Albania national football team

Albania
Nickname(s)	Kuq e Zinjtë (The Red and Blacks); Shqiponjat (The Eagles)
Association	Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit (FSHF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Gianni De Biasi
Captain	Lorik Cana
Most caps	Lorik Cana (88)
Top scorer	Erjon Bogdani (18)
Home stadium	Elbasan Arena
FIFA code	ALB
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	38 (7 January 2016)
Highest	22 (August 2015)
Lowest	124 (August 1997)
First international
	Albania 2–3 Yugoslavia ; (Tirana, Albania; 7 October 1946)
European Championship
Appearances	1 (First in 2016)
Best result	TBD

The Albania national football team (Albanian: Kombëtarja shqiptare e futbollit) is the national association football team of Albania and it has represented the Albanian nation since 1946.

Albania was the winner of the 1946 Balkan Cup and the Malta Rothmans International Tournament 2000, but had never participated in any major UEFA or FIFA tournament, until UEFA Euro 2016, which will be Albania's first ever appearance at the continental tournament and at a major men's football tournament.

1 History
2 Recent results and forthcoming fixtures
- 2.1 2014
- 2.2 2015
- 2.3 2016
- 2.4 2017
3 Squad
4 Stadium
5 Supporters
6 Media coverage
7 Kit History
8 Kit suppliers
9 Managerial History
10 Individual all-time records
- 10.1 Appearances records
- 10.2 Top goalscorers
11 Honours
12 Competitive record
- 12.1 FIFA World Cup
- 12.2 UEFA European Championship
13 Head-to-Head records against other countries
14 Memorable victories
15 See also
16 References
17 External links

History

Although it never played any matches, the Albanian national football team existed before the Albanian Football Association was created in 1930. This is witnessed by the registration of the Albanian team in the Balkan Cup tournament of 1929-1931, which started in 1929, a year before the creation of the association. Albania, however, eventually retired from the competition, before the competition itself started.^[4] FSHF was founded on 6 June 1930, and, in 1932, Albania joined FIFA (during the congress 12 June — June 16), however no national team matches were registered until the first international match, a debut against Yugoslavia in 1946. In 1954, Albania was one of the founding members of UEFA.

Balkan Cup 1946: Albania is Champion of the Balkans

The early years oversaw a notably successful Balkan Cup in the 1946 campaign. Albania won the cup after overcoming Yugoslavia on level points but a better goal difference. The final match was played and won against Romania 1–0. Four days earlier, Albania had already beaten Bulgaria 3–1. Interestingly, Albania wasn't expected to participate, but the withdrawal of Greece from the tournament offered Albania a chance to join in the re-established post-war cup.^[5]

1960 European Nations' Cup

Albania did not participate in the qualifiers of the 1960 European Nations' Cup.

1964 European Nations' Cup

This was the first time Albania competed in a Euro Cup competition and actually the only time Albania was between the best 16 teams of the Continent, the reason being Albania got past the first leg as Greece, for political reasons forfeited the game. In the eighth finals Albania faced Denmark and won in Albania 1–0, but lost in Denmark 0–4. Denmark advanced to the quarter finals.^[6] At the end of the tournament Albania ranked 9th in Europe.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Qualifications campaigns

1966 FIFA World Cup

The first time that Albania competed for a place in the world's elite, for the 1966 World Cup in England, was in a match against Netherlands on 24 May 1964. Drawn in Group 5 with the Dutch were also Northern Ireland and Switzerland. Albania's only point in the qualification round came from a 1–1 draw at home to Northern Ireland in Tirana, which denied Northern Ireland a place in the Finals.

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Switzerland	9	6	4	1	1	7	3
2	Northern Ireland	8	6	3	2	1	9	5
3	Netherlands	6	6	2	2	2	6	4
4	Albania	1	6	0	1	5	2	12

Switzerland qualified.

UEFA Euro 1968

This participation will be remembered for a draw 0–0 in Albania with West Germany that denied the Germans the participation to the UEFA Euro 1968 finals.

Pos	Team				Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1.	Yugoslavia		1 - 0	4 - 0	6	4	3	0	1	8	3
2.	West Germany	3 - 1		6 - 0	5	4	2	1	1	9	2
3.	Albania	0 - 2	0 - 0		1	4	0	1	3	0	12

1970 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1972

For unknown political reasons Albania did not participate in the qualifiers of the FIFA World Cup 1970 and the UEFA Euro 1972.

1974 FIFA World Cup

Albania was last of the class behind Finland in these qualifiers. In this campaign Albania participated after having been idle of international matches for nearly 6 years.

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	East Germany	10	6	5	0	1	18	3	15
2	Romania	9	6	4	1	1	17	4	13
3	Finland	3	6	1	1	4	3	21	−18
4	Albania	2	6	1	0	5	3	13	−10

East Germany qualified.

UEFA Euro 1976, 1978 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 1980

For unknown political reasons Albania did not participate in the qualifiers of the UEFA Euro 1976, FIFA World Cup 1978, and UEFA Euro 1980.

1982 FIFA World Cup

Again 6 years after virtually no international matches, Albania made it to be no longer last in the class, but "revenges" Finland allocating the Nordic country to get the "wooden spoon".

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	West Germany	16	8	8	0	0	33	3	30
2	Austria	11	8	5	1	2	16	6	10
3	Bulgaria	9	8	4	1	3	11	10	1
4	Albania	2	8	1	0	7	4	22	−18
5	Finland	2	8	1	0	7	4	27	−23

West Germany and Austria qualified.

