Iván Balliu

Iván Balliu Campeny (born 1 January 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and the Albania national team.

After starting out at Barcelona B, he went on to compete professionally in Spain, Portugal and France.

Balliu represented his native Spain at youth level before declaring for Albania, for which he qualified via his father.

Born in Caldes de Malavella, Girona, Catalonia to an Albanian father and a Spanish mother, Balliu joined FC Barcelona's youth system in 2004, aged 12.

He made his senior debut in the 2010–11 season, playing two Segunda División games with the reserves and starting against Girona FC for a 2–0 away win.

In that year, he was also captain of the treble-winning Juvenil A team.

On 30 May 2013, Balliu's contract expired and he was told by Barcelona that he would be released.

One month later, he signed with F.C. Arouca in Portugal for two seasons, making his Primeira Liga debut on 1 September in a 1–0 home victory over Rio Ave FC (90 minutes played).

Balliu joined French club FC Metz on 17 July 2015, on a two-year deal.

He scored his first goal as a professional on 16 October, helping the hosts come from behind in the 2–2 home draw with Clermont Foot.

After contributing 24 appearances in his first season to help his team to return to Ligue 1 after a one-year absence, Balliu's first match in the competition occurred on 13 August 2016, in a 3–2 home win over Lille OSC.

Of Albanian descent on his father's side, Balliu was eligible to represent Albania, speaking of his interest in an interview on 24 October 2016.

He was first included in an Albanian senior squad in 2017, making his debut in October of that year.

On 22 August 2017 he received Albanian citizenship, thus becoming eligible to play for the national team.

On 17 June 2017, Balliu married Marta Soler.

He was handed his first call shortly after when newly appointed coach Christian Panucci selected him for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Macedonia on 2 and 5 September, and earned his first cap also during that stage, playing the first half of the 3–0 loss against Spain in Alicante on 6 October.

On 12 August 2019, Balliu agreed to a two-year contract with UD Almería of the Spanish second division.

He scored his first goal in his country of birth on 7 March 2020, helping the hosts defeat Deportivo de La Coruña 4–0.

Balliu moved to newly-promoted Rayo Vallecano on 14 July 2021, on a two-year deal.

He made his La Liga debut on 15 August at the age of 29, playing the entire 3–0 defeat at Sevilla FC.

His first goal came the following 9 January, when he closed the 1–1 home draw against Real Betis.