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Antalyaspor center-forward Admir Mehmedi. Photo by Antalyspor A.S.

Top 10 Sensational Facts about Admir Mehmedi

Admir Mehmedi is a professional football player from Switzerland. He plays as a center-forward or second striker for Super Lig (Super League) club Antalyaspor.

It is a Turkish professional football club located in Antalya. The club plays home matches at the Antalya Stadium. It won the First League twice in 1982 and 1986 and has finished as runners-up for the Turkish Cup in 2000 and 2021.

Admir has also played for the Switzerland national team. He came up as the runner-up for UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2011.

He has played for several other teams including Zurich, Dynamo Kyiv, and Vfl Wolfsburg. Here are the top 10 sensational facts about Admir Mehmedi.

1. Admir is of Albanian heritage

Admir Mehmedi. Photo by Antalyaspor A.S.

He was in Gostivar, Macedonia on 16 March 1991. However, at the age of 2, his family emigrated to Switzerland. There, he joined Bellinzona in 1999 at the age of 8. He then signed up for FC Winterthur in 2000 and trained with them until 2006 before moving to Zurich.

2. He began his senior football career at 17

Ahmedi moved to FC Zurich in 2006.  It is a Swiss football club based in Zurich. It has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. It is also the only Swiss football club to have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League twice in 1964 and 1977.

Within two years, he was part of the first-team squad. He made his senior side debut on 20 July 2008, and scored two goals in 11 appearances, in addition to winning the Swiss Super League in his debut season with the club.

By 2010, he was a first-team regular. He showcased his skill as a physical striker with a good turn of pace. He scored a total of 19 goals and offered 9 assists during his time in Zurich.

3. He played for the Swiss Under21 team in 2011

Admir playing for Switzerland’s team at a friendly match against Austria in 2015. Photo by Steindy.

Admir helped Switzerland finish runners-up in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championships. This was the 18^th staging of the Championship. It was hosted by Denmark.

He scored three goals, including the one which took Switzerland into their first-ever U21 Euro final. Spain won their third title after defeating Switzerland 2-0 in the final.

4. Admir won the Silver Boot Award

This was following his impressive feat at the 2011 UEFA European U21 Championships, having scored 3 goals and helping Switzerland finish runners-up in the final against Spain.

He was also named in the UEFA’s Team of the Tournament. This was alongside former Bayern Munich midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri. Xherdan is a Swiss professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire and the Swiss national team.

5. He moved to Dynamo Kyiv in 2012

Admir Mehmedi at Bayer Leverskun. Photo by Figuito.

Admir played 6 years at Zurich, and during the January transfer window in 2012, he moved to Dynamo Kyiv. It is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. It plays in the Ukrainian Premier League.

Admir’s contract was a five-year deal. However, he left in 2014, 2 years later, having scored 1 goal in his 25 appearances.

On 11 July 2013, he moved to the Bundesliga team, SC Freiburg. It’s a German football club based in Freiburg. The Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany.

The move was initially on loan. However, he signed a permanent contract after scoring 12 goals in 32 games. On 26 May 2014, Freiburg bought Admir for a reported € 6 million.

Unfortunately, he was unable to save Freiburg from relegation. In June 2015, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen, Freiburg’s Bundesliga rivals.

 He played for Bayer for two and a half years before joining VfL Wolfsburg on a four-year deal in the 2018 winter transfer window. Up to the end of the 2020/21 season, he had made a total of 192 Bundesliga appearances and scored 32 goals.

6. He debuted against England in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier

Admir playing for Switzerland. (Switzerland vs. Argentina, 29th February 2012). Photo by Fanny Schertzer.

Admir was part of the Swiss national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Shortly after, he made his debut for the Swiss team against England in a UEFA Euro qualifying match, coming on as a substitute.

He scored his first senior goal for Switzerland against Germany, contributing to their impressive 5-3 win. This was their first win against Germany since 1956.

7. Ahmedi signed with Antalyaspor in 2022

Admir Mehmedi signs with Antalyaspor. Photo by Antalyaspor A.S.

At Vfl Wolfsburg, he was excluded from the team’s Champions League roster in 2021. He was naturally disappointed since this was a competition he had a great deal of experience in.

Ahmedi intimated in an interview with Bild Zeitung, that the coach had informed him that he had opted for other players.  He had never faced such a situation in his career before.

His contract with Wolfsburg would expire after that season. He had had a long Bundesliga career that spanned 10 seasons playing for German football clubs.

On 14 January 2022, he signed a 2.5-year contract with Antalyaspor. It is a Turkish football club based in Antalya. He plays as a center-forward.

8. He played in the 2014 FIFA World Cup

The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20^th FIFA World Cup and it was held in Brazil. In a match between Switzerland and Ecuador on 15 June, Admir replaced former Swiss footballer Valentin Stocker at halftime. Barley two minutes later, Admir headed in Ricardo Rodriguez’s corner to equalize as Switzerland eventually won 2-1.

9. Admir became the first Swiss player to score in both a FIFA World Cup and a European Championship

He scored against Ecuador in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Again, in the UEFA Euro 2016, he was part of the Swiss national team. He scored Switzerland’s equalizer in their 1-1 group stage draw against Romania.

Admir announced his retirement from the national side on 16 July 2021, following his participation in Switzerland’s UEFA Euro 2020 campaign. They reached the quarter-finals for the first time.

10. His technique has been likened to Alassane Plea

Alassane Plea. Photo by Sven Mandel.

Alassane plays forward for Borussia Monchengladbach. Admir shares some similar qualities in style with Alassane. Both have been considered versatile on the pitch as they can fill all roles across the front line. This makes them quite valuable members of their teams.

 Admir is physically strong with good technique and pace. Klemens Hartenbach, Freiburg’s sporting director in 2013, stated that Admir was a ‘very versatile attacking player who understands the game and has proven he can play at the highest level.’