UEFA Euro 1984

In the 1984 European Championship qualifiers, Albania finished in last place in their group of five teams. In 8 matches, Albania got 2 points, with 2 draws, 6 losses, and no wins. On the other hand, Albania made some power nations nervous. They lost 0–1 away to Turkey with the goal being scored in the 86th minute. In the next two games, Albania tied Northern Ireland to a scoreless draw and lost 1–2 to Germany, both home games. In the last three matches, Albania tied Turkey, in Qemal Stafa, also losing to Austria 2–1 in Tirana. The last game of the competition was an away game to Germany. After 22 minutes, Albania went ahead 0–1 with a goal by Genc Tomori. However, they were tied one minute later, and after Genc Tomori was sent off by the referee after a simulation of Rudi Voeller, Albania had to play for 60 minutes with one man down. Eventually Albania lost 2–1 with the last goal being scored in the 79th minute.^[10]

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
West Germany	11	8	5	1	2	15	5	10
Northern Ireland	11	8	5	1	2	8	5	3
Austria	9	8	4	1	3	15	10	5
Turkey	7	8	3	1	4	8	16	−8
Albania	2	8	0	2	6	4	14	−10

1986 FIFA World Cup

In a 4-team group, Albania got 4 points with one win and 2 draws. After losing to Belgium in Brussels, Albania were visitors in eventual group winners Poland. There, Albania got its first point in a shocking 2–2 draw. Less than two months later, Albania was host to group runner-ups Belgium in Tirana, defeating them with a clear 2–0 win. After losing to Greece away and Poland at home, Albania got its last point in its last game against neighbour rivals Greece in a 1–1 draw.

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Poland	8	6	3	2	1	10	6	4
2	Belgium	8	6	3	2	1	7	3	4
3	Albania	4	6	1	2	3	6	9	−3
4	Greece	4	6	1	2	3	5	10	−5

Poland qualified. Belgium advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.

UEFA Euro 1988

All 6 matches ended up in losses for Albania in this campaign. The group proved to be too strong for Albania that managed to score only two goals in the entire campaign.

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Spain	10	6	5	0	1	14	6	+8
Romania	9	6	4	1	1	13	3	+10
Austria	5	6	2	1	3	6	9	−3
Albania	0	6	0	0	6	2	17	−15

	ALB	AUT	ROM	ESP
Albania	XXX	0–1	0–1	1–2
Austria	3–0	XXX	0–0	2–3
Romania	5–1	4–0	XXX	3–1
Spain	5–0	2–0	1–0	XXX

1990 FIFA World Cup

This was probably the worst qualifier in Albania's history as there were 6 losses in as many games with no memorable matches. Probably the match at home with Sweden could and should have been won, because Albania was leading and lost at least 5 clear goal chances before Sweden came back and reverted the result.

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Sweden	6	4	2	0	9	3	6	10
2	England	6	3	3	0	10	0	10	9
3	Poland	6	2	1	3	4	8	−4	5
4	Albania	6	0	0	6	3	15	−12	0

Sweden qualified. England also qualified with the second-best record among runners-up of Groups 1, 2 and 4.

UEFA Euro 1992

In these qualifiers, Albania narrowly lost at home, but had a 0–9 defeat in Spain, which was the heaviest loss of Albania in an international qualifier. It is to be mentioned that the match was played in a very difficult time for Albania because of heavy political turmoil.

	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
France	8	8	0	20	6	+14	16
Czechoslovakia	8	5	3	12	9	+3	10
Spain	7	3	4	17	12	+5	6
Iceland	8	2	6	7	10	−3	4
Albania	7	1	6	2	21	−19	2


Albania	–	0–2	0–1	1–0	Canc.
Czechoslovakia	2–1	–	1–2	1–0	3–2
France	5–0	2–1	–	3–1	3–1
Iceland	2–0	0–1	1–2	–	2–0
Spain	9–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	–

1994 FIFA World Cup

A win over Lithuania and two draws against Latvia were the only things to remember for Albania in this otherwise forgettable campaign, where Albania finished last of the group.

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Spain	12	8	3	1	27	4	+23	19
2	Republic of Ireland	12	7	4	1	19	6	+13	18
3	Denmark	12	7	4	1	15	2	+13	18
4	Northern Ireland	12	5	3	4	14	13	+1	13
5	Lithuania	12	2	3	7	8	21	−13	7
6	Latvia	12	0	5	7	4	21	−17	5
7	Albania	12	1	2	9	6	26	−20	4

Spain and Republic of Ireland qualified.

UEFA Euro 1996

Albania managed to make life difficult to Germany during this campaign twice with Germany winning both matches only 2–1 and in the last minutes. For the rest, 2 wins, 2 draws and other 4 losses for Albania, which managed to leave Wales at bottom of group for this campaign. To mention that for the first time Albania beat another country (Moldova) as guests in an international qualifier campaign.

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Germany	25	10	8	1	1	27	10
Bulgaria	22	10	7	1	2	24	10
Georgia	15	10	5	0	5	14	13
Moldova	9	10	3	0	7	11	27
Albania	8	10	2	2	6	10	16
Wales	8	10	2	2	6	9	19

1998 FIFA World Cup

In the 1998 World Cup, Albania was drawn in a 6-team group which included Germany, Portugal, Ukraine, Northern Ireland and Armenia, Albania got 4 points, but showed again that it can battle with the big powers. Its two matches with Germany saw them lose 2–3 at neutral ground and a 3–4 unfortunate defeat in Hannover, in both games taking a lead. Albania got a 1–0 win against Northern Ireland and a 2–2 tie against Armenia.

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Germany	22	10	6	4	0	23	9	12
2	Ukraine	20	10	6	2	2	10	6	4
3	Portugal	19	10	5	4	1	12	4	8
4	Armenia	8	10	1	5	4	8	17	−9
5	Northern Ireland	7	10	1	4	5	6	10	−4
6	Albania	4	10	1	1	8	7	20	−13

UEFA Euro 2000

In a relatively easy group, Albania couldn't go past one single victory at home turf at the expense of Georgia. However, there were some memorable draws against Greece 0–0 in Tirana, 2–2 in Norway, and 0–0 in Latvia. Albania also drew 3–3 Latvia at home. All the other matches were narrowly lost in this unfortunate campaign.

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Norway	25	10	8	1	1	21	9	+12
Slovenia	17	10	5	2	3	12	14	−2
Greece	15	10	4	3	3	13	8	+5
Latvia	13	10	3	4	3	13	12	+1
Albania	7	10	1	4	5	8	14	−6
Georgia	5	10	1	2	7	8	18	−10

2002 FIFA World Cup

After a loss to Finland, Albania won over Greece 2–0 with an own goal and a late goal of Ervin Fakaj. However, after that win, another 6 losses followed for Albania, which brought the Albanian Football Federation to think about hiring a foreign coach, 33 years after the last foreign coach, Luznikov, had led Albania in a Moskow tournament in 1959.

