Kristian Kushta
{{short description|Albanian footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Kristian Kushta
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1997|12|16|df=y}}
| birth_place = Elbasan, Albania
| height = {{height|m=1.92}}
| position = Forward
| currentclub = Iraklis
| clubnumber = 9
| youthyears1 = 2003–2015
| youthclubs1 = PAOK
| years1 = 2015–2019
| clubs1 = PAOK
| years2 = 2016–2017
| clubs2 = → Michalovce (loan)
| years3 = 2017
| clubs3 = → Slavoj Trebišov (loan)
| years4 = 2018–2019
| clubs4 = → Aiginiakos (loan)
| years5 = 2019–2020
| clubs5 = Karaiskakis
| years6 = 2020–2021
| clubs6 = Ierapetra
| years7 = 2021–2023
| clubs7 = AEL
| caps1 = 1
| years8 = 2023–
| clubs8 = Iraklis
| goals1 = 0
| caps2 = 27
| goals2 = 3
| caps3 = 6
| goals3 = 0
| caps4 = 30
| goals4 = 4
| caps5 = 15
| goals5 = 3
| caps6 = 25
| goals6 = 5
| caps7 = 15
| goals7 = 3
| caps8 = 63
| goals8 = 17
| nationalyears1 = 2013
| nationalteam1 = Albania U17
| nationalcaps1 = 3
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 =
| nationalteam2 =
| nationalcaps2 =
| nationalgoals2 =
| medaltemplates =
| club-update = 16 March 2025
| nationalteam-update =
}}
Kristian Kushta (born 16 December 1997) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Super League Greece 2 club Iraklis.
Club career
= Early career =
Kushta was born in Albania but moved to Greece when he was very young and started his youth career with PAOK FC aged five.[http://www.paokfc.gr/en/profiles/kristian-kushta/ Kristian Kushta profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407192235/http://www.paokfc.gr/en/profiles/kristian-kushta/ |date=2016-04-07 }} PAOKFC
= PAOK =
He made it his professional debut under the coach Igor Tudor on 17 December 2015 in a 2015–16 Greek Football Cup match against Olympiacos Volou coming on as a substitute in the 46th minute in place of Nikos Syrakos, where the match finished in the 1–1 away draw.[https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2015/12/17/greece/cup/ask-olympiakos/paok-fc/2157988/ Olympiakos Volos vs. PAOK - 17 December 2015] Soccerway
International career
Kushta participated with Albania national under-17 football team in the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round in October 2013 under the coach Dzemal Mustedanagić where he managed to appear in all 3 group matches, playing as a substitute in the opening match against Romania U17 replacing Franc Bakalli, then two other matches as a starter to help his side to advance in the next elite round.[https://int.soccerway.com/players/kristian-kushta/319658/matches/ Kristian Kushta matches] at Soccerway
Personal life
His uncle is the former player Sokol Kushta.
Career statistics
{{updated|16 March 2025}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | |||||||||
| rowspan=2 | Club
! rowspan=2 | Season ! colspan=3 | League ! colspan=2 | Cup ! colspan=2 | Continental ! colspan=2 | Other ! colspan=2 | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division
! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals ! Apps ! Goals | |||||||||
| PAOK
|1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 2 | 0 | ||
| rowspan="3"|Michalovce (loan)
|rowspan="2"|Fortuna Liga |24 | 3 | 6 | 6 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 30 | 9 | ||
| 2017–18
|3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 4 | 0 | ||
| colspan="2"|Total
!27 | 3 | 7 | 6 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 34 | 9 | ||
| Slavoj Trebišov (loan)
|6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 6 | 0 | ||
| rowspan="3"|Aiginiakos (loan)
|rowspan="2"|Superleague Greece 2 |9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 9 | 1 | ||
| 2018–19
|21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 21 | 3 | ||
| colspan="2"|Total
!30 | 4 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 30 | 4 | ||
| Karaiskakis
|rowspan="4"|Superleague Greece 2 |15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 16 | 3 | ||
| Ierapetra
|25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 25 | 5 | ||
| rowspan="3"|AEL
|8 | 2 | 4 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 12 | 3 | ||
| 2022–23
|7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 7 | 1 | ||
| colspan="2"|Total
!15 | 3 | 4 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 19 | 4 | ||
| rowspan="4"|Iraklis
|rowspan="3"|Superleague Greece 2 |14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 14 | 1 | ||
| 2023–24
|29 | 9 | 1 | 1 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 30 | 10 | ||
| 2024–25
|20 | 7 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 22 | 7 | ||
| colspan="2"|Total
!63 | 17 | 3 | 1 | colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|— | 66 | 18 | |||
| colspan="3"|Career total
!182 | 35 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 198 | 43 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Soccerway|kristian-kushta/319658}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160407192235/http://www.paokfc.gr/en/profiles/kristian-kushta/ Kristian Kushta profile] PAOKFC
{{Iraklis F.C. squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kushta, Kristian}}
Category:Footballers from Vlorë
Category:Albanian men's footballers
Category:Albanian emigrants to Greece
Category:Men's association football forwards
Category:Albania men's youth international footballers
Category:MFK Zemplín Michalovce players
Category:FK Slavoj Trebišov players
Category:Aiginiakos F.C. players
Category:A.E. Karaiskakis F.C. players
Category:O.F. Ierapetra F.C. players
Category:Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players
Category:Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players
Category:Slovak First Football League players
Category:2. Liga (Slovakia) players
Category:Super League Greece players
Category:Football League (Greece) players
Category:Super League Greece 2 players
Category:Albanian expatriate men's footballers
Category:Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
Category:Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia