Ismajl Beka

Ismajl Beka
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-10-31) 31 October 1999 (age 26)
Place of birth Frauenfeld, Switzerland
Height 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)
Position Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 FC Rapperswil-Jona
(on loan from Grasshopper)
Number 4
Youth career
–2016 FC Wil
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 FC Wil U21 47 (6)
2018–2020 FC Wil 7 (0)
2020–2022 FC Rapperswil-Jona 44 (5)
2022 FC Wil 6 (1)
2022–2026 Luzern 35 (1)
2025 Luzern II 11 (0)
2026– Grasshopper 4 (0)
2026– → FC Rapperswil-Jona (loan) 2 (0)
International career‡
2017–2018 Kosovo U19 5 (0)
2023– Kosovo 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18 September 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 12 September 2023

Ismajl Beka (born 31 October 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Swiss Challenge League side FC Rapperswil-Jona, on loan from Grasshopper. Born in Switzerland, he plays for the Kosovo national team.

Club career

Rapperswil-Jona

On 10 February 2020, Beka signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Swiss Promotion League club FC Rapperswil-Jona. After the transfer, his debut and the league was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. His debut with Rapperswil-Jona came on 6 August in the 2019–20 Swiss Cup quarter-final against Sion after being named in the starting line-up. His league debut with Rapperswil-Jona came nine days later in a 1–1 away draw against Bellinzona after being named in the starting line-up. Four days after league debut, he scored his first goal for Rapperswil-Jona in his third appearance for the club in a 2–1 home win over FC Breitenrain Bern in Swiss Promotion League.

Return to FC Wil

On 10 June 2022, Beka signed a two-year contract with Swiss Challenge League club FC Wil. His debut with Wil came on 17 July in a 2–0 home win against Neuchâtel Xamax after being named in the starting line-up. Fourteen days after debut, he scored his first goal for Wil in his third appearance for the club in a 2–0 home win over Liechtensteiner club Vaduz in Swiss Challenge League.

Luzern

On 31 August 2022, Beka signed a three-year contract with Swiss Super League club Luzern and received squad number 30. His debut with Luzern came four days later in a 0–2 home defeat against Servette after coming on as a substitute at 69th minute in place of Leny Meyer. He made two further appearances from the bench in 2022. For the second half of the season he became a fixed starter in Luzern's defense, missing just one game due to yellow card accumulation. His upward trajectory was abruptly cut short on 8 October 2023, when he was substituted due to injury after 55 minutes in a league match against Lausanne-Sport. The club later confirmed that he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and would miss the remainder of the season. Despite the injury, his contract was renewed on 15 December 2023 until summer 2026.

He returned to Luzern's matchday squad more than a year later in December 2024, but remained an unused substitute. His return to was delayed further on 31 January 2025, when he suffered a metatarsal bone fracture in training, sidelining him for at least a further two months. He finally made his return in the final games of the 2024–25 season, making three appearances.

Grasshopper

On 23 December 2025, Grasshopper announced that they had signed Beka as of 1 January 2026 for an undisclosed fee. He was nominated to the starting lineup in the first league match after the winter break. Unfortunately, his debut for the Swiss record champions ended with him being sent off following a high-boot challenge in the 90th minute of a 1–3 home loss to Thun. He made three further appearances during the season.

Loan to FC Rapperswil-Jona

On 7 September 2026, he returned to FC Rapperswil-Jona on loan for the 2026–27 season.

International career

Youth

On 1 October 2017, Beka was named as part of the Kosovo U19 squad for 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifications. His debut came two days later in a 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification match against Austria U19 after being named in the starting line-up.

On 4 October 2018, Beka received a call-up from Kosovo U21 for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Israel U21, he was an unused substitute in that match.

Senior

In August 2023, Beka received his first call-up to the Kosovo senior national team by head coach Primož Gliha, for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Switzerland and Romania.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ismajl Beka at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ↑ "FCRJ mit vier Neuen im Kader" [FCRJ with four new players in the squad] (in German). Telegrafi. 10 February 2020. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "Rapperswil-Jona vs. Sion 1–2". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  4. ↑ "AC Bellinzona – FC Rapperswil-Jona (Promotion League 2020/2021, 1. Round)". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "FC Rapperswil-Jona – FC Breitenrain Bern (Promotion League 2020/2021, 2. Round)". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "Ammeter und Beka stossen zum FC Wil 1900" [Ammeter and Beka join FC Wil 1900] (in German). FC Wil. 10 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "Ein Sieg zum Saisonstart" [A win to start the season] (in German). FC Wil. 18 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Drei Punkte nach Leistungssteigerung" [Three points after performance increase] (in German). FC Wil. 1 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "Neuer Innenverteidiger" [New centre-back] (in German). FC Luzern. 31 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "Niederlage gegen Servette" [Loss to Servette] (in German). FC Luzern. 4 September 2022.
  11. ↑ "Nach Beka-Schock geht Luzern unter" (in Swiss High German). Blick. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  12. ↑ "Voraussichtliches Saisonende für Ismajl Beka" [Probable season end for Ismajl Beka] (in Swiss High German). FC Luzern. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  13. ↑ "Der FC Luzern und Ismajl Beka verlängern Vertrag vorzeitig" [FC Luzern and Ismajl Beka extend contract early] (in Swiss High German). FC Luzern. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  14. ↑ "Ismajl Beka erleidet Mittelfussfraktur" [Ismajl Beka suffers metatarsal fracture] (in Swiss High German). FC Luzern. 31 January 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  15. ↑ "GC Zürich verpflichtet Ismajl Beka" (in Swiss High German). Grasshopper Club Zurich. 23 December 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  16. ↑ "GC unterliegt dem FC Thun mit 1:3" (in Swiss High German). Grasshopper Club Zurich. 18 January 2026. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  17. ↑ "Zwei Spielsperren für Mambwa und Beka" (in Swiss High German). Swiss Football League. 19 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  18. ↑ "Ismajl Beka leihweise zum FC Rapperswil-Jona" (in Swiss High German). Grasshopper Club Zurich. 7 September 2026. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
  19. ↑ "Kombëtarja U19 udhëtoi për në Austri" [National U19 team traveled to Austria] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 1 October 2017.
  20. ↑ "Humbje minimale e Kombëtares U-19 përballë Austrisë" [Minimal defeat of national U19 team against Austria] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 3 October 2017.
  21. ↑ "Prekazi publikon listën e futbollistëve për ndeshjen kundër Izraelit" [Prekazi publishes the list of footballers for the match against Israel] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 4 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  22. ↑ "Përzgjedhësi Gliha publikon listën e futbollistëve për ndeshjet e shtatorit" [Selector Gliha publishes the list of footballers for the September matches] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  23. ↑ "Publikohet lista e Kombëtares së Kosovës për ndeshjet e shtatorit". Kosova Press (in Albanian). 31 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.