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts						Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Final table															Home							Away
1.	England	8	5	2	1	16	6	+10	17	X	0:1	2:1	2:2	2:0	4	2	1	1	6	4	7	4	3	1	0	10	2	10
2.	Germany	8	5	2	1	14	10	+4	17	1:5	X	0:0	2:0	2:1	4	2	1	1	5	6	7	4	3	1	0	9	4	10
3.	Finland	8	3	3	2	12	7	+5	12	0:0	2:2	X	5:1	2:1	4	2	2	0	9	4	8	4	1	1	2	3	3	4
4.	Greece	8	2	1	5	7	17	−10	7	0:2	2:4	1:0	X	1:0	4	2	0	2	4	6	6	4	0	1	3	3	11	1
5.	Albania	8	1	0	7	5	14	−9	3	1:3	0:2	0:2	2:0	X	4	1	0	3	3	7	3	4	0	0	4	2	7	0

UEFA Euro 2004

The 2004 Qualifications for the European competition was of some success for Albania. This was the season when Albania was undefeated at home, tying two and winning two, but with 0 points on the road. Giuseppe Dossena for the first two matches and Hans-Peter Briegel for the remaining six led Albania to an undefeated run with a 1–1 draw against eventual winners of the group, Switzerland. Afterwards, a back to back encounter with Russia, saw the loss 4–1 in Russian soil, however Albania paid Russia back by beating them 3–1. This game is probably the all-time best result for Albania. After missing a penalty, Albania scored first after just 20 minutes, but Russia tied 56 minutes later. Then after a lot of pressure from Albania, Russia conceded 2 goals in just 3 minutes. In the two other home games, Albania tied Republic of Ireland 0–0 and beat Georgia 3–1. Away Albania got 0 points, but managed to score 4 goals.^[11]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Switzerland	8	4	3	1	15	11	15
Russia	8	4	2	2	19	12	14
Republic of Ireland	8	3	2	3	10	11	11
Albania	8	2	2	4	11	15	8
Georgia	8	2	1	5	8	14	7

Switzerland qualified. Russia and Ireland advanced to the Play-offs.

2006 FIFA World Cup

Albania kicked off the qualification for a place in Germany 2006 World Cup with a bang. Two months after Greece beat Portugal to win the European championship, Albania defeated Greece 2–1 in a match which Albania scored goals in the 2' and 11' minute. This was an early knock out from the World Cup 2006 in Germany for the Greeks. Albania went on to disappoint by losing to Georgia away and Denmark at home, before returning to winning ways by beating Kazakhstan 0–1. February and March 2005 would be the toughest part of the qualification for Albania since they had to play Ukraine, Turkey, and Greece, losing all three of those ties. Later Albania would beat Georgia 3–2 and Kazakhstan 2–1. The last positive result for Albania in this tournament would be a 2–2 draw away at Ukraine. At the end, Albania got 13 points and topped Georgia and Kazakhstan. The 13-point mark set a new record for group matches.^[12]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Ukraine	12	7	4	1	18	7	+11	25
Turkey	12	6	5	1	23	9	+14	23
Denmark	12	6	4	2	24	12	+12	22
Greece	12	6	3	3	15	9	+6	21
Albania	12	4	1	7	11	20	−9	13
Georgia	12	2	4	6	14	25	−11	10
Kazakhstan	12	0	1	11	6	29	−23	1

Ukraine qualified. Turkey advanced to the UEFA Play-offs (see ranking of runners-up).

UEFA Euro 2008

In the matches for the 2008 European qualifiers campaign, Albania have managed very good results as well as good team play in some matches comparing to previous outings in such tournaments. Starting with the 2–2 away draw to Belarus, two wins against Luxembourg home and away (2–0, 3–0) and a 0–0 draw away to Bulgaria have been the most cherished results. Great matches have been played against Netherlands in both legs, although allegedly dubious referee decisions have marred Albania's performances,^[13]^[14] ending up in two losses (2–1, 0–1). Other setbacks have also been suffered after drawing 0–0 against Slovenia and losing 0–2 to Romania in both matches played at home. Albania ended hopes of qualifying mathematically when they failed to win over Slovenia away and managed a yet again 0–0 draw. In the penultimate match at home against Bulgaria, Albania excelled playing wonderfully, but ended up in a very unlucky draw. After going ahead with dominating football, they conceded in the dying minutes and later missed a penalty. In the last match at home, Albania was hugely disappointing losing 2–4 against Belarus. Contrary to the popular belief that this would be the easiest match during the campaign, Albania not only missed a chance to break the points-record of all competitions but also produced a very lethargic performance in a rainy night. Albania's Euro campaign ended with a disaster match, losing 6–1 away to Romania which eventually resulted in the resignation of the coach Otto Barić and his assistant.^[15]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Romania	12	9	2	1	26	7	+19	29
Netherlands	12	8	2	2	15	5	+10	26
Bulgaria	12	7	4	1	18	7	+11	25
Belarus	12	4	1	7	17	23	−6	13
Albania	12	2	5	5	12	18	−6	11
Slovenia	12	3	2	7	9	16	−7	11
Luxembourg	12	1	0	11	2	23	−21	3


Albania	—	2–4	1–1	2–0	0–1	0–2	0–0
Belarus	2–2	—	0–2	0–1	2–1	1–3	4–2
Bulgaria	0–0	2–1	—	3–0	1–1	1–0	3–0
Luxembourg	0–3	1–2	0–1	—	0–1	0–2	0–3
Netherlands	2–1	3–0	2–0	1–0	—	0–0	2–0
Romania	6–1	3–1	2–2	3–0	1–0	—	2–0
Slovenia	0–0	1–0	0–2	2–0	0–1	1–2	—

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

Albania and Slovenia are tied on their head-to-head records, and are thus ranked by their overall goal difference in the group:
- Albania – 2 pts, 0GD, 0GF, 0 away goals (0–0 H vs Slovenia, 0–0 A vs Slovenia) – Overall GD = −6
- Slovenia – 2 pts, 0GD, 0GF, 0 away goals (0–0 H vs Albania, 0–0 A vs Albania) – Overall GD = −7

2010 FIFA World Cup

On December 2007, Football Association of Albania's president, Armand Duka, announced Arie Haan would replace Croatian-Austrian Otto Barić as Albania's head coach. Haan signed a two-year contract on 4 January 2008.^[16] On 14 March 2008, Albania was suspended from international football (FIFA and UEFA), due to heavy political interference in the Football Association. The suspension lasted 46 days.^[17]^[18]^[19]

