Besar Halimi (born 12 December 1994) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Hallescher FC Hallescher FC, sometimes still called by its former popular name Chemie Halle, is a German association football club based in Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third highest level in the German footba ...

. Born in Germany, he plays for the Kosovo national team.

Club career

Early career

Halimi first played for a local club

VfL Germania 1894 VfL Germania 1894 is a German association football club from the city of Frankfurt am Main. The club is notable as one of the Founding Clubs of the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) in Leipzig in 1900.Grüne, Hardy ( ...

and joined the youth academy of

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, when he was six years old. In 2007, he transferred to the youth academy of

SV Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Spo ...

, where he played until 2009. Where he went to play in the youth team of

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bunde ...

. In the 2011–12 season, he played two matches in the Regionalliga Süd for

1. FC Nürnberg II The 1. FC Nürnberg II (german: 1. FC Nürnberg II) is the reserve team of German football club 1. FC Nürnberg, from the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria. Until 2005, the team played under the name of 1. FC Nürnberg Amateure. History 1955–1963 N ...

. In the following season he played 17 matches in the

Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern, ( en, Regional league Bavaria), is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria (german: Bayern) and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth ti ...

for the reserves of Nürnberg, where he scored one goal. On 12 July 2013, Halimi was signed to the

VfB Stuttgart II VfB Stuttgart II is a German football team located in Stuttgart, currently playing in the Regionalliga Südwest. From 2008 to 2016 the team played in the 3. Liga. They are the reserve team of VfB Stuttgart. Until 2005 the team played under the n ...

. On 21 September 2013, he made his professional debut in a

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

match against Rot-Weiß Erfurt and he ended the season with 14 matches and one goal. In order to gain more playing time, Halimi signed with

Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. History In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Sü ...

for the 2014–15 season. In one season he made two goals in 37 league matches for the Kickers and was chosen as the Player of the Month of 3. Liga for November 2014.

Mainz 05

On 12 July 2015, Halimi signed a four-year contract with

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

club

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

, and was immediately loaned out to

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

outfit

FSV Frankfurt Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V., commonly known as simply FSV Frankfurt, is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hesse and founded in 1899. FSV Frankfurt also fielded a rather successfu ...

for the entirety of the 2015–16 season. In the following season, he played for the Mainz 05 II in the 3. Liga.

Brøndby

For the 2017–18 season. Halimi joined

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each y ...

side Brøndby, on a season-long loan. On 13 July 2017, he made his debut with Brøndby in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round against the Finnish side

VPS VPS may refer to: Science and technology * Ventriculo-peritoneal shunt, a neurosurgical method used to treat hydrocephalus * Video programming system, a standard for video recorders in Germany * Virtual private server, a method of partitioning a ...

after coming on as a substitute at 64th minute in place of

Kamil Wilczek Kamil Antoni Wilczek (Polish pronunciation: ; born 14 January 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who plays for Piast Gliwice and the Poland national team. He is usually deployed as a striker for both club and country. Wilczek played fo ...

. On 30 August 2018, Halimi returned and signed a two-year contract with

club Brøndby. Three days later, he made his debut in a 2–2 home draw against

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish muni ...

after coming on as a substitute at 76th minute in place of

Lasse Vigen Lasse Vigen Christensen (; born 15 August 1994) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club ADO Den Haag. Club career Early career Born in Esbjerg, Denmark, Christensen began his football career at Esbjerg fB at age ...

Sandhausen

On 2 September 2019, Halimi signed a two-year contract with

club

Sandhausen Sandhausen () is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of Heidelberg. Geography Location Sandhausen belongs to the Rhein-Neckar Metropolitan region. It is known for its sa ...

