Besfort Zeneli (born 21 November 2002) is a Swedish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

club

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional association football, football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Alls ...

and the Sweden national team.

Club career

On 6 January 2022, Zeneli signed his first professional contract with

side

after agreeing to a two-year deal. On 21 July 2022, he was named as an IF Elfsborg substitute for the first time in a 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round against

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

. His debut with IF Elfsborg came seven days later in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round again against Molde after coming on as a substitute at 73rd minute in place of Michael Baidoo. On 11 September 2022, Zeneli made his league debut in a 2–0 away win against

GIF Sundsvall Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (), Giffarna or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Sundsvall. The club is affiliated with Medelpads Fotbollf� ...

after coming on as a substitute at last minutes again in place of Michael Baidoo.

International career

Kosovo

Zeneli was eligible to represent two countries on international level, either

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. On 18 October 2021, Zeneli declared through an interview for

Koha Ditore ''Koha Ditore'' (trans. ''Daily Time'') is the leading daily newspaper in Kosovo. It is published by Koha Group and was founded and owned by politician Veton Surroi. His sister Flaka Surroi is now the publisher, following Veton Surroi's launch o ...

that he is waiting for a call-up from

Football Federation of Kosovo The Football Federation of Kosovo (; FFK) is the governing body of football in Kosovo, with headquarters in Pristina. The Football Federation of Kosovo was established in 1946 as a branch of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, it has since be ...

to represent

at the under-21 level and that he had refused to represent

at the youth level even though he had the opportunity to choose. On 15 September 2022, Zeneli received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for a training camp held in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

, Turkey and for the hybrid

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. On 18 March 2023, Zeneli received again a call-up from Kosovo U21 for the friendly matches against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. His official debut with Kosovo U21 came six days later in the friendly match against Moldova after coming on as a substitute in place of Veton Tusha.

Sweden

On 9 September 2024, Zeneli declined a call-up to Kosovo U21 and announced him deciding to represent Sweden on an international level instead, due to the alleged mistreatment of him and his brother by the Football Federation of Kosovo. On 24 February 2025, Zeneli's request to switch allegiance to Sweden was accepted by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. On 12 March 2025, he accepted a call-up to the senior team for the

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. He made his full international debut on 22 March 2025, playing for 45 minutes in a friendly 1–0 loss against Luxembourg before being replaced by Yasin Ayari.

Personal life

Born and raised in Sweden, Zeneli is of Kosovo Albanian origin from Selac, a village near Mitrovica. He is the younger brother of Kosovo international

Arbër Zeneli Arbër Avni Zeneli (born 25 February 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or left winger for Allsvenskan club IF Elfsborg and the Kosovo national team. Born in Sweden, he previously represented the country at t ...

Career statistics

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeneli, Besfort 2002 births Living people Footballers from Dalarna County People from Säter Municipality Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's international footballers Kosovan men's footballers Kosovo men's under-21 international footballers Swedish people of Kosovan descent Swedish people of Albanian descent Sportspeople of Albanian descent Kosovan people of Albanian descent Men's association football midfielders Allsvenskan players IF Elfsborg players 21st-century Swedish sportsmen