With Haan as coach Albania started 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification with a 0–0 draw against Sweden at home. Four days later, the Albanians defeated Malta 3–0 with goals from Erjon Bogdani, Armend Dallku and Klodian Duro. On 11 October 2008, Albania lost 2–0 to Hungary in Budapest and then drew 0–0 with Portugal in Braga, making the biggest shock on this group. On 11 February 2009, Albania drew with Malta in Ta'Qali 0–0. Albania then lost 1–0 to Hungary at home on 28 March 2009 and 3–0 to Denmark in Copenhagen on 1 April 2009. In the home match against Portugal, Hugo Almeida scored early for Portugal, before Albania equalised with a goal from Erjon Bogdani. However, with just a few seconds left in the game, Bruno Alves scored the winner for Portugal, eliminating Albania. At the end of the campaign, Albania drew 1–1 against Denmark and lost 4–1 to Sweden and Haan was replaced by Croatian coach Josip Kuže in May 2009.^[20]

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Denmark	10	6	3	1	16	5	+11	21
Portugal	10	5	4	1	17	5	+12	19
Sweden	10	5	3	2	13	5	+8	18
Hungary	10	5	1	4	10	8	+2	16
Albania	10	1	4	5	6	13	−7	7
Malta	10	0	1	9	0	26	−26	1


Albania	–	1–1	0–1	3–0	1–2	0–0
Denmark	3–0	–	0–1	3–0	1–1	1–0
Hungary	2–0	0–0	–	3–0	0–1	1–2
Malta	0–0	0–3	0–1	–	0–4	0–1
Portugal	0–0	2–3	3–0	4–0	–	0–0
Sweden	4–1	0–1	2–1	4–0	0–0	–

UEFA Euro 2012

The draw for the qualifying rounds of UEFA Euro 2012 was held on 7 February 2010 in Congress Hall of Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw, with matches set to begin on 3–4 September 2010.^[21] Seedings were based on the UEFA national team coefficient ranking.^[22]^[23] Albania was drawn in Group D along with France, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, and Luxembourg.

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
France	10	6	3	1	15	4	+11	21
Bosnia and Herzegovina	10	6	2	2	17	8	+9	20
Romania	10	3	5	2	13	9	+4	14
Belarus	10	3	4	3	8	7	+1	13
Albania	10	2	3	5	7	14	−7	9
Luxembourg	10	1	1	8	3	21	−18	4


Albania	—	1–0	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–1
Belarus	2–0	—	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2–0	1–0	—	0–2	5–0	2–1
France	3–0	0–1	1–1	—	2–0	2–0
Luxembourg	2–1	0–0	0–3	0–2	—	0–2
Romania	1–1	2–2	3–0	0–0	3–1	—

2014 FIFA World Cup

Josip Kuže parted ways with Albania three years and a half after he started the job, and in December 2011, Italian coach Gianni de Biasi replaced him.^[24] Albania started well the qualifiers and was, at one point, 2nd in group with 6 matches played, and 4 on hand, but failed to be successful in the last four, losing away in Slovenia and Iceland, as well as at home against Switzerland, and drawing in Cyprus.^[25] With De Biasi the Albania national team reached an unprecedented high number of players, who although are ethnically Albanian, were not born in Albania, but either in Kosovo, or outside of Kosovo, while hailing from Albanian Kosovar parents. As of 13 August 2013, 14 Albanians of Kosovo origin were either part of the start-up team, or have received recent call-ups.^[26]

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Switzerland	10	7	3	0	17	6	+11	24
Iceland	10	5	2	3	17	15	+2	17
Slovenia	10	5	0	5	14	11	+3	15
Norway	10	3	3	4	10	13	−3	12
Albania	10	3	2	5	9	11	−2	11
Cyprus	10	1	2	7	4	15	−11	5


Albania	—	3–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–2
Cyprus	0–0	—	1–0	1–3	0–2	0–0
Iceland	2–1	2–0	—	2–0	2–4	0–2
Norway	0–1	2–0	1–1	—	2–1	0–2
Slovenia	1–0	2–1	1–2	3–0	—	0–2
Switzerland	2–0	1–0	4–4	1–1	1–0	—

Winner qualified directly for the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Runner-up (ranked as one of the eight best runners-up among all nine groups) advanced to the play-offs

Presence of ethnic Albanian players at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

After the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying ended, Albania captain Lorik Cana was included in the best eleven of the players which missed out at the 2014 FIFA World Cup because of failing to qualify with their national team.^[27] Some of the other well known players (non-ethnic Albanian) on the list that miss out were Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Robert Lewandowski (Poland) and Gareth Bale (Wales).

Before the 2014 World Cup, a significant presence of ethnic Albanians had been noted in several national teams. On 5 March 2014, 54 ethnic Albanians were called up by seven different national teams: Albania (19), Kosovo (22), Switzerland (5), Macedonia national football team (4), Finland (2), Germany (1) and Montenegro (1).^[28]

The Catalan newspaper El Mundo Deportivo reported a significant presence of Albanians in the 2014 World Cup thanks to an article published by it. The article said that Albania is not in the World Cup 2014, as a result of the "originating stars who are springing up in major competitions on the globe," noting Xherdan Shaqiri. According to the newspaper, if Gianni De Biasi had been able to use Swiss representative footballers and Adnan Januzaj of Belgium, at the 1/8 finals against Argentina would not be Switzerland, but the Red & Blacks of Albania. According to the article, a country with three million inhabitants, which had never previously participated in a major tournament, could have been present in the Brazilian World Cup if the stars of Albanian origin had chosen to play for Albania. The article said that Xherdan Shaqiri, currently the star of the Swiss youth was too ambitious to play for the Albania in the past, and holds two passports, the Swiss and Albanian. Born in Gjilan, Kosovo, in the end he decided to wear the shirt of Switzerland, the country where he grew up and trained as a footballer. The second name that could have done the job for De Biasi, according to Catalan daily, was Adnan Januzaj of Belgium, which the label as a great talent. For the latter, El Mundo Deportivo writes that he was born in Brussels but emphasizes the origins of his father, who is an Albanian from Kosovo. The article also mentions how the two Xhaka brothers are split, with the younger one, Granit, playing for Switzerland and the elder one, Taulant, for Albania, whereas Macedonian-Albanians, such as Blerim Džemaili, Admir Mehmedi and Valon Behrami, according to El Mundo Deportivo, would make the team of Albania one of the most talented in Europe.^[29]