. On 21 September, he made his debut in a 1–1 home draw against

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seasons in the Bundesli ...

after being named in the starting line-up. He scored his first goal for Sandhausen against

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., simply as KSV Holstein or Kieler SV Holstein, commonly known as Holstein Kiel (), is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s thro ...

on 22 December, exploiting a poor pass from opposing goalkeeper

Dominik Reimann Dominik Reimann (born 18 June 1997) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for 1. FC Magdeburg. Club career In May 2018, Reimann moved from Borussia Dortmund II to 2. Bundesliga club Holstein Kiel, signing a three-year co ...

in an eventual 2–2 draw. On 23 December 2020, in the second round of the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

, Halimi made his cup debut for Sandhausen, coming off the bench at half-time for

Julius Biada Julius Biada (born 3 November 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Career Biada played as a youth for a number of clubs around his hometown of Cologne, ending up at Bayer Leverkusen, where he broke in ...

as they were knocked out 4–0 by

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

. His first goal of the 2020–21 season came on 20 February 2021, as he struck a volley from the edge of the area off a header from Nils Röseler in a 2–1 loss to

SC Paderborn Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest successes since the turn of the mille ...

; Sandhausen's third loss in a row. During his two seasons with Sandhausen, Halimi made 27 total appearances in which he scored two goals, as he failed to become an established starter.

Riga

On 12 July 2021, Halimi joined

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is O ...

side

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

. Five days later, he made his debut in a 2–3 away win against Spartaks Jūrmala after coming on as a substitute at 66th minute in place of

Felipe Brisola Felipe Bezerra Brisola (born 6 June 1990) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for A Lyga club Hegelmann. Career In Brazil Felipe Brisola started his professional career at Anapolina. In the first four months of 20 ...

. On 2 March 2022, Halimi had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Hallescher

On 26 June 2023, Halimi signed with

in the

International career

From 2011, until 2012, Halimi has been part of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Y ...

international level, respectively has been part of the U18 and U19 teams and he with these teams played 3 matches. On 7 October 2015, he received a call-up from

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

for the

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Equatorial Guinea, and made his debut after being named in the starting line-up.

Personal life

Halimi was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Kosovo Albanian parents from the village

Malishevë Malisheva, ) is a town and municipality in Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) estimate from the 2011 census, there were 54,613 people residing in Malisheva Municipality, with Kosovo Albanians constituting the majority of th ...

of Gjilan.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Kosovo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Halimi goal.'' , + List of international goals scored by Besar Halimi , - , align="center", 1 , ,

Adem Jashari Olympic Stadium The Adem Jashari Olympic Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi Olimpik Adem Jashari) is a multi-purpose stadium in Mitrovica, Kosovo, which is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of KF Trepça. The stadium has a capacity of around 35,000 p ...

, Mitrovica, Kosovo , , align="center", 4–3 , align="center", 4–3 , Friendly , align="center", , - , align="center", 2 , ,

Fadil Vokrri Stadium The Fadil Vokrri Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri), previously known as Prishtina City Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi i qytetit të Prishtinës), is a multi-purpose stadium in Prishtina, Kosovo, which is used mostly for football matches and is the hom ...

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians a ...

, Kosovo , , align="center", 4–0 , align="center", 4–0 , Friendly , align="center", , - , align="center", 3 , ,

Estadio de La Cartuja Estadio La Cartuja (), officially known as Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla, is a multi-purpose stadium situated in the Isla de la Cartuja in Seville, Spain. It is used mostly for football and it is commonly referred to as simply 'La Cartuja'. It ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

, Spain , , align="center", 1–2 , align="center", 1–3 ,

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tourn ...

, align="center",

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Halimi, Besar 1994 births Living people Footballers from Frankfurt Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's international footballers Kosovan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Latvia Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Latvia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Kosovan expatriate sportspeople in Greece German men's footballers Germany men's youth international footballers German people of Kosovan descent German people of Albanian descent Sportspeople of Albanian descent Men's association football midfielders Regionalliga players 1. FC Nürnberg II players 3. Liga players VfB Stuttgart II players Stuttgarter Kickers players 1. FSV Mainz 05 II players 2. Bundesliga players FSV Frankfurt players SV Sandhausen players Danish Superliga players Brøndby IF players Latvian Higher League players Riga FC players VfL Germania 1894 players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players Super League Greece 2 players Hallescher FC players