# Fatos Bećiraj

Fatos Bećiraj (Montenegrin: Фатос Бећирај, Albanian: Fatos Besim Beqiraj; born 5 May 1988) is a Montenegrin former professional footballer who played as a striker.

## Club career
### Early career and Budućnost

Bećiraj began his career in his hometown of Peja with the local club Shqiponja at 17 years of age, before joining their city rivals Besa Pejë in July 2007. After spending the first half of the 2007–08 season with Besa Pejë, his good performances in the Kosovar Superliga attracted attention from several clubs in the region, and in January 2008, Bećiraj moved to the Montenegrin First League side Budućnost Podgorica.
He immediately established himself as a first team regular at Budućnost, scoring 9 goals in 15 appearances in the second half of the 2007–08 season, helping the club win the Montenegrin championship title and finish runners-up in the 2007–08 Montenegrin Cup. In the following two seasons, Bećiraj scored 28 league goals in 62 matches for the club, becoming league top scorer in the 2008–09 season with 18 goals scored.

### Dinamo Zagreb

On 30 August 2010, it was announced that Bećiraj signed for Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb. He played well in his debut season with Dinamo and became regularly called up to the Montenegro national team. He played in 22 league matches and scored 8 goals, most notably a beautiful goal against Rijeka and a fine header against Hajduk Split.
Bećiraj struggled to find his goalscoring form at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, finally scoring after eight matches without a goal, netting the fifth goal in a 5–0 win against Karlovac. He then scored the last goal in a 4–1 win against Malmö in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League Play-off. Bećiraj then continued his goalscoring form in domestic competition, scoring against Varaždin, Istra 1961, Zadar, Šibenik and Split.
On 22 November 2011, Bećiraj scored Dinamo's first goal in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, netting a header in the club's 6–2 away loss to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Bećiraj was the first choice striker throughout the 2011–12 season and became top scorer of the Prva HNL with 15 goals in 28 appearances, becoming the first foreign player to accomplish that feat.

### Changchun Yatai

In February 2014, Bećiraj transferred to Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai. On 8 March 2014, he made his debut for Yatai in a 1-0 away defeat against Beijing Guoan. On 23 April 2014, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3-1 away win against defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande. He made 28 appearances for Yatai in the 2014 season and scored 7 goals.

### Dinamo Minsk

In January 2015, Bećiraj transferred to Belarusian Premier League side Dinamo Minsk. On 6 August 2015, he scored a 118th-minute winner in a 1–1 extra-time (2–1 aggregate) win over Swiss side Zürich in the second leg of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.

### Dynamo Moscow

On 18 February 2016, Bećiraj signed a 3.5-year contract with Russian side Dynamo Moscow. He scored his first goal for Dynamo Moscow on 19 March 2016, giving his club a 1–0 win against Ufa. On 11 January 2018, Bećiraj's Dynamo contract was dissolved by mutual consent, making him a free agent.

### Mechelen

The day after leaving Dynamo Moscow, on 12 January 2018, Bećiraj signed a contract with the Belgian First Division A club Mechelen.

### Maccabi Netanya

On 5 September 2018, Bećiraj signed with Israeli Premier League side Maccabi Netanya. He was the top goalscorer for the club in his debut season scoring 15 goals in all club competitions. His second season with Netanya wasn't as successful, scoring only 7 times in the league and once in the Toto Cup. On 7 June 2020, Bećiraj requested to be released from the club. In the two seasons with the club, he scored a total of 23 goals in 63 appearances for the club.

### Wisła Kraków

On July 25, 2020 Bećiraj signed with Polish side Wisła Kraków on a two-year contract after leaving Maccabi Netanya by contract termination.

### Bnei Yehuda

On February 11, 2021 Bećiraj signed for Bnei Yehuda of the Israeli Premier League.