Then, in September 2014, it was reported that 80 Albanians played with foreign (thus excluding Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia) senior and youth national teams, out of which 46 with Switzerland only.^[30]

First major tournament

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifications campaign

The qualifying draw took place on 23 February 2014. Albania was drawn in Group I along with Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, and Armenia. Qualifying matches started in September 2014. Albania started the qualifiers by grabbing an historic result as they beat the group favourites of Portugal 1–0 at Estádio Municipal de Braga thanks to a goal from Bekim Balaj.^[31] In the second match against Denmark at the newly renovated stadium Elbasan Arena, Albania was on lead until minute 82th where Lasse Vibe equalized, with the match ending 1–1. In the next game against Serbia at Partizan Stadium, the match was abandoned in 42th minute after several on and off the field incidents. Despite the great violence by Serbia's houligans against Albania at Partizan Stadium, Serbia absurditly was awarded with the 3–0 victory after the decision by UEFA.^[32] The decision was appealed by both Serbia and Albania,^[33]^[34] but the decision was upheld by UEFA.^[35] Both associations then filed further appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,^[36] and on 10 July 2015 the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal filed by the Serbian FA, and upholds in part the appeal filed by the Albanian FA, meaning the match is deemed to have been forfeited by Serbia with 0–3 and they are still deducted three points.^[37]

In the fourth match against Armenia at home, Albania where behind from the 4th minute after an own goal from Mërgim Mavraj, but it was also Mavraj who equalized the result in the 77th with a powerful header. Four minutes later it was the substitute Shkëlzen Gashi who sealed the 2–1 triumph to put Albania in the 2th position along with Denmark with 10 points.^[38] It was the first time that Albania ended the first part of the qualifiers in the second spot. Albania made history again by beating for the first time ever the one-time World Champions and the major UEFA Euro 2016 tournament hosts of France at Elbasan Arena in the "Group I" Friendly Match.^[39] After a draw against Denmark, Albania clinched at least a play-off place. Despite losing to Portugal and Serbia, Albania defeated Armenia 3–0 in Yerevan and qualified for UEFA Euro 2016, its first ever appearance at a major men's football tournament.^[40] For this achievement the entire team was bestowed the Honor of Nation Order by Albania's President Bujar Nishani.^[41] In addition to the qualification, Albania achieved a world record in terms of not conceding any away goal during the tournament, while scoring seven away goals.^{[citation needed]}

To make this a year to remember for Albanian football, local team KF Skënderbeu Korçë qualified for 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, where they claimed first ever points in UEFA competition with a 3–0 victory over Sporting CP.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portugal	8	7	0	1	11	5	+6	21	Qualify for final tournament	—	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–0
2	Albania^{[lower-alpha 1]}	8	4	2	2	10	5	+5	14	Qualify for final tournament	0–1	—	1–1	0–2	2–1
3	Denmark	8	3	3	2	8	5	+3	12	Advance to play-offs	0–1	0–0	—	2–0	2–1
4	Serbia^{[lower-alpha 1]}	8	2	1	5	8	13	−5	4		1–2	0–3^{[lower-alpha 1]}	1–3	—	2–0
5	Armenia	8	0	2	6	5	14	−9	2		2–3	0–3	0–0	1–1	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Serbia's abandoned home match against Albania was awarded as a 3–0 win to Albania after decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and Serbia was also deducted three points because home fans invaded the pitch and attacked Albania players when a drone carried a pro-Albanian flag over the stadium.^[42] The match was originally awarded as a 3–0 win to Serbia, who also received a three point deduction, after a disciplinary decision from UEFA.^[43] The decision was appealed by both Serbia and Albania,^[44]^[45] but was upheld by UEFA.^[46] Both associations then filed further appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,^[47] and on 10 July 2015 the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal filed by the Serbian FA, and partially upheld the appeal filed by the Albanian FA, meaning the match is deemed to have been forfeited by Serbia 3–0 and they are still deducted three points.^[42]

After the Serbia–Albania match, the national team of Albania was awarded by the cities of Tirana, Vlore, Kamëz, and Bajram Curri awards of honor and city recognition for protecting the national symbols.^[48]

UEFA Euro 2016

The draw for the finals will take place at the Palais des Congrès de la Porte Maillot in Paris on 12 December 2015, 18:00 CET.^[49]^[50]^[51] The 24 qualified teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams, with the hosts France being automatically placed in position A1. The remaining teams will be seeded into four pots of five (Pot 1) or six teams (Pots 2, 3 and 4). As the title holders, Spain will be seeded in Pot 1, while the other 22 teams will be seeded according to the UEFA National team coefficients updated after the completion of the qualifying group stage (excluding the play-offs), which were released by UEFA on 14 October 2015.^[52]^[53]^[54]^[55]

Pot 4
Team	Coeff	Rank
Turkey	27,033	22
Republic of Ireland	26,902	23
Iceland	25,388	27
Wales	24,531	28
Albania	23,216	31
Northern Ireland	22,961	33

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2014

8 June 2014 Friendly	San Marino	0 – 3	Albania	Serravalle, San Marino
20:45 Central European Time Zone (UTC+01:00)		Report	Mavraj 28' Vajushi 32' Vila 72'	Stadium: San Marino Stadium Referee: Marco Borg (Malta)

7 September 2014 UEFA Euro 2016 Q.	Portugal	0 – 1	Albania	Aveiro, Portugal
20:45 Western European Time Zone (UTC +0:00)		Report	Balaj 52'	Stadium: Estádio Municipal de Aveiro Attendance: 23,205 Referee: Ruddy Buquet (France)

11 October 2014 UEFA Euro 2016 Q.	Albania	1 – 1	Denmark	Elbasan, Albania
20:45 GMT +2	Lenjani 38'	Report	Vibe 81'	Stadium: Elbasan Arena Attendance: 11,330 Referee: Martin Atkinson (England)

14 October 2014 UEFA Euro 2016 Q.	Serbia	0 – 3	Albania	Belgrade, Serbia
20:45 Central European Time Zone (UTC+01:00)		Report		Stadium: Partizan Stadium Attendance: 25,200 Referee: Martin Atkinson (England)

