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 long enough to be eligible for the 'List B' squad, which for 2013–14 included any player born after 1 January 1992 who had been eligible to play for the club for at least two years, he would have had to be registered as one of only 25 'List A' players, taking up a space that could have been used by another player. By waiting until 7 October 2013 to register Januzaj, he became eligible as a List B player, but this meant that he could not be selected for the club's first two matches in the competition, at home to