Xherdan Shaqiri Biography
A Swiss professional footballer, Xherdan Shaqiri plays as a winger for Premier League club Liverpool and the Switzerland national team. He is an attacking midfielder known for incredible dribbling, passing, and crossing who debuted for the Swiss national team in 2010 and won a Swiss Golden Player Award in 2012. He began his youth career in 1999 with SV Augst as he debuted professionally for FC Basel and joined Bayern Munich in 2012. On 10th July 2012, Xherdan debuted for FC Bayern Munich in a friendly 1-0 victory over SpVgg Unterhaching as well as debuted for Stoke City in a 1-1 draw with Norwich City. As recent news, Shaqiri in central midfield is a tactical twist few would've anticipated but it could be a really useful option for Liverpool over these next few weeks. In 2018, he was the most Googled personality in Switzerland. Scroll down to read Shaqiri's Full Biography, Interesting Facts, Personal Life, Wiki, Age, Net Worth & more.
Famous For
- Being a Swiss professional footballer.
- For his incredible dribbling, passing, and crossing.
Source: @twitter
Xherdan Shaqiri Early Life
On 10th October 1991, Xherdan Shaqiri took birth in Gjilan, SFR Yugoslavia, however, he immigrated to Switzerland in 1992 and settled in Augst, a small town in the canton of Basel-Country, near the French and German borders. He holds Swiss nationality and his ethnicity is Kosovar Albanian. He is from the Islam religion and his race is white. He happily celebrates his birthday on the 10th October of every year and he has celebrated his 29th birthday as of 2020. His star sign is Libra as per his birthdate. His father, Isen Shaqiri did not speak Swiss German, so he had to start out washing dishes in a restaurant, before working construction on roads. His mother, Fatime Shaqiri worked as a cleaner in office buildings in the city, with which he and his brothers helped. Xherdan's father would send as much money back to Kosovo to other family members as he could, meaning Xherdan and the family did not have extra spending money, except for birthdays. He idolized Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who he said played "like magic". Additionally, Xherdan has three siblings, Erdin Shaqiri (Older Brother) (Professional Footballer), Medina Shaqiri (Sister), Arianit Shaqiri (Brother).
Xherdan Shaqiri Career
FC Basel
- Xherdan Shaqiri kicks off his football career at the age of eight at hometown club SV Augst where he was scouted by FC Basel and he decided to stay with Basel, as he played for their reserve team from 2007 to 2009 in the Swiss 1. Liga.
- He then signed his first professional contract with Basel on 2nd January 2009 and made his Basel club debut as a substitute on 12th July 2009 in Basel's 2009-2010 season-opening match against FC St. Gallen at the AFG Arena as well as he won the Double, consisting of the League title, and the Swiss Cup at the end of the 2011-2012 season, for the second time in his Basel stint.
Bayern Munich
- Shaqiri accepted a transfer to German club Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga for the 2012-2013 season with the transfer fee of 11.6 million euros on 9th February 2012 and made his debut in a 1-0 friendly win against Bavarian neighbors SpVgg Unterhaching on 10th July 2012.
- His first competitive appearance for the club came on 20th August in a DFB-Pokal match at SSV Jahn Regensburg as well as he scored in the DFB-Pokal semi-final against VfL Wolfsburg with a long-range shot on 16th April 2013 and won the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League title with Bayern although he did not play in the final.
- He was reported to be the most decorated Swiss footballer of all time at just 22, with 13 medals to his name by June 2014.
Inter Milan
- Xherdan transferred to Italian club Inter Milan on 9th January 2015 for 15 million euros, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract where he made his debut for Inter on 17th January, playing in the last 16 minutes as a substitute for fellow new signing Lukas Podolski.
- As well, he made his Coppa Italia debut in a match against Sampdoria in the round of 16th on 22nd January, scoring the first goal of the match and helping the team to a 2-0 win to progress into the quarter-finals.
- He scored his first Serie A goal on 15th February 2015 in a 4-1 away win against Atalanta as he registered his first European tournament goal for Inter after four days, scoring the opener from a Zdravko Kuzmanovic assist in a 3-3 UEFA Europa League draw away to Celtic.
Stoke City
- Shaqiri was agreed to a 12 million pounds fee sign for Stoke on 11th August 2015, on a five-year deal where he made his debut eleven days later in a 1-1 draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road, assisting Mame Biram Diouf's headed goal with a free-kick.
- He scored a 20-yard free-kick against Middlesbrough on the opening day of the 2016-2017 season and he made 22 appearances in 2016-2017, as Stoke finished in 13th position.
- Xherdan scored his first goal of the 2017-2018 season in the match against Newcastle United, on 16th September, scoring the equalizing goal in an eventual 1-2 defeat however, he played 38 times for the club in the season and finished as top goalscorer for the club with 8 goals, also providing 7 assists.
