Adnan Januzaj debut in 2014 and later that year played for Belgium at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, reaching the semi-finals of the latter. Januzaj was born in Brussels, Belgium, where his Kosovar Albanian family had emigrated in 1992 so his father, Abedin, would avoid being conscripted by the Yugoslav People's Army for the war in Bosnia. Januzaj's father was the eldest of six children from Istok, Kosovo. Januzaj's uncles, Januz and Shemsedin, and aunt Lavi, were members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought for Kosovar independence during the Kosovo War. Since Kosovo declared independence in 2008, Januzaj
Adnan Januzaj am not closing the doors to Albania, because we are Albanian. However, they are closing the doors to themselves. I only deal with professionals on the issue," and said that Adnan would not represent Serbia, Turkey or Croatia because "we have no connections with these countries". In October 2013, England manager Roy Hodgson stated that The Football Association was monitoring the player with a view to calling him up if Januzaj was naturalized as a British citizen (and passed the residency requirement of FIFA, according to David Moyes). However, despite widespread press coverage, Januzaj did not meet the requirements to