Amir Abrashi (born 27 March 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Swiss Super League club Grasshopper.
Club career Early career Abrashi was born in Bischofszell, Switzerland, to Albanian parents from Gjakova, Kosovo who had emigrated in Switzerland before his birth. He grew up in the Canton of Thurgau region and began his career in 2002 aged 12 with his hometown club, FC Bischofszell. A year later, he moved to FC Weinfelden-Bürglen, where he spent two years before returning to his hometown club FC Bischofszell. However, just a month after his return, aged 16 Abrashi moved to Winterthur along with his family, where he joined local side FC Winterthur, the club where he would remain for the remainder of his youth career.Winterthur: «Wir sind definitiv stärker als in Tirana» - News Sport: Fussball Der Landbote
Winterthur Reserve team Following impressive performances with the youth teams, Abrashi was first called up to the reserve side towards the end of the 2006–07 season, making his debut on 16 May 2007 in a goalless draw against GC Biaschesi, coming on in the 81st minute for Micha Iseli. Ten days later he was in the starting formation for the 3–2 away win against FC Chur 97.ABRASHI, Amir, in: kicker-Almanach 2017, München: Copress Verlag, , Seite 334.
The following season, he started in the youth team but was promoted permanently a few months into the season, and on 11 November 2007 he came on as a late substitute in a 4–3 loss against St. Gallen II. He started the following game which was the 4–1 win against FC Herisau in which Abrashi scored his first competitive goal in the final moments. He became a regular in the squad's starting line-up for the second half of the season, scoring he second of the campaign against FC Baden. Abrashi played 16 matches and scored 2 goals in the 2007–08 season.
Senior team Abrashi's impressive performance in the reserve team caught the attention of the first team coach Mathias Walther, who included the 18-year-old in his squad for the Challenge League class against FC La Chaux-de-Fonds on 27 April 2008. Abrashi came on as a 67th-minute substitute for fellow Albanian Sehar Fejzulahi in the 1–0 away loss. He made 2 more appearances off the bench for the senior side against Lugano and SR Delémont, respectively.
Abrashi had his breakthrough season during the 2008–09 campaign where he played 24 matches and scored once. That goal came on 8 August 2008 in the 0–2 away win at La Chaux-de-Fonds. He also retained his spot in the 2009–10 season, making 28 league appearances and scoring 3 goals as Winterthur finished 3rd in the championship, missing out the promotion play-off for only 3 points.
Abrashi made 55 league appearances and 3 cup appearances, scoring 5 goals before leaving for top flight side Grasshopper.
Grasshopper In July 2010, Abrashi was sent on a one-year loan at Grasshopper. He was handed squad number 8, and made his competitive debut on 25 July as a substitute in the team's 2–0 away loss to Zürich. This was also his first ever Swiss Super League appearance in his career. Abrashi was also included in Ciriaco Sforza's team for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League campaign, making his debut on 19 August in the first leg of play-off round against Steaua București finished in a 1–0 away loss. He also played in the returning leg as the regular and extra time finished 1–0 for Grasshopper, which lead the match to penalty shootouts where the team was defeated 4–3 despite Abrashi successfully scoring his attempt.
Abrashi scored his maiden Grasshopper goal on 17 October in the 0–12 hammering of Gumefens/Sorens in the Round 2 of Swiss Cup. His first score-sheet contributions in league came on matchday 14 where he scored the opener in an eventual 2–0 home win against St. Gallen. He finished his first season with Grasshopper by making 33 appearances in all competitions, including 27 in league, scoring 4 goals, equaling his personal best set in the last season, as the team finished 7th in the championship, was eliminated in the quarter-final of Swiss Cup by Sion despite Abrashi's goal and was eliminated in the play-off round of Europa League.
Following the end of the loan, Abrashi's transfer was made permanent for a fee of €600,000. His second season in Grasshopper was marred by injuries as on 27 August 2011 in the league match against Luzern he suffered a Cruciate Ligament Rupture injury which kept him sidelined until February of the following year. Abrashi's on field return occurred on 17 March as he played in the last minutes of a 2–0 home win over Young Boys for the Swiss Super League matchday 25. He was able to make only 16 appearances during this season, 15 of them in league, collecting 1091 minutes.
Abrashi won his first silverware with Grasshopper in the 2012–13 season, as he contributed with 6 matches, including the final, as the team defeated Basel 4–3 on penalties after regular and extra time had ended 1–1 to win their 19th Swiss Cup in history. It was also the club's first trophy in 10 years. He scored his first league goal in almost two years on 19 August in the 0–2 away win over Luzern. He finished his third season with the club by playing 33 matches between league and cup, scoring 3 times as the team finished runner-up in the championship, missing the title to Basel for only 3 points.
