Florian Hoxha

Florian Hoxha (born 22 February 2001) is a footballer who plays as a left-back for Swiss club Grasshoppers. Born in Switzerland, he represents Kosovo at under-21 international level.

Florian Hoxha
Personal information
Full name Florian Hoxha
Date of birth (2001-02-22) 22 February 2001
Place of birth Bülach, Switzerland[1]
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Left-back[1]
Team information
Current team
 Grasshoppers
Number 51
Youth career
0000–2015 FC Embrach
2015–2019 Grasshoppers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018– Grasshoppers U21 37 (0)
2021– Grasshoppers 8 (0)
International career‡
2021 Kosovo U21 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 November 2021

Club career

Hoxha started playing football at FC Embrach until 2015, where he transferred to Grasshoppers and played with the U17 and U18 teams, where he was later promoted to the U21 team with whom he debuted on 17 March 2018 in a 2–2 away draw against FC Sursee after being named in the starting line-up.

On 31 July 2021, Hoxha was named as a first team substitute for the first time in a league match against Young Boys.[2] His debut with Grasshoppers came fifteen days later in the 2021–22 Swiss Cup first round against FC Widnau after being named in the starting line-up.[3] Six days after debut, he made his league debut in a 2–1 away defeat against Zürich after being named in the starting line-up.[4]

He continued playing for both the main and reserve squads, making five more appearances with the first team. Sadly, on 19 March 2022, he suffered a rupture to his ACL in a U21 match,[5] which ruled him out for the majority of the year. He returned to training late in 2022, appearing in a test game against Altach.[6] He gave his return in the first team on 29 April 2023, coming on in the last minutes of a 5–1 away defeat to Lugano.

He scored his first goal for Grasshoppers in their Swiss Cup opening round match against SV Schaffhausen from the 2. Liga Interregional, the 5th tier of Swiss football, where he scored the first goal of the 4–0 away victory.[7]

International career

On 15 March 2021, Hoxha received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for the friendly matches against Qatar U23.[8] Eleven days later, he made his debut with Kosovo U21 in first match against Qatar U23 after being named in the starting line-up.[9]

That same year, he started four games for Kosovo U21 in their Euro U21 qualifying campaign.

References
  1. Florian Hoxha at WorldFootball.net
  2. "Young Boys vs. Grasshopper 0–0". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  3. "FC Widnau – Grasshopper Club Zürich 0:5 (Cup 2021/2022, 1. Round)". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  4. "Zürich vs. Grasshopper 2–1". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  5. "Hoxha Suffers ACL Rupture". gcz.ch. 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  6. "GC - SCRA (02.12.2022)". gcz.ch. 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  7. "Sieg im schweizer Cup". gcz.ch. 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  8. "Përzgjedhësi Nees publikon listën e futbollistëve për dy miqësoret kundër Katarit" [Selector Nees publishes the list of footballers for the two friendlies against Qatar] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 15 March 2021.
  9. "Kosova U21 pëson humbje në miqësoren e parë kundër Katarit U23" [Kosovo U21 loses in the first friendly against Qatar U23] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 26 March 2021.
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