## International career

Bećiraj was first called up for the Montenegro U21 national team by head coach Dušan Vlaisavljević in 2009, winning his first cap in a 2011 European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan on 7 June 2009. He went on to earn five caps for the U21 team before receiving his first call-up for the senior team in March 2009, for a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Italy. Bećiraj made his international debut in that match, coming on as a substitute for Radomir Đalović in the 70th minute of the game. He scored his first goal for Montenegro on 17 November 2010 in a friendly match against Azerbaijan. On 7 June 2019, Bećiraj captained Montenegro in a 1–1 draw against Kosovo. In November 2022, Bećiraj announced the end of his national team career, after 86 appearances and 15 scored goals.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 3 June 2023.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Budućnost Podgorica | 2007–08 | Montenegrin First League | 15 | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | 9 |
| Budućnost Podgorica | 2008–09 | Montenegrin First League | 32 | 18 | – | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | 34 | 20 |
| Budućnost Podgorica | 2009–10 | Montenegrin First League | 30 | 10 | – | – | 2 | 0 | – | – | 32 | 10 |
| Budućnost Podgorica | 2010–11 | Montenegrin First League | 4 | 2 | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | – | 8 | 4 |
| Budućnost Podgorica | Total | Total | 81 | 39 | – | – | 8 | 4 | – | – | 89 | 43 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2010–11 | 1. HNL | 22 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 14 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2011–12 | 1. HNL | 28 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 2 | – | – | 45 | 18 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2012–13 | 1. HNL | 27 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 2 | – | – | 38 | 7 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2013–14 | 1. HNL | 13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 7 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Total | Total | 90 | 30 | 15 | 10 | 32 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 46 |
| Changchun Yatai | 2014 | Chinese Super League | 28 | 7 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 28 | 7 |
| Dinamo Minsk | 2015 | Belarusian Premier League | 23 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 4 | – | – | 42 | 19 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2015–16 | Russian Premier League | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 17 | 2 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2016–17 | Russian Football National League | 30 | 9 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 33 | 10 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2017–18 | Russian Premier League | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 18 | 2 |
| Dynamo Moscow | Total | Total | 60 | 13 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 64 | 14 |
| Mechelen | 2017–18 | Belgian First Division A | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 4 | 0 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 2018–19 | Israeli Premier League | 30 | 13 | 3 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 33 | 15 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 2019–20 | Israeli Premier League | 24 | 7 | 6 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 30 | 8 |
| Maccabi Netanya | Total | Total | 54 | 20 | 9 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 63 | 23 |
| Wisła Kraków | 2020–21 | Ekstraklasa | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 0 |
| Bnei Yehuda (loan) | 2020–21 | Israeli Premier League | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 13 | 2 |
| Astana | 2021 | Kazakhstan Premier League | 7 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 2 |
| Dečić | 2021–22 | Montenegrin First League | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 17 | 1 |
| Dečić | 2022–23 | Montenegrin First League | 18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 34 | 20 |
| Dečić | Total | Total | 32 | 6 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 36 | 7 |
| Mornar | 2022–23 | Montenegrin First League | 16 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | 18 | 3 |
| career total | career total | career total | 418 | 130 | 47 | 21 | 56 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 519 | 165 |
* 1 2 3 Appearances in the Champions League
* 1 2 3 4 Appearances in the Europa League
* ↑ One appearance and a goal in the Champions League, three appearances and a goal in the Europa League
* ↑ Appearances in the Europa Conference League
* ↑ Appearances in the Montenegrin First League relegation play-offs

### International

    As of match played 7 June 2022.
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Montenegro |
| Montenegro | 2009 | 3 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 2010 | 7 | 1 |
| Montenegro | 2011 | 4 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 2012 | 5 | 2 |
| Montenegro | 2013 | 6 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 2014 | 5 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 2015 | 7 | 2 |
| Montenegro | 2016 | 7 | 2 |
| Montenegro | 2017 | 6 | 2 |
| Montenegro | 2018 | 9 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 2019 | 10 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 2020 | 6 | 1 |
| Montenegro | 2021 | 10 | 5 |
| Montenegro | 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 86 | 15 |

#### International goals

    Scores and results list Montenegro's goal tally first.
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition :
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 17 November 2010 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | 10 | Azerbaijan | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 11 September 2012 | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino | 18 | San Marino | 2–0 | 6–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 11 September 2012 | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino | 18 | San Marino | 3–0 | 6–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 5 September 2015 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | 33 | Liechtenstein | 1–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualification |
| 5 | 9 October 2015 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | 35 | Austria | 2–1 | 2–3 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualification |
| 6 | 8 October 2016 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | 42 | Kazakhstan | 4–0 | 5–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7 | 11 October 2016 | Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark | 43 | Denmark | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 8 | 10 June 2017 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | 47 | Armenia | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 1 September 2017 | Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan | 48 | Kazakhstan | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 10 | 8 September 2020 | Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | 71 | Luxembourg | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League C |
| 11 | 27 March 2021 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | 77 | Gibraltar | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 12 | 5 June 2021 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | 80 | Israel | 1–2 | 1–3 | Friendly |
| 13 | 8 October 2021 | Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar | 81 | Gibraltar | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 14 | 8 October 2021 | Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar | 81 | Gibraltar | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 15 | 16 November 2021 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | 85 | Turkey | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |

## Honours

Budućnost Podgorica
* Montenegrin First League: 2007–08
Dinamo Zagreb
* 1. HNL: 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13
* Croatian Cup: 2010–11, 2011–12
* Croatian Super Cup: 2013
Dynamo Moscow
* Russian Football National League: 2016–17
Individual
* Montenegrin First League top goalscorer: 2008–09 (18 goals)
* 1. HNL top goalscorer: 2011–12 (15 goals)