Born in Bosanski Novi, his playing career started in FK Sloboda Bosanski Novi where he played from 1968 till 1973 when he was approached by several Yugoslavian first league clubs.
He made his debut for Yugoslavia in a September 1980 World Cup qualification match against Denmark, coming on as a second half substitute for Ivan Buljan.
In season 2003/2004 he coached the reserve squad of Dinamo Zagreb, where he trained and developed top youngsters' talents such as Eduardo Da Silva, Luka Modrić, Niko Kranjčar, Vedran Ćorluka, Dino Drpić, Tomo Šokota, Mihael Mikić, Hrvoje Čale, Filip Lončarić.
After Kuže's medical problems, Džemal was appointed as a caretaker coach of the Albania national football team in October 2010.
[3] In November 2017 he was charged to run at the same time the Albania national under-16 team.