Grasshoper's second place in the championship league meant that they have qualified in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. Abrashi made his UEFA Champions League debut on 30 July 2014 in the first leg against Lyon which finished in a 1–0 away loss. The team were also defeated in the second leg and were reduced in the UEFA Europa League play-off round where they faced Fiorentina. Abrashi scored his first and only goal of the season on 14 September in the 2013–14 Swiss Cup Round 2 against Stade Nyonnais; he netted the goal in the 121st minute to give Grasshoper a 4–1 win and progression to the next round. Abrashi made his 100th Swiss Super League appearance on 15 May 2014 in the 4–1 home win against Luzern in the matchday 35. He finished his fourth Grasshoper season by making 40 appearances in all competitions, setting a new personal best as the team finished runner-up once again in the championship.
In the 2014–15 season, Abrashi scored his first European goal. The goal came on 5 August 2014 in the returning leg of 2014–15 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round against Lille; the match finished in a 1–1 away draw which was not enough for Grasshoper who was eliminated 3–1 on aggregate. In December 2014, Abrashi announced that he would not extend his contract with the club. In February 2015, he confirmed that 2014–15 season would be his last with Grasshoper, adding that he will pursue a career outside of Switzerland. He finished his 5th and final season with Grasshopper by making 33 appearances in all competitions, including 26 in league, scoring 3 times. Overall, Abrashi played 127 matches in league, 18 in cup and 10 in UEFA competitions, scoring 11 goals in the process.
SC Freiburg On 3 June 2015, it was announced the Abrashi had successfully completed a move to German side SC Freiburg. He was presented on the same day, where he signed the three-year deal and was given the squad number 6.
Abrashi made his official debut with the club on 27 July 2015 in the opening match of 2. Bundesliga against Nürnberg, playing full-90 minutes in a 6–3 home win. He scored his first goal for the team on 11 September in Freiburg's 2–0 defeat of Kaiserslautern. He quickly established himself in the starting lineup, becoming an important instrument in the team's midfield, playing 33 league match throughout the season, as the team achieved the promotion to Bundesliga by winning the league.
Abrashi made his Bundesliga debut on 28 August 2016 in the opening league match of 2016–17 season, playing full-90 minutes in team's 2–1 away defeat to Hertha BSC in the last moments. After remaining on the bench for half of September, he returned and scored his first top flight goal on 29 October in Freiburg's 3–1 defeat of Werder Bremen. On 19 December, he agreed a contract extension, signing until 2020, with the new deal including a significant wage rise.
In November 2017, Abrashi suffered an injury which kept him sidelined for the next two months. He returned in action in the first days of 2018 by scoring a header in a friendly versus Bundesliga side Hamburger SV which ended in a 1–1 draw. He was injured again on 10 March 2018 in the league encounter against Hertha BSC, cracking the knee in the 29th minute, which ruled him out for the remaining of the season. He remained sidelined for almost a year, returning to training only in January 2019, and played his first match a month later, starting in a goalless draw against Schalke 04.
Loan to FC Basel On 27 January 2021, Abrashi moved on loan to Swiss club FC Basel. Basel confirmed the loan deal with Abrashi on the same day and that the contract would last until the end of the season. Abrashi joined Basel's first team during the winter break of their 2020–21 season under head coach Ciriaco Sforza. He played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park four days later, on 31 January, as Basel played a 2–2 draw with Lugano. At the end of the loan period Abrashi had played a total of 10 games for Basel without scoring a goal. All of these games were in the Super League.
Return to Grasshoppers On 23 June 2021, Abrashi returned to Grasshoppers on a two-year contract. He immediately took up captaining duties in the team's first season back in the Swiss Super League. While his return was widely celebrated among the fans, it didn't go as smoothly as hoped, as he received four yellow cards in his first four games. In his first derby back in Zurich, he managed to receive two yellows within the span of a minute shortly after halftime. He was further plagued with injury for the remainder of 2021. He supplied his first goal contribution since his return on 24 April 2022, in a 3–1 victory over Lausanne-Sport.
On 23 January 2023, he extended his contract with Grasshoppers for a further year until June 2024. On 10 May 2023, he was honored for playing his 200th game for Grasshoppers over his two engagements at the club, including ten appearances in European qualifiers, 19 cup games, and over 170 league appearances.
On 29 February 2024, Grasshoppers announced that Abrashi's contract had been extended for a further season, until June 2025. He played his 250th game in the Grasshopper dress on 21 September 2024. He agreed to another contract extension on 10 December 2024, keeping him at the club for a further year until summer 2026.
Two severe injuries in summer and autumn 2025 would see him sidelined for the majority of the 2025–26 season. On 10 April 2026, his contract was extended for a further year. On 24 May 2026 Abrashi became the decisive figure in a 2–1 victory over Aarau in the Super League play-off final, which secured their top-flight spot for another season, and despite suffering a heavy facial injury and bleeding after a 104th-minute challenge, he continued playing until the end.
International career Switzerland
Amir Abrashi was an important player of Swiss youth national teams, earning more than 40 caps in total. The highlights of his career for Switzerland were the achievement of runner-up at the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, coming on as a second-half substitute in the final against Spain (0–2), and the subsequent participation in the 2012 Summer Olympics as a regular player where Switzerland lost in the group games against the later gold medalist Mexico (0–1) and Bronze Medal winner South Korea (1–2), while achieving a 1–1 draw against Gabun.