Albanian national soccer team / European championships

Albania
Shqipëria

European Championship record scorer:	Armando Sadiku (1)
European Championship record players:	8 players (3 each)
Rank:	29
Balance sheet
3 European Championship games 1 win 0 draw 2 defeats 1: 3 goals
statistics
First European Championship game Albania 0: 1 Switzerland Lens ( FRA ); June 11, 2016
Biggest European Championship victory Albania 1-0 Romania Lyon ( FRA ); 19th June 2016
Biggest European Championship defeat Albania 0: 2 France Marseille ( FRA ); June 15, 2016
successes
European Championship
Participation in the finals	1 ( first : 2016 )
Best results	Preliminary round ( 2016 )
Best results in the countries where the UEFA European Football Championships are held
(As of November 2019)

The article contains a detailed description of the Albanian national football team for men at European championships and the qualifications for them. Albania took part in the European Championship finals for the first time in 2016. After Latvia and Iceland, Albania is the third country to qualify for a European Championship but not yet a World Cup.

Overview

Albania was able to qualify for the 2016 European Championship finals for the first time in October 2015.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1960	France	not participated
1964	Spain	not qualified				failed in the second round to Denmark
1968	Italy	not qualified				failed in the qualification at the later runner-up European champion Yugoslavia
1972	Belgium	not qualified				failed in qualifying at later European champions Germany
1976	Yugoslavia	not participated
1980	Italy	not participated
1984	France	not qualified				in the qualification of defending champion Germany failed
1988	BR Germany	not qualified				the qualifications of vice European champion Spain failed
1992	Sweden	not qualified				failed in qualification to France
1996	England	not qualified				failed in qualifying at later European champions Germany
2000	Netherlands and Belgium	not qualified				failed in qualification to Norway and Slovenia .
2004	Portugal	not qualified				failed in qualifying because of Switzerland and Russia .
2008	Austria and Switzerland	not qualified				failed in qualification to Romania and the Netherlands
2012	Poland and Ukraine	not qualified				failed in qualification to France and Bosnia and Herzegovina , which could not qualify either
2016	France	Preliminary round	Switzerland , France , Romania	-	Gianni De Biasi	Albania finished third in the group stage and missed the last sixteen as the worst third in the group
2021	Europe	not qualified				Albania will not provide a venue for the finals. In the qualifying failed to champion France, Turkey and Iceland, which can still qualify through the playoffs.

EM 1960

Albania did not want to take part in the first European football championship in 1960, which was still the "European Cup of Nations".

EM 1964

Four years later, more teams than 1960 wanted to take part, including the Albanians trained by Zyber Konçi . Therefore a preliminary round was held upstream. Albania was to play against Greece , which was still at war with Albania and therefore refused to play against Albania. Greece was eliminated from the tournament and Albania moved on to the next round. In this the Albanians had to play against Denmark and lost their first competitive game on June 29, 1963 in Copenhagen with 0: 4. Four months later they managed a 1-0 home game, with Panajot Pano scoring the first qualifying goal for Albania in the third minute. But this was not enough to reach the round of 16. Denmark was then able to prevail in the quarter-finals in three games against Luxembourg and came fourth in the finals.

EM 1968

Albania, which had been coached by Loro Boriçi since 1965 , took part again in qualifying for the third European championship, and met vice world champions Germany and neighboring Yugoslavia in the only group of three . Qualification began for the Albanians on April 8, 1967 with a 6-0 win against Germany in Dortmund , with Gerd Müller scoring his first four international goals. After two defeats against Yugoslavia - 2-0 at home and 4-0 away - there was another encounter on the last day of the game with the vice world champions, who had lost and won a game against Yugoslavia and therefore had to win in Tirana . Germany competed without Gerd Müller, who was four times successful in the first leg, who was in a low form, and without Franz Beckenbauer . National coach Helmut Schön , however, put on Wolfgang Overath and Günter Netzer , the best German midfielders at the time, and Peter Meyer, the leaders in the Bundesliga shooting competition. The 0-0, which went down in German football history as a disgrace for Tirana , was of no use to the Albanians, but ensured that Germany was eliminated in qualifying for a major tournament for the only time so far. The Yugoslavs became group winners and then also reached the finals, where they were only defeated by hosts Italy in the second final. For Albania, the 0-0 win is the best result against Germany so far, and for many Germans, the land of the Skipetars has something else in common.

European Championship 1972

Four years later, Germany were again opponents in the qualification, as were Turkey and Poland . This time there was a clash with the Germans in the first home game of the Albanians - the first two games in Poland and Turkey were previously lost - and this time Gerd Müller was there again. He also managed the only goal to win 1-0. Müller then missed the second leg, but the Germans won this game 2-0. After all, the Albanians managed to beat the Turks 3-0 in the last game, but that was no longer enough to leave last place. Group winners Germany then also reached the finals in Belgium, where they became European champions for the first time.

EM 1976

The final round was held for the last time with four teams in 1976, but Albania did not take part in the qualification.

EM 1980

Even four years later, Albania was not there.

EM 1984

The Albanians, trained by Shyqyri Rreli since 1982, took part in qualifying for the European Championship in France in 1984 and had to compete against Germany again in Group 6 . Further opponents this time were Northern Ireland , Austria and again Turkey. Albania lost the first game in Austria with 0: 5 and then in Turkey with 0: 1, but then won a point in the home game against Northern Ireland at 0: 0, which the Northern Irish missed in the end. This was followed by narrow defeats against defending champions Germany (twice 1: 2), in Northern Ireland (0: 1) and against Austria (1: 2) and a 1: 1 against the Turks, which in the end was only enough for last place. