Florijana Ismaili

Florijana Ismaili (1 January 1995 – 29 June 2019) was a Swiss footballer who played as a forward for BSC YB Frauen of Switzerland's Nationalliga A. She was a member of the Switzerland national team.^[3]

Florijana Ismaili

Personal information
Full name	Florijana Ismaili[1]
Date of birth	(1995-01-01)1 January 1995
Place of birth	Aarberg, Switzerland[2]
Date of death	29 June 2019(2019-06-29) (aged 24)
Place of death	Lake Como, Lombardy, Italy
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder, forward
Youth career
2006–2011	FC Walperswil
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2019	BSC YB Frauen	160	(81)
International career
2014–2019	Switzerland	33	(3)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

Ismaili was born in Switzerland to parents of Albanian origins.^[4]

International career

Ismaili debuted for Switzerland women's national football team January 2014, in a 2–1 win over Portugal.^[5] On 27 November 2015, she scored for Switzerland against Northern Ireland in a UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying match.^[6] On 28 November 2017, she scored twice for Switzerland in a 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying match against Albania.^[7]

15 days before her death, she played in her final match for Switzerland on 14 June 2019 against Serbia.^[5]

Death

On 29 June 2019, Ismaili dived into the water from a boat diving platform while on holiday at Lake Como in Lombardy, but did not resurface. The next day, she was declared missing.^[8][9] Local authorities conducted an investigation, including using remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV). On 2 July, Ismaili's body was found at the bottom of Lake Como at a depth of 204 metres (669 feet).^[10][11] An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was "an acute episode of asphyxia." She had drowned.^[12]

Career statistics

International (2014–2019)

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Switzerland	2014	4	0
	2015	7	1
	2016	4	0
	2017	8	2
	2018	7	0
	2019	3	0
Total		33	3

International goals

Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ismaili goal.

List of international goals scored by Florijana Ismaili

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	27 November 2015	Lurgan, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	5–0	8–1	UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying
2.	28 November 2017	Biel/Bienne, Switzerland	Albania	1–0	5–1	2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying
3.				5–1

See also

• List of association football players who died during their careers
• List of solved missing person cases