14 November 2014 Friendly	France	1 – 1	Albania	Rennes, France
20:45 Central European Time Zone (UTC+01:00)	Griezmann 74'	Report	Mavraj 40'	Stadium: Roazhon Park Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (Czech Republic)

18 November 2014 Friendly	Italy	1 – 0	Albania	Genoa, Italy
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Okaka 82'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 26,000 Referee: Alexander Harkam (Austria)

2015

29 March 2015 UEFA Euro 2016 Q.	Albania	2 – 1	Armenia	Elbasan, Albania
18:00 (UTC+2)	Mavraj 77' Gashi 81'	Report	Mavraj 4' (o.g)	Stadium: Elbasan Arena Attendance: 12,300 Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)

13 June 2015 Friendly	Albania	1 – 0	France	Elbasan, Albania
18:00 (UTC+2)	Kaçe 43'	Report		Stadium: Elbasan Arena Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Halis Özkahya (Turkey)

4 September 2015 UEFA Euro 2016 Q.	Denmark	0 – 0	Albania	Copenhagen, Denmark
20:45 GMT +2		Report		Stadium: Telia Parken Attendance: 35,648 Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)

7 September 2015 UEFA Euro 2016 Q.	Albania	0 – 1	Portugal	Elbasan, Albania
20:45 GMT +2		Report	Veloso 90+2'	Stadium: Elbasan Arena Attendance: 12,121 Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

8 October 2015 UEFA Euro 2016 Q.	Albania	0 – 2	Serbia	Elbasan, Albania
20:45 GMT +2		Report	Kolarov 90+1' Ljajic 90+4'	Stadium: Elbasan Arena Attendance: 12,330 Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)

11 October 2015 UEFA Euro 2016 Q.	Armenia	0 – 3	Albania	Yerevan, Armenia
18:00 GMT +2		Report	Hovhannisyan 9' (o.g) Djimsiti 23' Sadiku 76'	Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium Attendance: 4,700 Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

13 November 2015 Friendly	Kosovo	2 – 2	Albania	Prishtina, Kosovo
14:00 (UTC+1)	Celina 58' (pen.) Rashani 69'	Report	Manaj 54' Rrahmani 73'	Stadium: Pristina City Stadium Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Lorenc Jemini (Albania)

16 November 2015 Friendly	Albania	2 – 2	Georgia	Tirana, Albania
20:00 (UTC+1)	Basha 89' Cikalleshi 90+4'	Report	Amisulashvili 2' Chanturia 52'	Stadium: Qemal Stafa Stadium Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)

2016

11 June 2016 (2016-06-11) UEFA Euro 2016 group stage	Albania	v	Switzerland	Lens, France
				Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens

15 June 2016 (2016-06-15) UEFA Euro 2016 group stage	France	v	Albania	Marseille, France
				Stadium: Stade Vélodrome, Marseille

19 June 2016 (2016-06-19) UEFA Euro 2016 group stage	Romania	v	Albania	Lyon, France
				Stadium: Stade des Lumières, Lyon

5 September 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Albania	v	Macedonia
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

6 October 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Liechtenstein	v	Albania	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

9 October 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Albania	v	Spain
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

12 November 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Albania	v	Israel
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

2017

24 March 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Italy	v	Albania
20:45 (20:45 UTC+1)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

11 June 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Israel	v	Albania
20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

2 September 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Albania	v	Liechtenstein
18:00 (18:00 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

5 September 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Macedonia	v	Albania
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

6 October 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Spain	v	Albania
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

9 October 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Albania	v	Italy
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Squad

Current squad

The following players were called up for two Friendly matches against Kosovo and Georgia on 13 and 16 November 2015 respectively.^[56]
Caps and goals as of 16 November 2015 after the match against Georgia.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Etrit Berisha	(1989-03-10) 10 March 1989 (age 35)	31	0	Lazio
12	1GK	Orges Shehi	(1977-09-25) 25 September 1977 (age 46)	6	0	Skënderbeu Korçë
23	1GK	Alban Hoxha	(1987-11-23) 23 November 1987 (age 36)	1	0	Partizani Tirana

5	2DF	Lorik Cana (Captain)	(1983-06-27) 27 June 1983 (age 40)	89	1	Nantes
7	2DF	Ansi Agolli	(1982-11-11) 11 November 1982 (age 41)	58	2	Qarabağ
2	2DF	Andi Lila	(1986-02-12) 12 February 1986 (age 38)	56	0	PAS Giannina
4	2DF	Elseid Hysaj	(1994-02-20) 20 February 1994 (age 30)	17	0	Napoli
15	2DF	Arlind Ajeti	(1993-09-25) 25 September 1993 (age 30)	7	0	Frosinone
6	2DF	Berat Djimsiti	(1993-02-19) 19 February 1993 (age 31)	6	1	Zürich
17	2DF	Naser Aliji	(1993-12-27) 27 December 1993 (age 30)	3	0	Basel
24	2DF	Amir Rrahmani	(1994-02-24) 24 February 1994 (age 30)	2	1	Split
18	2DF	Frederic Veseli	(1992-11-20) 20 November 1992 (age 31)	2	0	Lugano

21	3MF	Odise Roshi	(1991-05-21) 21 May 1991 (age 33)	28	1	Rijeka
22	3MF	Amir Abrashi	(1990-03-27) 27 March 1990 (age 34)	16	0	SC Freiburg
8	3MF	Migjen Basha	(1987-01-05) 5 January 1987 (age 37)	15	3	Luzern
3	3MF	Ermir Lenjani	(1989-08-05) 5 August 1989 (age 34)	15	1	Nantes
9	3MF	Ledian Memushaj	(1986-12-07) 7 December 1986 (age 37)	12	0	Pescara
13	3MF	Sabien Lilaj	(1989-02-10) 10 February 1989 (age 35)	13	0	Skënderbeu Korçë
11	3MF	Shkëlzen Gashi	(1988-07-15) 15 July 1988 (age 35)	11	1	Atalanta B.C.
14	3MF	Taulant Xhaka	(1991-03-28) 28 March 1991 (age 33)	10	0	Basel
20	3MF	Herolind Shala	(1992-02-01) 1 February 1992 (age 32)	4	0	SK Slavia Prague

