Elif Elmas
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 24 September 1999 | ||
Place of birth | Skopje, Macedonia | ||
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder, winger | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | RB Leipzig | ||
Number | 6 | ||
Youth career | |||
2004–2013 | FK Vardar | ||
2013–2015 | Rabotnički | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2015–2017 | Rabotnički | 44 | (7) |
2017–2019 | Fenerbahçe | 34 | (4) |
2019–2024 | Napoli | 143 | (14) |
2024– | RB Leipzig | 16 | (0) |
International career‡ | |||
Macedonia U17 | 2 | (0) | |
2015–2018 | Macedonia U19 | 13 | (2) |
2016–2017 | Macedonia U21 | 9 | (1) |
2017– | North Macedonia | 65 | (13) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:06, 2 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:04, 14 November 2024 (UTC) |
Elif Elmas (Macedonian: Елиф Елмас; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the North Macedonia national team. A versatile player, Elmas can be deployed as a central midfielder, right midfielder, winger or forward.
Club career
[edit]Early career
[edit]Elmas started his career at FK Rabotnički in his native Macedonia. After a stand-out season in which he scored six league goals and led Rabotnički to a third-place finish in the Macedonian First Football League in 2016–17, he joined Turkish giants Fenerbahçe on a deal until 2022, with Fenerbahçe paying the former €300,000 for his services.[1] The attacking midfielder went on to score four goals in over 40 appearances for the Yellow Canaries in all competitions before moving to Italy in July 2019.[1]
Napoli
[edit]On 24 July 2019, Serie A side S.S.C. Napoli announced the signing of Elmas from Fenerbahçe.[2] The deal was worth a reported €16 million, which could rise to €19 million in total with bonuses – including a €1.5 million sell-on fee clause.[1] He was disciplined by his new club after speaking to reporters while away on international duty in November 2019 for breaching a club media blackout.[3]
Elmas scored his first Napoli goal on 3 February 2020 to help the club to a 4–2 victory over Sampdoria, and secure their third win in a row in all competitions.[4]
On 19 December 2021, Elmas scored the winner for Napoli in a narrow away win against AC Milan, taking over second place in Serie A.[5]
Elmas went on to win the Scudetto with Napoli in 2023, the club's third title, and the first claimed outside of the Diego Maradona era.[6]
RB Leipzig
[edit]On 27 December 2023, Bundesliga club RB Leipzig announced that Elmas would join the club on 1 January 2024, upon the opening of the winter transfer window, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract.[7] The transfer fee paid by the Germans was reported as €23 million by German sports magazine Kicker.[8]
International career
[edit]Elmas was born in Macedonia (now North Macedonia) to a family of Turkish descent.[9][10][11] In July 2017, it was reported that then-coach of the Turkey national football team, Fatih Terim, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth country.[12]
Elmas was also included in the Macedonia U21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland, being the youngest footballer in the 23-man squad.[13] On 11 June 2017, at the age of 17, Elmas debuted for the Macedonian senior squad in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Spain as a half-time substitute for Ostoja Stjepanović.[14]
On 31 March 2021, Elmas scored the winning goal for North Macedonia in a 2–1 away win over Germany during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[15] The same year in November 2021, Elmas scored a brace in a 3–1 victory against Iceland, helping the team secure a runners-up spot in Group J, leading North Macedonia to a World Cup play-off.[16]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 5 November 2024.[17]
Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Rabotnički | 2015–16 | Macedonian First League | 11 | 1 | — | – | — | 11 | 1 | |||
2016–17 | 33 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 35 | 7 | |||
Total | 44 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 46 | 8 | |||
Fenerbahçe | 2017–18 | Süper Lig | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
2018–19 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9[b] | 0 | — | 40 | 4 | |||
Total | 34 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | 47 | 4 | |||
Napoli | 2019–20 | Serie A | 26 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5[c] | 0 | — | 36 | 1 | |
2020–21 | 33 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6[b] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 44 | 3 | ||
2021–22 | 37 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8[b] | 4 | — | 46 | 7 | |||
2022–23 | 36 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 10[c] | 0 | — | 47 | 6 | |||
2023–24 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | ||
Total | 143 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 189 | 19 | ||
RB Leipzig | 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 14 | 0 | — | 2[c] | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||
2024–25 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |||
Total | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
Career total | 236 | 25 | 16 | 1 | 49 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 303 | 31 |
- ^ Includes Turkish Cup, Coppa Italia
- ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- ^ a b c d e Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ^ Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana
International
[edit]- As of match played 14 November 2024[18]
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
North Macedonia[a] | |||
2017 | 3 | 0 | |
2018 | 5 | 0 | |
2019 | 10 | 4 | |
2020 | 4 | 0 | |
