season, where he was offered a three-year contract, but because of his young age he did not remain away from his family for more than six months, before signing for Defensor Sporting in Uruguay in 2002. With Defensor, he played in the Uruguayan Primera División until 2004, gaining top-flight experience in South America. Rrustemi returned to Europe in 2004 when he was signed by Borussia Mönchengladbach II after a trial period, joining the club's reserve side in the German Regionalliga. He spent three seasons with Mönchengladbach's second team, making more than 50 league appearances. After the reserves were relegated, he left on a free transfer in 2007 to join Danish 1st Division club AC Horsens, where he played in two league matches during the 2007–08 season. In January 2008, he moved back to Germany with Rot-Weiss Erfurt, then playing in the Regionalliga Nord and later in the newly created 3. Liga. With Erfurt he won the Thuringian Cup in 2007–08. For the 2008–09 season Rrustemi joined Alki Larnaca in the Cypriot…

After ending his long playing career in the German amateur leagues, Rrustemi remained involved in football. In 2025, he joined the coaching staff of his former club Union Nettetal as an assistant coach, forming part of a three-man staff in the Oberliga Niederrhein.

He was eligible to represent three countries on international level, either Kosovo (then not a FIFA member, but it did play occasional friendlies), Albania or Canada. During his time at Portuguesa, he played in an unofficial friendly against the Brazil U17 and provided an assist in a 1–1 draw; following the match he was offered the opportunity to take Brazilian citizenship and represent Brazil, but he declined. He later opted to represent the Albania national team instead and was granted Albanian citizenship on 23 March 2007. His debut for Albania came on 22 August 2007 in a 3–0 home friendly win against the Malta at the Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana. He went on to appear in two UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying matches: a goalless draw away to the Slovenia in October 2007 and a 4–2 home defeat against the Belarus in November 2007, which proved to be his final international match.

Born in Kosovo to an ethnic Albanian family, Rrustemi was raised in Canada after his family left Kosovo at the beginning of the Kosovo War, and he later obtained Canadian citizenship. Rrustemi has long-standing ties with fellow footballer Granit Xhaka, with whom he has a close friendship. In 2024 he attended Bayer Leverkusen's Bundesliga title celebrations as a guest of Xhaka.