Arbnor Muçolli
Albanian footballer (born 1999)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arbnor Muçolli ([muˈtʃɔɫi]; born 15 September 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Swedish Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg and the Albania national team.[1]
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Muçolli with IFK Göteborg in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Arbnor Muçolli | ||
| Date of birth | 15 September 1999 | ||
| Place of birth | Fredericia, Denmark | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | IFK Göteborg | ||
| Number | 19 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2004–2012 | Fredericia | ||
| 2012–2017 | Vejle | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2023 | Vejle | 149 | (24) |
| 2023– | IFK Göteborg | 30 | (8) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016–2017 | Denmark U18 | 4 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Albania U21 | 11 | (1) |
| 2022– | Albania | 6 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:30, 10 August 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 21:11, 25 March 2024 (UTC) | |||
He began his senior career with Vejle in Denmark, where he progressed from the youth system and established himself as a first-team player, before moving to IFK Göteborg in 2023.[2] He has also represented Denmark at youth level and later switched international allegiance to Albania, making his senior debut in 2022 and featuring in UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying.[3]
Club career
Early career and Vejle BK
Muçolli was born in Fredericia, Denmark, to ethnic Albanian parents from Podujevo, Kosovo, and began his career with local club Fredericia at the age of five alongside his elder brother Agon.[4]
Having established himself as a central midfielder, Muçolli made his debut for Vejle BK on 17 November 2016, aged 17, in a match against Næstved BK, playing 80 minutes before being substituted.[5]
Muçolli missed parts of the 2017–18 season due to injury but still made 15 appearances, contributing to Vejle's promotion to the Superliga.[3]
During the 2018–19 Danish Superliga season, Muçolli became a first-team regular, making 25 league appearances and scoring once, although Vejle were relegated.[3] On 25 July 2018, he extended his contract with the club until 2020.[6]
During the 2019–20 Danish 1st Division season, he helped Vejle earn promotion back to the Danish Superliga, making 26 appearances and winning Player of the Season honours.[7] On 6 July 2020, Muçolli scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Roskilde.[8]
IFK Göteborg
On 6 July 2023, Muçolli joined Swedish Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg on a contract running until the end of 2026.[9] He made his competitive debut four days later, replacing Marcus Berg at half-time in a 2–1 league defeat against Varbergs BoIS at Gamla Ullevi.[10] His first start for Blåvitt came the following week in a draw away to IF Elfsborg, where he played 81 minutes before being substituted.[11] On 13 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 home win over Djurgårdens IF.[12] He scored his first brace on 3 September in a 2–2 draw against Malmö FF, a match temporarily interrupted after objects were thrown from the stands following his second goal.[13] Due to his outstanding performances throughout September 2023, including three goals in three appearances, he was awarded the title of Player of the Month for September.[14] In his debut half-season with IFK Göteborg, Muçolli scored six goals in 17 appearances as the club narrowly avoided relegation by finishing 13th in the league.[1]
Muçolli started 2024 scoring two goals in three Svenska Cupen matches.[15][1] In August 2024, Muçolli suffered a serious ligament injury while playing against IFK Värnamo, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2024 season and requiring surgery.[16] Although he returned to partial training in July 2025, Swedish media reported in September 2025 that he would miss the remainder of the season after suffering a setback during his recovery from the anterior cruciate ligament injury.[17]
International career
Born in Denmark, he was capped four times at under-18 level, making his debut on 8 March 2017 against Italy.[18][19]
Being of Albanian descent,[4] Muçolli obtained Albanian citizenship on 8 February 2018, making him eligible to represent Albania internationally.[20] Muçolli represented the Albania under-21 side in the 2019 and 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers, making his debut against Spain on 6 September 2018, scoring once against Kosovo on 15 October 2019 and earning 10 caps overall.[21][22][23][24][25][26]
Muçolli made his senior debut for Albania in a friendly against Estonia on 13 June 2022,[27] and later that year also featured in two additional friendly matches under head coach Edoardo Reja.[28] He made his competitive debut on 20 November 2023 in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against the Faroe Islands, coming on as a substitute for the final 30 minutes of the 0–0 draw, a result that secured Albania first place in Group E despite finishing level on 15 points with the Czech Republic but ahead on head-to-head records.[29] He was considered as part of the squad rotation options for the UEFA Euro 2024 finals but ultimately missed inclusion after suffering an injury in May 2024.[30]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vejle | 2016–17 | 1st Division | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | 1st Division | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | Superliga | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| 2019–20 | 1st Division | 26 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 26 | 7 | ||
| 2020–21 | Superliga | 26 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 28 | 4 | ||
| 2021–22 | Superliga | 26 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | 31 | 5 | ||
| 2022–23 | 1st Division | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 15 | 4 | ||
| Total | 135 | 21 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 150 | 21 | ||
| IFK Göteborg | 2023 | Allsvenskan | 17 | 6 | — | — | 17 | 6 | ||
| 2024 | Allsvenskan | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | 9 | 3 | ||
| 2025 | Allsvenskan | Did not feature due to injury | ||||||||
| Total | 23 | 7 | 3 | 2 | — | 26 | 9 | |||
| Career total | 158 | 28 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 176 | 30 | ||
- One appearance at 2018–19 Danish Superliga Relegation play-offs
International
- As of 25 March 2024[3]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 2022 | 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 0 | |
Honours
Vejle
Individual
- Danish 1st Division Player of the Season: 2019–20[34]
- Danish Superliga Goal of the Season: 2020–21[35]
- Allsvenskan Player of the Month: September 2023[14]