2021 | 15 | 5 | |
2022 | 9 | 0 | |
2023 | 10 | 3 | |
2024 | 9 | 1 | |
Total | 65 | 13 |
- ^ North Macedonia was known as Macedonia until 2019
- As of match played 14 November 2024
- Scores and results list North Macedonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmas goal.[18]
No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 21 March 2019 | Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia | 9 | Latvia | 2–0 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
2 | 3–1 | ||||||
3 | 10 October 2019 | Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia | 15 | Slovenia | 1–0 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
4 | 2–0 | ||||||
5 | 28 March 2021 | Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia | 24 | Liechtenstein | 4–0 | 5–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
6 | 31 March 2021 | MSV-Arena, Duisburg, Germany | 25 | Germany | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
7 | 1 June 2021 | Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia | 26 | Slovenia | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
8 | 14 November 2021 | Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia | 37 | Iceland | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
9 | 3–1 | ||||||
10 | 23 March 2023 | Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia | 47 | Malta | 1–0 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualification |
11 | 16 June 2023 | Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia | 49 | Ukraine | 2–0 | 2–3 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualification |
12 | 12 September 2023 | National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta | 52 | Malta | 1–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualification |
13 | 10 October 2024 | Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia | 63 | Latvia | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2024–25 UEFA Nations League C |
Honours
[edit]Napoli
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Fenerbahce Confirm €16m Eljif Elmas Transfer To Napoli, Fee Could Reach €19m – Financial Details Revealed". Turkish Football. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- ^ "Napoli, ufficializzato l'acquisto di Elmas a titolo definitivo". S.S.C. Napoli (in Italian). 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ "Napoli ready to punish Elmas for speaking to the media". Goal. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- ^ "Demme and Elmas help resurgent Napoli beat Sampdoria". France24. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- ^ "Elmas grabs win for Napoli in Milan after VAR drama as Cádiz hold Real Madrid". The Guardian. 19 December 2021.
- ^ "Napoli seal first Italian football league title in 33 years". Al Jazeera English. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Eljif Elmas to join RB Leipzig in January 2024!". RB Leipzig. 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Perfekt: Napolis Elmas wechselt zu RB Leipzig" [Perfect: Napoli's Elmas joins RB Leipzig]. kicker (in German). 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?". Sporx (in Turkish). 17 July 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ "Muriç ve Eljif neden Türk Milli Takımı'nı tercih etmedi?". fenerkolik.org (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ "Şekip Mosturoğlu: Fatih Terim, Eljif Elmas'ı milli takıma çok istedi". Milliyet (in Turkish). 30 June 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?". sporx.com (in Turkish). 17 July 2017.
- ^ "Благоја Милевски ги избра седуммината од генерацијата 1996/97 за ЕП во Полска". Football Federation of Macedonia (in Macedonian).
- ^ Bulatović, Vladimir (11 June 2017). "Елмас дебитира за Македонија со 17 години... (Фото + видео)" [Elmas debuted for Macedonia at 17 years old... (Photo + Video)]. Ekipa Macedonia (in Macedonian).
- ^ Popovski, Zoran (1 January 2022). "Македонскиот маратонец Елиф Елмас | Одигра 70 натпревари во 2021 година, само тројца во Европа се пред него (Фото)" [Macedonian marathoner Elif Elmas | He played 70 games in 2021, only three in Europe are ahead of him (Photo)]. Sport Manija (in Macedonian).
- ^ "Елиф, Елиф, Елиф... Македонија повторно води! (видео)" [Elif, Elif, Elif... Macedonia leads again! (video)]. Sport Sport (in Macedonian). 14 November 2021.
- ^ "E. Elmas". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Elif Elmas". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ "Napoli win Serie A for first time in 33 years". BBC Sport. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ "Coppa: Napoli beat Juventus on penalties". Football Italia. 17 June 2020.
External links
[edit]- Profile at the RB Leipzig website
- Profile at Macedonian Football (in English)
- sport.de
- Elif Elmas at Soccerway
- Elif Elmas – UEFA competition record (archive)
- 1999 births
- Living people
- Footballers from Skopje
- Macedonian people of Turkish descent
- Men's association football midfielders
- Men's association football wingers
- Macedonian men's footballers
- North Macedonia men's youth international footballers
- North Macedonia men's under-21 international footballers
- North Macedonia men's international footballers
- FK Rabotnichki players
- Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers
- SSC Napoli players
- RB Leipzig players
- Macedonian First Football League players
- Süper Lig players
- Serie A players
- Bundesliga players
- UEFA Euro 2020 players
- Macedonian expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
- Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
- Expatriate men's footballers in Italy
- Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Italy
- Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
- Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Germany