Liverpool
- Liverpool signed Shaqiri on a five-year deal after triggering his 13.5 million pounds release clause on 13th July 2018 and made his debut on 12th August in the opening match of the season against West Ham United, he came on as a late substitute in a 4-0 win and also made his first full start on 22 September, in a 3-0 win over Southampton.
- He scored his first goal for Liverpool on 27th October, scoring the third goal in a 4-1 win over Cardiff City as he picked up his second Champions League winner's medal on 1st June 2019 and scored his first goal of the 2019-2020 season in the derby against Everton, slotting home Liverpool's second in a 5-2 win.
- Also, he was part of the squad that won the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, following a 1-0 victory over Flamengo in the final whereas Liverpool was crowned Premier League champions in June 2020, and Shaqiri received a medal as he made the minimal number of appearances for one.
- His first goal of the 2020-2021 season, and first goal for the club in over nine months, came on 24th September 2020, when he scored the opening goal in a 7-2 routing of Lincoln City in the EFL Cup.
- Other than football matches itself, Xherdan has appeared in the TV series documentary "Das Aktuelle Sportstudio" (2013) as himself.
International Career
Youth career
- Xherdan made his debut for Switzerland under-21s on 11th November 2009 in a 3-1 win against Turkey in a 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier however, he scored his first goal for them on 11th June 2011 in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship opening game against Denmark.
Senior career
- Shaqiri was promoted to the Switzerland senior team in 2010, making his debut on 3rd March 2010 in a 3-1 friendly loss against Uruguay whereas he was included in the 2010 World Cup squad where he scored his first goal for them on 7th September 2010, a long-range left-footed shot, in a 1-3 loss against England in a Euro 2012 qualifier.
- He did not sing the Swiss national anthem in a World Cup qualifier against his ancestral Albania in Lucerne on 11th September and did not celebrate when he scored the opening goal of a 2-0 win although he was named in Switzerland's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in June 2014.
- He was also named man of the match by FIFA as the Nati defeated Ecuador as he scored three times in Switzerland's successful qualification campaign for UEFA Euro 2016.
- He recorded a brace on 15th November 2014 in a 4-0 win over them in St. Gallen, and in the reverse fixture the following 14th June, he netted an 84th-minute winner in a 2-1 victory.
- Also, he was included in Switzerland's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, held in Russia where he scored the winning goal as Switzerland came from behind to defeat Serbia 2-1.
- Additionally, with the goal, he equaled Stephane Chapuisat's tally of 21 in internationals and entered Switzerland's top ten scorers of all time though he was also part of Switzerland's squad at the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals in Portugal. He was named in the Team of the Tournament.
Xherdan Shaqiri Awards and Achievements
Basel
- Swiss Super League:2009-2010, 2010-11, 2011-2012
- Swiss Cup: 2009-2010, 2011-2012
Bayern Munich
- Bundesliga: 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015
- DFB-Pokal: 2012-2013, 2013-2014
- DFL-Supercup: 2012
- UEFA Champions League: 2012-2013
- UEFA Super Cup: 2013
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2013
Liverpool
- Premier League: 2019-2020
- UEFA Champions League: 2018-2019
- UEFA Super Cup: 2019
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2019
Switzerland U21
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 2011
Individual
- Swiss Golden Player Award "SFAP Golden Player": 2012
- Swiss Golden Player Award "Best Young Player": 2012
- UEFA European Championship Goal of the Tournament: 2016
- UEFA Nations League Finals Team of the Tournament: 2019
Xherdan Shaqiri Personal Life
Reflecting on Xherdan Shaqiri's personal life, he is an unmarried guy. Whereas talking about his relationship status, he is in a romantic relationship with the stunning Kosovan pop star and Instagram beauty Dhurata Ahmetaj. His relationship with Dhurata is outstanding till now and hope it will remain as same as in the future too. He has not however spoken very daringly and openly about his relationship, but he definitely shows his affection whenever the two are together. Furthermore, talking about his sexual orientation, he is straight.
Source: @gazetablic
Xherdan Shaqiri Net Worth
Moving towards Xherdan Shaqiri's net worth, he has a worth of around $12 million. His annual salary is $4 million. With his hard work and luck by his side, he can double the amount of wealth he has today. In his short professional time also, he has established himself an identity already. Shaqiri has signed a sponsorship deal with "Nike" and he has also appeared in TV adverts for Coca-Cola and Volkswagen. In addition, his major source of income is from his football career.
Xherdan Shaqiri Body Measurement
Xherdan Shaqiri is a handsome and versatile footballer who stands at an ideal height of around 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) with a balanced body weight of around 72 kg. Enriched with the toned bicep and perfect built, the footballer doesn't hesitate to go shirtless. The image of this shirtless Xherdan who looks super hot flaunting his body is available everywhere on the internet. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes color as his body build type is athletic and his body measurement is 42.5-15-32.5 inches.