10	4FW	Armando Sadiku	(1991-05-27) 27 May 1991 (age 33)	16	2	Vaduz
16	4FW	Sokol Cikalleshi	(1990-07-27) 27 July 1990 (age 33)	15	1	İstanbul Başakşehir
19	4FW	Bekim Balaj	(1991-01-11) 11 January 1991 (age 33)	12	1	Rijeka
25	4FW	Rey Manaj	(1997-02-24) 24 February 1997 (age 27)	2	1	Inter Milan

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up

DF	Renato Arapi	(1986-09-28) 28 September 1986 (age 37)	4	0	Skënderbeu Korçë	v. France, 13 June 2015
DF	Arbnor Fejzullahu	(1993-04-08) 8 April 1993 (age 31)	1	0	Partizani Tirana	v. France, 13 June 2015
DF	Debatik Curri ^RET	(1984-12-28) 28 December 1984 (age 39)	44	1	Flamurtari Vlore	v. Armenia, 29 March 2015
DF	Mërgim Mavraj	(1986-06-09) 9 June 1986 (age 37)	23	3	1. FC Köln	v. Armenia, 29 March 2015

MF	Ergys Kaçe	(1993-07-08) 8 July 1993 (age 30)	13	2	PAOK	v. Armenia, 11 October 2015
MF	Burim Kukeli	(1984-01-16) 16 January 1984 (age 40)	13	0	Zürich	v. Armenia, 11 October 2015
MF	Alban Meha	(1986-04-25) 25 April 1986 (age 38)	7	2	Konyaspor	v. Armenia, 11 October 2015
MF	Ervin Bulku	(1981-03-03) 3 March 1981 (age 43)	56	1	Tirana	v. Denmark, 4 September 2015 ^PRE
MF	Valdet Rama	(1987-11-20) 20 November 1987 (age 36)	15	3	TSV 1860 München	v. France, 13 June 2015
MF	Afrim Taku	(1989-08-04) 4 August 1989 (age 34)	0	0	Unattached	v. France, 13 June 2015

FW	Hamdi Salihi	(1984-01-19) 19 January 1984 (age 40)	50	11	Skënderbeu Korçë	v. Armenia, 11 October 2015

|}

^PRE = Preliminary squad.
^RET = Retired from international football.

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff:^[57]

Position	Name
Head Coach	Gianni De Biasi
Assistant Coach	Paolo Tramezzani
Assistant Coach	Erjon Bogdani
Athletic Coach	Alberto Belle
Goalkeeping Coach	Ilir Bozhiqi
National Team Manager	Alban Bushi
National Team Scouter	Erjon Bogdani
Manager of the Young Talents	Redi Jupi
Team Doctor	Arben Celiku
Osteopat	Filippo Iori
Physiotherapists	Alban Merepeza
Physiotherapists	Ylli Mihali
Base materials	Fatos Kademi

Stadium

Panorama of Elbasan Arena.

In November 2013, Qemal Stafa Stadium was shut down by FIFA for not fulfilling international standards.^[58] In fact, not a single stadium in Albania fulfills FIFA standards for international competitions. As a result, the Albanian government is upgrading Ruzhdi Bizhuta stadium of Elbasan named Elbasan Arena in time for the Euro 2016 qualifiers beginning in September 2014, and Loro Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër in time for the October 2015 Euro Qualifier against Serbia.^[59]

Supporters

File:Tifozatkuqezi.JPG

Tifozat Kuq e Zi logo with Big Sabit as its mascot

Tifozat Kuq e Zi (English: Red and Black Fans, also known as the Albania National Football Team Supporters Club) is a non-profit football supporters' association for the Albania national football team and various national team sportive activities. It was founded on 25 December 2003. In cooperation with FSHF, it organises trips for football fans to visit games, and develops and sells merchandise to support itself and fund sporting related projects.

Tifozat Kuq e Zi stands firm in the political view that Albanians should share only one national team and have continuous aspirations to join in one state (Një Komb, Një Kombëtare), i.e. unification of Albania, Kosovo, etc. In this sense, TKZ is joined by different supporters' associations throughout Albanian-speaking regions mainly in Kosovo (Kuqezinjet e Jakoves of Gjakova, Plisat of Pristina, Torcida of Mitrovica, etc.), Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Ballistët of Tetovo, Ilirët of Kumanovo, Shvercerat of Skopje, etc.) and in Albania itself (Ultras Guerrils of Partizani Tirana, Tirona Fanatics of KF Tirana, Vllaznit Ultras of Vllaznia Shkodër, Ujqërit e Deborës (English: Snow Wolves) Skënderbeu Korçë, Shqiponjat of KF Besa Pejë and many other different Albanian fans).

The ongoing dispute between the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Football Association of Albania has been seen as a political intrusion by FIFA and UEFA, which led to the banning of Albania from international sportive activities. FSHF president Armand Duka is highly unwanted by the TKZ who have numerously asked for his resignation believing he is responsible for internal corruption in the Albanian Football Association.

The TKZ have been praised by many different football players and managers, whom were not just Albanian. Switzerland's former coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld was astonished by how many Albanian fans turned up and how enthusiastic they were in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) between Switzerland and Albania where the Swiss won 2-0 thanks to goals from Gökhan Inler and Kosovo-born Xherdan Shaqiri. He didn't believe that there was 12,000 Albanian fans in the stands which was more than how many Swiss fans turned up for the game. He stated Albanian fans are fantastic and the most passionate fans I have ever seen.^[60] During that campaign, TKZ attended all games Albania played apart from a match against Cyprus in Nicosia and were also large in numbers in the away games to Slovenia where they lost 1-0 and Norway where they won 1-0 thanks to a stunning goal by Hamdi Salihi.

Media coverage

Albania's qualifying matches and friendlies are currently televised by TVSH and SuperSport Albania, a trademark of Digit-Alb.

Kit History

The Albanian kit has been mostly red and black with few changes throughout the years.

