The inglorious "end" of Rrahman's successful career in Kosovo

On May 21, 2014, Kosovo played its second international match, after FIFA gave permission for this. At the “Adem Jashari” stadium in Mitrovica, Kosovo suffered a 6:1 defeat by Turkey. Immediately for May 25, 2014, a friendly match with Senegal was arranged in Geneva. But the then Kosovo coach, Albert Bunjaki, was facing numerous player shortages. A total of 17, Bunjaki said. The Albanian Football Federation came to the rescue, “borrowing” the young defender, Amir Rrahmani, to Kosovo for the match against Senegal. Rrahmani was the captain of Albania U21 at the time.  

He played alongside Enis Alush in the center of defense for Kosovo, which lost 3:1. It was Kosovo's first match abroad, after FIFA allowed them to play friendlies. Moreover, it was Rrahmani's first appearance for Kosovo.

Rrahmani then made his debut for Albania A, returned to Kosovo and may have already played his last match with the team representing his native country. But for a full decade, Rrahmani was a very important part of Kosovo's historic journey. 

Kosovo has yet to achieve its grand goal of appearing in a major football event, European or World. However, the development and progress is evident. And the contribution of center back Rrahmani is undeniable.

Shortly after his debut for Kosovo, Rrahmani made his debut for Albania. After appearing for Albania's U19 and U21 teams, he made his debut for the A-team of the Rossoneri on June 8, 2014 against San Marino. He played his second match for Albania A on November 13, 2014, at the city stadium in Prishtina. He even scored a goal for Albania in a 2:2 draw with Kosovo in a friendly match. And he never played for Albania again. He was invited to the “Euro 2016” squad, but along with Milot Rashica, Herolind Shala and Berat Gjimshiti, he was not selected for the final team.

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It wasn't long before Kosovo won the right to participate in the qualifiers. Rrahmani, like Shala and Rashica, decided to move from Albania to Kosovo.

Kosovo played their first qualifying match on 5 September 2016 away to Finland. In the 1:1 draw, Rrahmani played in the centre of defence alongside Alban Pnish. In the second match, against Croatia, in the 6:0 defeat, Rrahmani was on the bench. Avni Pepa came on in his place.

Rrahmani was then irreplaceable in the center of defense. In June 2019, he held the captain's armband for the first time. This happened after Aro Murić joined Kosovo and Samir Ujkani moved to the bench. Rrahmani first held the armband against Montenegro, on June 7, 2019. And he was the captain until Friday when he announced that he was leaving the national team. 

In 2019, Rrahmani was absent from an unimportant friendly with Gibraltar, and did not appear against Sweden B on January 12, 2020.

Lack of respect for North Macedonia

On October 8, 2020, Kosovo played its most important match to date. It faced North Macedonia in Skopje in the semi-finals of the European Championship qualifying playoff. Rrahmani was not part of the Kosovo team for that match.

It was the time of the coronavirus that disrupted football, among other things.

"The chances are small that I will be with Kosovo in the next matches. In all likelihood, I will not be able to be part of Kosovo in these matches. I am waiting to see what will happen, but the chances are small," Rrahmani declared on October 4 for KOHĪN.

Two players at Napoli were identified as having been affected by COVID-19. And despite all efforts, authorities did not allow Rrahmani to leave Italy to join Kosovo. 

"I can explain it, but I can't understand why it happened. Things have been made difficult by the emergence of the coronavirus. We have all tried to have Amir, but we haven't been able to. It is incomprehensible why it hasn't happened for us, while on the other hand a player from the same country is being released for North Macedonia," declared Kosovo coach Bernard Challandes the day before the match.

Goran Pandev, who was playing in Italy, was allowed to join North Macedonia. Kosovo also had several other important absences. 

North Macedonia won 2:1 and subsequently qualified for the European Championship held in 2021. It was considered that Kosovo missed a golden opportunity and not all fans have accepted the absence of Kosovo's most important players as reasonable.

Accidents

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Since then, Rrahman's absences have been more frequent for Kosovo. Due to injuries, he missed three matches in 2021. He then missed two friendlies in the same year. He also missed the last four matches of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. 

But he played as captain in most matches, providing stability in the last line of defense.
Rrahmani scored one of his seven goals for Kosovo on October 15, 2024, against Cyprus at "Fadil Vokrri". After that match, he had a clash with the leader of the Kosovo fans, "Dardans", Lulzim Berisha. 

There were allegations that Rrahmani and other Kosovo players were insulted by Berisha. He denied this. The fan leader said he only asked him “to come over and greet the fans.”

The FFK then issued a statement demanding that the players be respected. But it was the first public signal of the not-so-good developments in the captain-fans-federation relationship.

Rrahmani, however, continued to lead Kosovo on the field as captain. 

On November 15, 2025, Kosovo players walked off the field during a match against Romania in Bucharest, shortly before the end. There were pro-Serbian chants from Romanian fans and the Kosovo players left the field. They refused to return even though the referee asked them to. The match was then officially recorded as a win for Romania.

There were internal clashes at that moment in Bucharest, which remained unexplained, but which contributed to the escalation of the captain's conflict with the federation leaders. 

Rrahmani was injured in the first qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup, against Switzerland on September 5 last year. Due to that injury, he missed Napoli's ten consecutive matches. He returned on November 1, 2025. 

He was also absent from the Kosovo match on September 8 and October 10 and 13. 

He returned on November 15, 2025 against Slovenia, while he last played on November 18 against Switzerland. He had an injury at the end of January of this year, while another injury was suffered on February 15 in the match against Roma. He continued with the match against Napoli on April 24, only after Kosovo played the semi-final and final of the playoff for qualification for the 2026 World Cup. 

On March 26, Kosovo won 4:3 against Slovakia in Bratislava. On March 31, they were defeated 1:0 by Turkey in Pristina, in the playoff final. Kosovo played two more friendlies in late May and early June, but Rrahmani, like many others, was released.

And on Friday, Rrahmani declared that he will not play for Kosovo “as long as the FFK is led by the current people.” He made accusations, but without much specification. The accusations have also been made by the law firm that now represents Rrahmani. The FFK has not commented. 

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The departure, which could very well be final, is not the most glorious for captain Rrahmani. He has 67 appearances for Kosovo. 

Kosovo is now a serious European representative, of course, thanks to the influence of Rrahman and his friends.