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Bekim Balaj (born 11 January 1991) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Albanian club Vllaznia Shkodër.
Balaj started his football career with his hometown club Vllaznia and made his professional debut at the age of 17 before going on to score 17 goals in 38 games for the club before moving to Turkey to join Gençlerbirliği. After little success in Turkey he returned to Albania and played for KF Tirana where he scored 15 league goals in 37 games before joining Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic in January 2013.
During his time at Sparta Prague he was loaned out to Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok for the entire 2013–14 campaign where he scored 9 goals in 36 games in all competition before return to his parent club for the first half of the following season. He joined Croatian club HNK Rijeka in January 2015 for a fee of €600,000.
Balaj begun his international career with under-19 squad in 2008, and two years later also represented the under-21 squad. He made his international senior debut in 2012 and played an important role in Albania's successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, notably scoring the winner with a volley in the opening day against Portugal. He was selected in the 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, making his debut against Romania in the final group match.
He was invited to train with the first team by the coach Mirel Josa during the latter stages of the 2007–08 season, and he made his first team debut on 17 May 2008 at the age of 17 years, 4 months and 6 days in an away game against Besëlidhja, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute for Albert Kaçi in the 4–2 loss. He became a first team regular the following season, and he scored his first senior goal on his first appearances of the campaign in an Albanian Cup tie against Sopoti Librazhd, before going on to make 12 appearances in all competition, 7 of which were in the league and 10 of which were substitute appearances. He was part of the Vllaznia team that finished runners-up in the Kategoria Superiore, finishing 4 points behind the eventual winners KF Tirana.
With the departures of Xhevahir Sukaj and James Boadu ahead of the 2009–10 season, Balaj became the club's main striker alongside Vioresin Sinani. He made his European debut on 2 July 2009 against Irish club Sligo Rovers, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Vioresin Sinani in the 2–1 away win.
In April 2010 he went on trial with PSG alongside fellow Albanian youth international Odise Roshi, but neither players' trial was successful. Roshi - Bala, nis eksodi i shqiptareve drejt Evropes Arkiva Shqiptare e Lajmeve In June, he went on another trial, this time in Turkey with Gençlerbirliği and he was immediately offered a contract to join the club.
He made his debut for his new club on 3 February in a home match against Skënderbeu which ended in 0–0 draw, with Balaj coming on at the start of the second half for Gilman Lika. His first Tirana goal came in the Albanian Cup semi final second leg against Besa on 6 April, scoring the equalising goal to secure his side's place in the final. He then went on to score his first league goal just nine days later in a 6–1 thrashing of KF Elbasani. Despite good performances since his January move, new coach Mišo Krstičević did not pick him to start in the final of the Albanian Cup. Balaj came on for Gilman Lika in the 54th minute and helped his side win the trophy despite ending the game with ten men and Balaj himself missing a penalty in the shootout which ended 4–3 after heroics from the keeper Ilion Lika.
He scored the winning goal in the 2011 Albanian Supercup against the league winners Skënderbeu, in a match delayed and disrupted by crowd trouble.
His first league goal of the season came on 17 September in the second week of the campaign, away at Kastrioti. Starting the game as a lone striker, he equalised for Tirana in the 48th minute and helped his side win the game 3–2, earning their first three points of the campaign. Following Tirana's first win in the league, it had become evident that Balaj and Gilman Lika had formed an effective partnership from midfield to attack, both of whom are from Shkodër. His next goal came just four days later in the first round of the Albanian Cup against Himara of the Kategoria e Parë. He scored in the 36th minute, a penalty in the 52nd minute and finally rounded off his hattrick in the 67th minute, before Julián Rubio being forced to replace the player following a strong challenge which left him with an ankle injury. After scoring four goals in as many days he hoped he could one day force his way into the Albania national team, which he said would be a dream following a good start to the season.
On 4 October 2012, Balaj scored an historical goal in his career at UEFA Europa League against Athletic Bilbao, a match valid for group stage finished in the victory 3–1.