Kit suppliers

Kit provider	Period
Adidas	1980-1991
Uhlsport	1992–1995
Puma	1996–2004
Umbro	2004–2008
Nike	2008–2010
Legea	2010–2011
Adidas	2011-

Managerial History

This is a chronological list of the managers who have guided Albania since 1946.^[61]

Ljubiša Broćić (1st) (22.08.1946 - 13.10.1946)
Adem Karapici (1st) (25.05.1947 - 25.05.1947)
Ljubiša Broćić (2nd) (15.06.1947 - 20.08.1947)
Adem Karapici (2nd) (14.09.1947 - 27.06.1948)
Sllave Llambi (23.10.1949 - 17.11.1949)
Ludovik Jakova (29.11.1949 - 08.10.1950)
Myslym Alla (1st) (29.11.1952 - 07.12.1952)
Miklós Vadas (29.11.1953 - 29.11.1953)
Loro Boriçi (1st) (15.09.1957 - 29.06.1963)
Zyber Konçi (1st) (30.10.1963 - 07.05.1965)
Loro Boriçi (2nd) (24.11.1965 - 21.06.1972)
Myslym Alla (2nd) (29.10.1972 - 06.05.1973)
Ilia Shuke (10.10.1973 - 08.11.1973)
Loro Boriçi (3rd) (03.11.1976 - 03.11.1976)
Zyber Konçi (2nd) (03.09.1980 - 06.12.1980)
Loro Boriçi (4th) (01.04.1981 - 18.11.1981)
Shyqyri Rreli (1st) (22.09.1982 - 30.05.1985)
Agron Sulaj (1st) (30.10.1985 - 18.11.1987)
Shyqyri Rreli (2nd) (06.08.1988 - 15.11.1989)
Bejkush Birçe (1st) (30.05.1990 - 30.05.1990)
Agron Sulaj (2nd) (05.09.1990 - 19.12.1990)
Bejkush Birçe (2nd) (30.03.1991 -14.05.1994)
Neptun Bajko (07.09.1994 - 14.12.1996)
Astrit Hafizi (29.03.1997 - 09.10.1999)
Medin Zhega (06.02.2000 - 06.06.2001)
Sulejman Demollari (01.09.2001 - 17.04.2002)
Giuseppe Dossena (12.10.2002 - 16.10.2002)
Hans-Peter Briegel (12.02.2003 - 22.03.2006)
Otto Barić (16.08.2006 - 17.10.2007)
→ Slavko Kovačić - (Caretaker) (17.11.2007 - 21.11.2007)
Arie Haan (27.05.2008 - 01.04.2009)
Josip Kuže (06.06.2009 - 11.10.2011)
→ Džemal Mustedanagić - (Caretaker) (11.11.2011 - 15.11.2011)
Gianni De Biasi (29.02.2012–Present)

Individual all-time records

Below are two lists of the top 10 players with the most caps and goals for Albania.

As of 16 November 2015.^[62]

Active players are highlighted

Part of the squad who won 1946 Balkan Cup

^[63]

Part of the squad who won Malta Rothmans International Tournament 2000

^[64]

Appearances records

Lorik Cana is the most capped player in the history of Albania with 89 caps.

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Lorik Cana^[65]	2002–	89	1
2	Altin Lala^[65]	1998–2011	80	3
3	Klodian Duro^[65]	2001–2011	78	6
4
4	Ervin Skela^[65]	2000–2011	76	13
5	Foto Strakosha^[65]	1990–2004	74	0
5	Erjon Bogdani	1996–2013	74	18
7	Igli Tare^[65]	1997–2007	69	10
8	Alban Bushi^[65]	1995–2007	68	14
8	Altin Haxhi	1995–2009	68	3
10	Altin Rraklli^[65]	1992–2005	64	11
10	Armend Dallku	2005–2013	64	1

Top goalscorers

Hamdi Salihi is the fourth-top goalscorer in the history of Albania with 11 goals.

#	Name	Career	Goals	Caps
1	Erjon Bogdani	1996–2013	18	74
2	Alban Bushi	1995–2007	14	68
3	Ervin Skela	2000–2011	13	76
4	Altin Rraklli	1992–2005	11	64
4	Hamdi Salihi	2006–	11	50
6	Sokol Kushta	1987–1996	10	31
6	Igli Tare	1997–2007	10	68
8	Adrian Aliaj	2002–2006	8	29
9	Bledar Kola	1994–2002	6	41
	Klodian Duro	2000–2011	6	78
	Edmond Kapllani	2004–	6	41
	Loro Boriçi	1946–1958	6	24
	Qamil Teliti	1946–1952	6	13

Honours

Stamps of Albania, 2007. 60th Anniversary of Victory at the Balkan Cup

Winners of VIII Balkan Cup (Tirana, October 1946)
Winners of Rothmans Football International Tournament: 2000 (VIII) (Valletta, 4 February — 10 February 2000)^[66]

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record									FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA	Position	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA
1930	Did Not Participate
1934
1938
23x15px 1950
1954
1958
1962
1966	Did Not Qualify								4/4	6	0	1	5	2	12
1970	Entry Not Accepted^[67]
1974	Did Not Qualify								4/4	6	1	0	5	3	13
1978	Did Not Participate
1982	Did Not Qualify								4/5	8	1	0	7	4	22
1986									3/4	6	1	2	3	6	9
1990									4/4	6	0	0	6	3	15
1994									7/7	12	1	2	9	6	26
1998									6/6	10	1	1	8	7	20
2002									5/5	8	1	0	7	5	14
2006									5/7	12	4	1	7	11	20
2010									5/6	10	1	4	5	6	13
2014									5/6	10	3	2	5	9	11
2018	To Be Determined
2022	To Be Determined
Total	Best: –	0/20	0	0	0	0	0	0	Total	94	13	13	68	62	175

^* Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record									UEFA European Championship Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA	Position	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA
1960	Did Not Participate
23x15px 1964	Did Not Qualify								First round	4	3	0	1	7	4
1968									3/3	4	0	1	3	0	12
1972									4/4	6	1	1	4	5	9
1976	Did Not Participate
1980	Did Not Participate
1984	Did Not Qualify								5/5	8	0	2	6	4	14
1988									4/4	6	0	0	6	2	17
1992									5/5	7	1	0	6	2	21
1996									5/6	10	2	2	6	10	16
2000									5/6	10	1	4	5	8	14
2004									4/5	8	2	2	4	11	15
2008									5/7	12	2	5	5	12	18
2012									5/6	10	2	3	5	7	14
2016	Qualified								2/5	8	4	2	2	10	5
Total	Best: –	1/15	0	0	0	0	0	0	Total	93	18	22	53	78	159