Etrit Fadil Berisha (; born 10 March 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Allsvenskan club BK Häcken and the Albania national team.
Berisha began his career with 2 Korriku, making his senior debut at the age of 18 after also spending time in the KEK-u youth system, before moving to Sweden in 2008 to join Kalmar FF, where he was part of the squad that won the 2008 Allsvenskan title. After a loan spell with fourth-tier Lindsdals IF in 2009, he returned to Kalmar and established himself as the club's first-choice goalkeeper, spending the next four seasons there, scoring several goals from penalties in both regular play and penalty shoot-outs, and being named Allsvenskan Goalkeeper of the Year in 2013. He subsequently played in Serie A for Lazio, Atalanta, SPAL, Torino and Empoli. With Atalanta, he helped the club finish fourth in the 2016–17 Serie A season and qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history. He returned to Sweden with BK Häcken in 2025 and won the 2025 Svenska Cupen and made his debut in the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League league phase.
Born in Kosovo, Berisha has represented the Albania national football team since 2012. He played at UEFA Euro 2016, Albania's first major tournament, and was part of the squad at UEFA Euro 2024. He also captained the national team and holds national records for most clean sheets and consecutive appearances.
Club career
Early career
Berisha was born in Pristina, Kosovo, and began playing football at the age of eight as a midfielder before switching to goalkeeper. He began his youth career with 2 Korriku, but his development was interrupted by the Kosovo War, after which he joined KEK-u in Obiliq/Kastriot, where he spent three years and also trained temporarily with Bashkimi in Kumanovo, Macedonia, before ultimately returning to 2 Korriku and progressing to the senior team in 2007.
Kalmar
He joined Swedish club Kalmar FF in January 2008 following a trial arranged by Albert Bunjaki, who was then a member of Kalmar's coaching staff and head coach of the unofficial Kosovo national team. He was part of the Kalmar squad that won the 2008 Allsvenskan, serving as one of the club's three goalkeepers, although he did not make a league appearance during the season. On 28 August 2008, he was named in the matchday squad for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup second qualifying round match against Gent, marking his first and only inclusion in a UEFA competition that season, although he did not make an appearance as Kalmar won 4–0. While still part of Kalmar's U21 team, he was loaned to Swedish fourth-tier club Lindsdals IF for the 2009 season, making 14 league appearances, receiving a red card, and helping the team finish third.
He returned to Kalmar for the 2010 season and was promoted to the first team, becoming a regular member of the matchday squads for Allsvenskan matches from March onward. After Kalmar had failed to win any of their first nine matches of the season, Berisha was given his debut on 28 April 2010 against Örebro SK, replacing veteran Petter Wastå in goal and becoming the first goalkeeper to displace him from the starting lineup in a competitive match in 15 years; he played the full 90 minutes and gave a stable impression as Kalmar recorded a 4–1 home victory. He then started the following five matches, keeping clean sheets in the first two and recording another in the fifth, a 1–0 home victory over Helsingborgs IF on 16 May that handed the league leaders their first defeat of the season, while Kalmar remained unbeaten during the run with four wins and two draws. However, a muscle injury later sidelined him during the summer before he recovered and returned to the starting lineup in September. On 18 October 2010, Berisha made several important saves to preserve a clean sheet as Kalmar defeated league leaders Malmö FF 1–0 away from home, ending Malmö's unbeaten home run. He finished the championship with 14 appearances, keeping seven clean sheets and conceding eight goals, an average of 0.57 goals per match, as Kalmar finished ninth in the table and retained their place in Sweden's top flight. He also appeared in the Svenska Cupen semi-final on 27 October 2010 against Hammarby, making two saves in the penalty shoot-out, but Kalmar were eliminated 6–5 on penalties after the match ended 2–2 following extra time.
On 14 January 2011, Kalmar announced that Berisha had signed a new contract, extending his stay with the club through the 2013 season. On 11 April 2011, Berisha started and completed the match as Kalmar defeated Djurgårdens IF 3–2 on the second matchday of the 2011 Allsvenskan, in the inaugural match at the club's new Guldfågeln Arena. Throughout the first half of the league season, Berisha was ever-present, keeping six clean sheets and conceding 12 goals as Kalmar recorded nine wins and two draws before he was sent off in the 84th minute of the final match of the run on 2 July 2011, with Kalmar leading Trelleborgs FF 3–0; Trelleborg scored twice following his dismissal, but Kalmar held on for a 3–2 victory, leaving them third in the Allsvenskan table with 29 points. After serving a one-match suspension, Berisha returned to the starting lineup, but Kalmar initially suffered three consecutive defeats, conceding two or three goals in each, before he recorded three more clean sheets; despite these performances, Kalmar managed only one win and two goalless draws alongside two further defeats, dropping to mid-table. On 17 September, Berisha produced one of his strongest performances of the season in Kalmar's 1–0 victory over Halmstads BK, making several important saves to preserve a clean sheet. The following week, Berisha twisted his foot during the warm-up for the match against Djurgårdens and remained sidelined by the injury for the remainder of the Allsvenskan season. In the Svenska Cupen quarter-final, Berisha was decisive against Malmö, saving two penalties in the shoot-out before scoring the decisive penalty himself as Kalmar won 5–4 to reach the semi-finals. He then played the semi-final against Göteborg, where Kalmar won 4–3 after extra time to reach the final, but Berisha was an unused substitute on 5 November as Kalmar lost 3–1 to Helsingborgs.
