Kosovo players’ form ahead of September matches – how are they spending the start of this season?

The form of Kosovo players ahead of the September matches – how are they spending the start of this season?

The Kosovo national team will begin qualifying for the 2026 World Cup next month, which will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

More precisely, Kosovo will start this qualifying campaign with a match against Switzerland in Basel on September 5, while three days later they host Sweden at “Fadil Vokrri”.

For these two important matches of the Dardanian national team, coach Franco Foda has made his “selections”, inviting 26 players.

Among them are two young players who are coming to Kosovo for the first time. This is the much-talked about Leon Avdullah, who a few days ago rejected Switzerland to join the “Dardans”.

The other name is Veldin Hodza, the Rubin Kazan footballer, who was part of Croatia’s youth teams.

Milot Rashica has not been invited at all, and according to some recent reports, it is reported that his absence comes from suffering an injury.

Edon Zhegrova returns after two absences – during March and June.

“Gazeta Express” brings you the form of Kosovo’s guest players during this early season, before the September matches against two difficult opponents.

GOALKEEPER:

Arijanet muric: Arijanet Muric is, of course, the number one goalkeeper for the Dardanelles. He has been a key player for Kosovo since 2018. For the second summer in a row, Muric made a move in his career. He left English football – from Ipswich Town – and moved to Sassuolo in Serie A. In the first two games of the newly promoted club, Muric was on the bench, while last night he made his Serie A debut. Unfortunately, it was a debut to forget, as Muric conceded three goals to Cremonese, one of them a penalty in the last minutes of the match.

Amir Saipi: Saipi has started the new season early. He and Lugano were part of the Europa League and Conference League qualifiers, but failed to succeed. Saipi has made seven appearances in all competitions so far this season. Saipi’s best performance this season came against the reigning Swiss champions, Basel, in which Lugano won 3-1.

Shows Bekaj: The third goalkeeper of the national team, Bekaj has already begun to consolidate as a starter in his team, Hatayspor. After two seasons with few matches played, the 28-year-old is now seen as the number one goalkeeper, by the Turkish team. In this early season in the Second League of Turkey, Bekaj has three appearances, while his team has lost two matches, and drawn one. In these matches, Bekaj has conceded six goals. On the other hand, Bekaj has managed to record 15 saves from 21 shots that have gone his way.

PROTECTORS:

Exile Vojvoda: We’re not saying it, they’re saying it in Italy: Vojvoda is turning out to be very important for the Como team, led by Cesc Fabregas. Since his move from Turin in January, Vojvoda has shown very good performances with the charming Como club. The 30-year-old has two appearances so far in Italian football – one in the Italian Cup and one in Serie A. In the match against Sudtirol in the Italian Cup, Vojvoda managed to register an assist. In the match against Lazio in the first round of Serie A, Vojvoda had a very good performance, which was rated with a score of 7.5 by “FlashScore”.

Florent Hadergjonaj: The 31-year-old is part of Alanyaspor in the Turkish Super League, with whom he has already played twice in the new season. In the last match, Hadërgjonaj even scored a goal – from the penalty spot – in a 2-1 defeat to Eyupspor.

Amir Rrahmani: Rrahmani has also already started the new season with Napoli, starting the defense of the championship title with a victory as guests of Sassuolo last round. The 31-year-old was rated with a grade of 7.8 by “Flashscore” for the match against Sassuolo. The last match before the group with Kosovo, Amir Rrahmani will play tonight against Cagliari at “Diego Armando Maradona”.

Lumbardh Dellova: Dellova was in the spotlight of both Albanian and Bulgarian media, as it was reported that he is close to leaving CSKA Sofia. However, it seems that the Dardan defender will remain in Bulgarian football. He has so far made five league appearances with CSKA Sofia, failing to achieve any wins, except for three draws and two losses.

Ilir Krasniqi: Kolos Kovalivka is showing very good performances in this early season, winning two of the first three matches, and drawing one. This, of course, comes after good performances from the players on the field of play, where Ilir Krasniqi is also, who has played every possible minute in these three matches.

Sapling Aliti: Aliti is also part of Alanyaspor in the Turkish Super League. In the first match of the season against Rizespor, Aliti was rated 7.1 by “Flashscore”, while in the second he was weaker, receiving only 6.0. Aliti returns to Kosovo after not being invited to the June matches.

