Ermir Lenjani

Early career

Born in Kosovo, Lenjani moved to Switzerland with his family during childhood, where he began playing football and, at the age of 12, joined Tössfeld's youth teams, spending around two years there before entering the Winterthur academy. In 2007, he was promoted to Winterthur's reserve team (U21), competing in the third-tier 1. Liga Promotion, where he made 41 league appearances and scored nine goals over the following two and a half seasons.

Winterthur: breakthrough and loan

Lenjani broke into the first team during the second half of the 2008–09 Swiss Challenge League season. He made his senior debut on 9 November 2008 against Schaffhausen on matchday 18, playing the final 41 minutes of a 3–0 defeat and receiving a yellow card. He established himself as a regular in the first team for the remainder of the season, making 11 more league appearances, mostly as a starter, despite missing four matches through suspension following a red card. On 8 March 2009, he scored his first senior goals in a 4–2 away win over Thun, netting the opening and final goals for Winterthur. He scored again on 16 May, equalising in the 34th minute of a 4–1 comeback win against Locarno. During the 2009–10 Swiss Challenge League season, Lenjani remained a regular starter, featuring regularly through matchday 29 and often playing the full 90 minutes. On 5 December 2009, he scored his first goals of the season in a 4–4 away draw against Wohlen, opening the scoring in the…

Lenjani received his first call-up to the Albania national team in August 2013 from head coach Gianni De Biasi. On 8 October 2013, he was granted Albanian citizenship, making him eligible to represent the country in international competitions. He was included in Albania's squads for the final two matches of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign against Switzerland and Cyprus, but remained an unused substitute in both fixtures. Lenjani made his international debut on 15 November 2013, playing the full 90 minutes in a goalless friendly draw against Belarus.

Euro 2016 campaign

Lenjani established himself as a regular starter and began the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign on 7 September 2014, playing 74 minutes in a historic 1–0 away victory over Portugal. He scored his first international goal on 11 October, opening the scoring in a 1–1 draw against Denmark. Three days later, he started against Serbia in a match that was abandoned in the 42nd minute following crowd disturbances and incidents involving Albanian players and home supporters. UEFA initially awarded a 3–0 victory to Serbia while deducting them three points, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport later overturned the decision and awarded Albania a 3–0 victory.

In Albania's fourth qualifier against Armenia on 29 March 2015, Lenjani came on at half-time while carrying a minor injury, with his team trailing 1–0. He won the foul that led to an opponent's dismissal and later assisted Shkëlzen Gashi's…

Club

As of 26 June 2026

International

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

Lenjani was born in Karaçevë of Kamenica, a District of Gjilan in Kosovo, to Albanian parents originally from Prokuplje. He holds dual citizenship of Switzerland and Albania. Following Albania's historic participation at UEFA Euro 2016, Lenjani was among the members of the national team who were issued diplomatic passports by the Albanian government in recognition of their achievement. Lenjani married his partner Herolinda in July 2019.