Elif Elmas

Elif Elmas (Macedonian: Елиф Елмас; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Napoli and the North Macedonia national team.

Elif Elmas
Elmas with Napoli in 2021
Personal information
Full name Elif Elmas
Елиф Елмас
Date of birth (1999-09-24) 24 September 1999
Place of birth Skopje, Macedonia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Napoli
Number 7
Youth career
0000–2015 Rabotnički
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Rabotnički 44 (7)
2017–2019 Fenerbahçe 34 (4)
2019– Napoli 93 (6)
National team‡
Macedonia U17 2 (0)
2015–2018 Macedonia U19 13 (2)
2016–2017 Macedonia U21 9 (1)
2017– North Macedonia 38 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:55, 30 April 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:41, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Elmas started his career at FK Rabotnički in his native Macedonia. After a stand-out season in which he scored 6 league goals and lead 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

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,[5] taking over second place in Serie A.

International career

Elmas was born in Macedonia to a family of Turkish descent.[6][7][8] In July 2017 it was reported the coach of the Turkey national football team, Fatih Terim, had tried to call him up, but Elmas decided to represent his birth country.[9]

On 11 June 2017, at the age of 17, Elmas made his debut for the Macedonia national team in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Spain by coming in at halftime as a substitute for Ostoja Stjepanović.[10]

Elmas was also included in the Macedonia U21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland, and he was in fact the youngest one in the 23-player squad.[11]

On 31 March 2021, he scored the winning goal for Macedonia in a 2–1 away win over Germany during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[12]

On 14 November 2021, Elmas scored a brace in a 3–1 win against Iceland, and helped the team secure a runners-up spot in Group J, and a World Cup play-off.[13]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 30 April 2022.[14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rabotnički 2015–16 Macedonian First League 111–––111
2016–17 3360021–357
Total 4470021–468
Fenerbahçe 2017–18 Süper Lig 5020––70
2018–19 2942090–404
Total 3444090–474
Napoli 2019–20 Serie A 2615050–361
2020–21 332416010443
2021–22 3431084–437
Total 9361011941012311
Career total 171171413051021623

International
As of match played 29 March 2022.[15]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
North Macedonia[lower-alpha 1]
201730
201850
2019104
202040
2021155
202210
Total389
  1. North Macedonia was known as Macedonia until 2019
As of match played 14 November 2021.
Scores and results list North Macedonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmas goal.[15]
List of international goals scored by Elif Elmas
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 21 March 2019Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia9 Latvia2–03–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2 3–1
3 10 October 2019Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia15 Slovenia1–02–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
4 2–0
5 28 March 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia24 Liechtenstein4–05–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 31 March 2021MSV-Arena, Duisburg, Germany25 Germany2–12–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 1 June 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia26 Slovenia1–01–1Friendly
8 14 November 2021Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia37 Iceland2–13–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
9 3–1

Honours

Rabotnički

Napoli

Individual

References
  1. "Fenerbahce Confirm €16m Elif Elmas Transfer To Napoli, Fee Could Reach €19m – Financial Details Revealed". Turkish Football. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  2. "Napoli, ufficializzato l'acquisto di Elmas a titolo definitivo". S.S.C. Napoli (in Italian). 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  3. "Napoli ready to punish Elmas for speaking to the media". Goal. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  4. "Demme and Elmas help resurgent Napoli beat Sampdoria". France24. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  5. "Elmas grabs win for Napoli in Milan after VAR drama as Cádiz hold Real Madrid". The Guardian. 19 December 2021.
  6. Sporx (17 July 2017). "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Elif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?". Sporx (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  7. "Muriç ve Eljif neden Türk Milli Takımı'nı tercih etmedi?". fenerkolik.org (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  8. "Şekip Mosturoğlu: Fatih Terim, Eljif Elmas'ı milli takıma çok istedi". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  9. Sporx (17 July 2017). "Eljif Elmas kimdir? Eljif Elmas, Türkiye Milli Takımı'nda oynayabiliyor mu?".
  10. FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Matches - FYR Macedonia-Spain - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  11. "Благоја Милевски ги избра седуммината од генерацијата 1996/97 за ЕП во Полска - ФФМ - Фудбалска Федерација на Македонија".
  12. "Germany 1–2 North Macedonia". FIFA. 31 March 2021. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021.
  13. "North Macedonia 3–1 Iceland". FIFA. 14 November 2021. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021.
  14. "E. Elmas". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  15. "Elif Elmas". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  16. "Coppa: Napoli beat Juventus on penalties". Football Italia. 17 June 2020.
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