Fatos Bećiraj (, ; born 5 May 1988) is a Montenegrin former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He played his final season in 2023 with Mornar, after which he retired from professional football. In September 2026, he was appointed sporting director of football club Budućnosthttps://www.adria.tv/vijesti/sport/fatos-beciraj-imenovan-za-novog-sportskog-direktora-fk-buducnost/.
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.http://www.vecernji.hr/sport/nogomet/beqiraj-tomecak-zabili-realu-dinamo-ublazio-poraz-madridu-clanak-34908
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 25 July 2020, Bećiraj signed with Polish Ekstraklasa side Wisła Kraków on a two-year contract after leaving Maccabi Netanya by contract termination.
Bnei Yehuda On 11 February 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 + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBudućnost Podgorica2007–08Montenegrin 1. CFL159———1592008–09Montenegrin 1. CFL3218—2Appearances in UEFA Champions League2—34202009–10Montenegrin 1. CFL3010—2Appearances in UEFA Europa League0—32102010–11Montenegrin 1. CFL42—42—84Total8139—84—8943Dinamo Zagreb2010–111. HNL2286660—34142011–121. HNL281551122—45182012–131. HNL27411102—3872013–141. HNL133324One appearance and one goal in UEFA Champions League, three appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League200207Total903015103260013746Changchun Yatai2014Chinese Super League28700——287Dinamo Minsk2015Belarusian Premier League23976124—4219Dynamo Moscow2015–16Russian Premier League12210——1722016–17Russian FNL30931––33102017–18Russian Premier League18200——182Total601341——6414Mechelen2017–18Belgian First Division A4000——40Maccabi Netanya2018–19Israeli Premier League301332——33152019–20Israeli Premier League24761——308Total542093——6323Wisła Kraków2020–21Ekstraklasa10010——110Bnei Yehuda (loan)2020–21Israeli Premier League13200——132Astana2021Kazakhstan Premier League72704Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League0—182Dečić2021–22Montenegrin 1. CFL14130——1712022–23Montenegrin 1. CFL18511——3420Total32641——367Mornar2022–23Montenegrin 1. CFL162——2Appearances in Montenegrin First League relegation play-offs1183career total4181304721561421519165
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsMontenegro20093020107120114020125220136020145020157220167220176220189020191002020612021105202210Total8615
Scores and results list Montenegro's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bećiraj goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Fatos BećirajNo.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition117 November 2010Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro102–02–0Friendly211 September 2012Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino182–06–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification33–045 September 2015Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro331–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification59 October 2015Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro352–12–368 October 2016Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro424–05–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification711 October 2016Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark431–01–0810 June 2017Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro471–04–191 September 2017Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan482–03–0108 September 2020Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg711–01–02020–21 UEFA Nations League C1127 March 2021Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro771–04–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification125 June 2021Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro801–21–3Friendly138 October 2021Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar812–03–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification143–01516 November 2021Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro851–01–2
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)
References
External links
Fatos Bećiraj profile at FC Dynamo Moscow Fatos Bećiraj profile at the Football Association of Montenegro