Leart Morning: Paqarada has not made any appearances in the new Bundesliga season, after being told by Cologne that he is unwanted in the team. He has been in action to find a new club. Paqarada has been transferred to Heidenheim, also in the Bundesliga, and could make his debut this weekend. Paqarada will have his last minutes on his feet in a friendly match against Atalanta on August 9.

Dion Gallapeni: The 20-year-old seems to have adapted quite well in Poland. In the first two matches, Gallapeni was on the bench, but now in the fourth match he has started to take the starting place. In the last match, the young Kosovar defender even managed to score a goal. The last match before coming to Kosovo, Gallapeni will play against Lech Poznan and Widzew Lodz on August 31.

MIDFIELDERS:

Elvis Rexhbecaj: The 27-year-old midfielder is not finding space for Augsburg this season. In two official matches in Germany, the Dardanian midfielder has played only 21 minutes. These minutes came in last week’s match against Freiburg, which Augsburg won 3-1.

Valon berisha: The 32-year-old midfielder has played in three of Lask Linz’s first five games of the new season. He even completed one of them, in a 3-0 defeat to Salzburg. Berisha has failed to contribute a single goal or assist in these matches.

Veldin Hodza: The 22-year-old midfielder is in his second season with Rubin Kazan, having joined from Rijeka. Hodza has played in six league matches and three in the Russian Cup. In these matches, the young Dardanian midfielder has managed to score two goals.

Emërllahu is born: The young midfielder started the new season with Cluj in early July, but after four matches he suffered an injury that kept him out for six matches. Since his return, Emërllahu has scored one goal, but Cluj is going through a results crisis, causing them to be eliminated from the Conference League.

Leon Avdullahu: The 21-year-old this summer moved from Swiss champions Basel to Hoffenheim. He accepted Kosovo a few days ago, although he also had an invitation from the Swiss national team on the table. With his new club, Avdullahu has appeared in two matches, having good performances. He was even part of the playing field when Hoffenheim defeated Bayer Leverkusen as a guest. Additional strength for Franco Foda in these very important matches.

Korenica deserves it: The 28-year-old is Cluj’s best player at the moment, even though the Romanian club is going through a bad run of results. Korenica has scored three goals and provided one assist in the last five matches.

Muharrem Jashari: The midfielder entrusted his future to LNZ Cherkasy, signing a new contract that keeps him at the club until 2026. In the new season, Jashari has played two matches, while in one he has also found the goal.

ATTACKERS:

Edon Zhegrova: The Kosovo winger has not played an official match since December last year, when he suffered an injury in the match against Marseille. For a month, Zhegrova has returned to training, while last week he was also invited to the match against Monaco with Lille, but did not play. There is a possibility that he will have minutes this weekend. Zhegrova is also being linked with a move to Marseille, as according to reports from France, the transfer to Juventus is not expected to happen.

Vedat Muriqi: The Dardanian “pirate” has started the new season with Mallorca as best he can. Muriqi was sent off in the first half against Barcelona, ​​in the opening round of La Liga, which meant he missed the second round.

Albion Rrahmani: Sparta Prague’s “Lewandowski” has managed to regain his former form, scoring three goals in his first six league matches, while he has also scored as many goals in six matches in European qualifiers.

Ermal Krasniqi: Until a few days ago, Krasniqi was a teammate of Rrahman at Sparta Prague, now he has moved to Legia Warsaw. In the Czech Republic, Krasniqi had only two appearances this new season, scoring one goal in the Conference League qualifiers.

Florian Haxha: The 23-year-old winger has only made two appearances (31 minutes total) in his first five games with Motor Lublin in the Polish top flight.

Baton Zabërgja: The 24-year-old forward has been in fantastic form for Dinamo City in the Conference League qualifiers this summer. In four games, Zabërgja has scored three goals, including one against Hajduk Split. He has now moved to Metalist 1925 in Ukraine.

Noble Asllani: After his individual success last season with Elversberg in the Bundesliga 2, Hoffenheim decided to keep Asllan in the squad for the new season. And he is rewarding the German club for this good deed. The young striker scored on his debut for Hoffenheim and in the Bundesliga, finding the goal against Bayer Leverkusen.

Florent Muslija: His years at Freiburg were wasted. This summer, after a lack of playing time, Muslija moved to Fortuna Dusseldorf on loan. In the first two games, Muslija has scored two goals and registered an assist, regaining his form ahead of the September games./Express newspaper/