In the 2012 Allsvenskan season, Berisha appeared in all 30 matches, playing every minute and scoring one goal, while keeping six clean sheets and conceding 45 goals, as Kalmar recorded 10 wins, seven draws, and 13 losses to finish 10th place in the league with 37 points. His performances earned him a call-up to the Albania national team, for whom he made his international debut in May while keeping a clean sheet. Kalmar entered the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds as the 2011 Svenska Cupen runners-up under UEFA regulations, and in the first qualifying round against Cliftonville, Berisha made his official UEFA competition debut in the first leg, a 1–0 defeat on 5 July, before keeping a clean sheet and scoring his first goal for the club from the penalty spot in the 4–0 second-leg victory on 12 July, helping Kalmar advance 4–1 on aggregate. In the second qualifying round, Berisha kept a clean sheet in the second leg against Osijek as Kalmar won 3–0 to advance 6–1 on aggregate, before keeping another clean sheet in the first leg of the third qualifying round against Young Boys, a 1–0 home victory, but Young Boys won the return leg 3–0 in Bern to eliminate Kalmar 3–1 on aggregate, with Berisha having been ever-present throughout Kalmar's six-match European campaign. On 12 August 2012, he scored his second goal of the season from the penalty spot in a matchday 19 of the league against Helsingborgs, which ended in a 7–2 defeat.
Berisha began the 2013 Allsvenskan season in late March, recording two consecutive clean sheets followed by two more in the subsequent months, and by June 2013 had conceded 12 goals in 14 matches as Kalmar recorded five wins and six draws during the period. On 6 July, Berisha kept a clean sheet in Kalmar's 1–0 away victory over Brommapojkarna on matchday 15, making several saves in the opening minutes and earning the Radiosporten player of the match award. Later that month, he scored from the penalty spot in the 80th minute to secure a 2–2 home draw against the same opponent. Berisha kept three more clean sheets in August, as Kalmar recorded two wins and a draw to move into the league's top five for the first time that season. On 1 September, Berisha kept a clean sheet and scored the only goal from the penalty spot in a 1–0 victory over Halmstads, saving two one-on-one chances and being named Kalmar's player of the match. It proved to be his final appearance for Kalmar, as the club shortly afterwards reached an agreement with Lazio for his transfer, with the Italian club signing him on a five-year contract, leaving Kalmar with 90 top-flight appearances and more than 100 appearances in all competitions, while the club praised Berisha's professionalism and development, particularly his work with the goalkeeping coach. Despite his early transfer, Berisha's performances earned him the Allsvenskan Goalkeeper of the Year award in November.
Lazio
2013–14 season
Berisha joined Lazio's squad and completed his first training session at Formello on 12 September 2013. Initially regarded as Federico Marchetti's backup, he was included in the club's UEFA Europa League squad.
He made his competitive debut on 7 November 2013, starting in a Europa League group-stage match against Apollon Limassol and playing the full 90 minutes in Lazio's 2–1 home victory. He also started the team's final two group-stage matches, keeping clean sheets in a 2–0 away win over Legia Warsaw on 28 November and a goalless draw against Trabzonspor on 12 December, as Lazio finished second in Group J with 12 points, two behind Trabzonspor, and advanced to the round of 32. Following an injury to Marchetti in late December, Berisha made his Serie A debut on 6 January 2014, keeping a clean sheet in Lazio's 1–0 home victory over Inter Milan in Edoardo Reja's first match in charge. He kept another clean sheet in his second Serie A appearance, a goalless draw away to Bologna on 11 January. Three days later, Berisha made his 2013–14 Coppa Italia debut in a 2–1 victory over Parma in the round of 16. Berisha's strong and reliable performances led coach Reja to retain him as the starting goalkeeper after Marchetti returned from injury in mid-January. He then featured in the Coppa Italia quarter-final against Napoli on 29 January, a 1–0 away defeat that eliminated Lazio.
On 8 February, Berisha kept a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw against Roma in the Derby della Capitale, earning the Man of the match award. On 20 February, he saved a penalty in the 1–0 home defeat to Ludogorets in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 32. Marchetti replaced him in the second leg a week later, and two errors by Marchetti contributed to Lazio's elimination despite a 3–3 away draw. Marchetti remained the team's first-choice goalkeeper throughout March, but recurring fitness problems and inconsistent performances led to Berisha's return to the starting lineup later in the season. Berisha finished the season with 17 full Serie A appearances, keeping seven clean sheets and conceding 25 goals, an average of almost 1.5 goals per appearance, as Lazio finished ninth in the league and failed to qualify for UEFA competition for the following season. For his performances, Berisha was named the season's best foreign goalkeeper and included in the Serie A Best XI of foreign players.
2014–15 season