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 has regularly visited his extended family there during the summer. Januzaj began his football career with FC Brussels but joined Anderlecht as a 10-year-old in 2005. He left Anderlecht for Manchester United at the age of 16 in March 2011, after impressing in a skills session in Brussels. Towards the end of the 2012–13 season, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson promoted Januzaj to the first-team and he was registered with the number 44 jersey; he did not feature in the remainder of the season, but he was an unused substitute in the final game of the season away to West