On 11 February 2015 Balaj made his competitive début in Rijeka's 4–1 win against NK Lokomotiva in the first leg of the Croatian Cup quarter-final, also scoring his first goal for the club. Balaj shënon gol në Kupën e Kroacisë (video) aSport.al Balaj made his league début also scoring a goal. He also scored in the Adriatic derby between Rijeka and Hajduk Split on 18 February 2015, which Rijeka won 3–0. Balaj "bekon" me gol edhe derbin e Kroacisë (+Video) aSport.al Balaj scored his second goal in the second league game in a row and third including both championships against RNK Split in the 56th minute of the match, to give his team the 1–1 draw. Balaj shënon për Rijekën ndaj RNK Split Sport Ekspres During the season, Balaj scored 9 goals in 15 appearances, helping Rijeka to finished as runners-up and secure a place in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League - Second qualifying round. Balaj also features in three 2014–15 Croatian Cup matches and scored one goal.
Balaj started a new season with Rijeka retaining his starting place on 10 July 2015 in a goalless draw against Inter Zaprešić, but got substituted off for Roman Bezjak in the 58th minute. A few days later Balaj made his European debut for Rijeka playing the full 90-minutes in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round first-leg match against Aberdeen. Balaj scored his first goal of the season in his second league appearance, against Slaven Belupo Koprivnica in a 3–3 draw. Shënon Bekim Balaj, i jep Rijekës një pikë Telesport During the 2015–16 season, with 9 league goals to his account, he was one of top 10 goalscorers in the league. Balaj also scored once in the Croatian Cup.
Balaj started the 2017–18 season by providing an assist for the 1–0 winning goal against FC Amkar Perm on 16 July 2017 scored by Léo Jabá. On 27 May 2019, Akhmat confirmed that Balaj left the club as a free agent upon the expiration of his contract.
In December 2025, Balaj was awarded the "Ballon D'or Albania" as the best footballer in Albania for that year.
Balaj was called up at Albania national under-20 side by coach Artan Bushati to participate in the 2009 Mediterranean Games football tournament, which began on 25 June in Pescara, Italy. However he didn't feature in the tournament.
He was part of the under-21 side in their 2011 and the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification campaigns, scoring four goals in 13 matches.
Balaj was called up for the first time in competitive matches for Albania for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification two closing games against Switzerland and Cyprus on 11 and 15 October 2013. Kombetarja/ De Biazi publikon listen e lojtareve AlbaniaSoccer He made his competitive international debut in the final match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification on 15 October 2013 against Cyprus where he came in as a substitute in place of Hamdi Salihi in the 87th minute of the match which finished 0–0.
On 21 May 2016, Balaj was named in Albania's preliminary 27-man squad for UEFA Euro 2016, and in Albania's final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad on 31 May.
Balaj was an unused substitute in two first matches against Switzerland in a 0–1 loss and hosts France where they lost 2–0, then played as a substitute in the next match against Romania for Armando Sadiku which scored the goal for the historical 1–0 Albania's win. Albania finished the group in the third position with three points and with a goal difference –2, and was ranked last in the third-placed teams, which eventually eliminated them.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition !rowspan="2" | Club !rowspan="2" | Season !colspan="3" | League !colspan="2" | National cup !colspan="2" | UEFA !colspan="2" | Other !colspan="2" | Total |
| Vllaznia | 2007–08 | Kategoria Superiore | 0 | ||||
| 2008–09 | 1 | ||||||
| 2009–10 | 12 | ||||||
| Gençlerbirliği | 2010–11 | Süper Lig | 0 | ||||
| KF Tirana | 2010–11 | Kategoria Superiore | 3 | ||||
| 2011–12 | 21 | ||||||
| 2012–13 | 1 | ||||||
| Sparta Prague | 2012–13 | Czech First League | 4 | ||||
| Jagiellonia | 2013–14 | Ekstraklasa | 9 | ||||
| Slavia Prague | 2014–15 | Czech First League | 3 | ||||
| HNK Rijeka | 2014–15 | Croatian First Football League | 10 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 10 | ||||||
| Akhmat Grozny | 2016–17 | Russian Premier League | 9 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 0 | ||||||
| 2018–19 | 4 | ||||||
| Sturm Graz | 2019–20 | Austrian Bundesliga | 7 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 7 | ||||||
| Nizhny Novgorod | 2021–22 | Russian Premier League | 0 | ||||
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year | ||
| Albania | 0 | |
| 0 | ||
| 1 | ||
| 0 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 1 | ||
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 2020 | 4 | 1 |
| 0 | ||
| 1 | ||
| + International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition |
Individual
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