Arbër Zeneli Siblings: All About Besfort Zeneli
Arbër Zeneli PHOTO/Getty Images
Arbër Avni Zeneli is a professional footballer born on 25 February 1995 in Säter, Sweden.
He stands 1.76 metres tall and primarily plays as a left winger or attacking midfielder.
Born to Albanian parents from Selac, a village near Mitrovica in Kosovo, he grew up in Falun before his family moved to Borås when he was 11.
Zeneli holds dual Swedish and Kosovar ties, having represented Sweden at youth international levels before switching to the Kosovo senior national team.
He currently plays for Allsvenskan club IF Elfsborg, the same club where he developed as a youth.
Siblings
Arbër is the older brother of professional footballer Besfort Zeneli.
Besfort was born on 21 November 2002 in Säter, Sweden, and is of Kosovo Albanian origin from the same family background in Selac near Mitrovica.
Like his brother, Besfort came through the IF Elfsborg youth system and began his senior career there, later transferring to Belgian club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.
While Arbër chose to represent Kosovo at senior level after playing for Sweden’s youth teams, Besfort represented Kosovo at under-21 level before opting for the Sweden senior national team.
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Career
Zeneli began his football journey with Hälsinggårdens AIK before joining the IF Elfsborg youth academy in 2007.
He progressed through the ranks, contributing to youth titles including a Swedish Under-17 championship win in 2011, and was promoted to the senior side ahead of the 2014 season.
He made his Allsvenskan debut that year and scored his first senior goal later in the campaign.
After two seasons with Elfsborg, where he recorded notable goal contributions, he transferred to Dutch Eredivisie club SC Heerenveen in late 2015.
Over three and a half seasons there he established himself as a regular, scoring regularly and providing assists.
In January 2019 he moved to French Ligue 1 side Stade de Reims on a multi-year deal.
His time in France was interrupted by serious knee injuries, including anterior cruciate ligament tears that limited his appearances in certain seasons.
After leaving Reims he had a short spell with Turkish club Adana Demirspor in 2023–24 before returning to IF Elfsborg in 2024, where he continues to feature in the Allsvenskan.
Internationally, Zeneli represented Sweden from under-17 through under-21 levels between 2010 and 2016, earning dozens of caps and scoring several goals.
He was part of the Sweden under-21 squad that won the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, though he did not appear in the tournament matches.
In 2016 he switched allegiance to Kosovo, making his senior debut in a World Cup qualifier against Croatia.
He went on to earn 33 caps and score nine goals for Kosovo, including a hat-trick against Azerbaijan, and was at one stage among the team’s leading scorers.
Accolades
With IF Elfsborg, Zeneli won the Svenska Cupen in the 2013–14 season.
As a member of the Sweden under-21 team he secured the UEFA European Under-21 Championship title in 2015.
These remain his primary team honours.
On the individual front his goal-scoring form for Kosovo, particularly during strong periods in the late 2010s, highlighted his contribution to the national side’s development after the country gained full FIFA membership.