Xherdan Shaqiri

Xherdan Shaqiri is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Basel in the Swiss Super League. ¹ Born in Gjilan, Kosovo, in 1991 to Kosovar Albanian parents and brought to Switzerland as a child, he won three Swiss titles with Basel, the UEFA Champions League with Liverpool in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020, and earned 125 caps for Switzerland. ¹ The English article describes him as a Muslim; it names no school for him, so his data record leaves his faith as unknown. ¹²

Shaqiri was born on 10 October 1991 in Zhegër, Gjilan, in what was then SFR Yugoslavia, to Kosovar Albanian parents, and emigrated to Switzerland in 1992 with his parents and three siblings. ¹ They settled in Augst, near the French and German borders; his father, who did not speak Swiss German, began by washing dishes in a restaurant before working in road construction, and his mother worked as a cleaner. ¹ He idolised the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, and rose through the youth ranks at Basel. ¹

In three years in Basel's first team Shaqiri was an important player in the side that won three Swiss Super League titles. ¹ He moved to Bayern Munich in 2012 and won three Bundesliga titles in three seasons, without securing a regular first-team place. ¹ In January 2015 he moved to Inter Milan for €15 million, and after half a season joined Stoke City in the summer of 2015 for a club-record £12 million. ¹

After Stoke's relegation in 2018, Shaqiri transferred to Liverpool for a reported £13.5 million and was part of the squad that won the Champions League in his first season, followed by the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020, Liverpool's first league title in 30 years. ¹ He later played for Lyon and Chicago Fire before returning to Basel in 2024. ¹ A full Switzerland international from 2010 until 2024, he earned 125 caps and scored 32 goals — the country's third-most capped player and fourth-highest goalscorer — and represented Switzerland at four World Cups and three European Championships. ¹

The English article's personal-life section states that "Shaqiri is a Muslim but celebrates Christmas, despite it being a mainly Christian holiday," attributing the custom to his family, who celebrated it in his childhood, and quoting his 2014 remark about the family Christmas tree. ¹ The Arabic article likewise states that he is a Muslim, and Wikidata gives his religion as Islam, generically. ³² A family custom and generic statements name no school for him personally, and Kosovo's historic Hanafi tradition may not be inferred onto an individual, so his record states his faith as unknown. ¹

• The defined source entities cited above, recorded in data/source/.
• Revisions of this article must be dated, and must name the source that changed each fact.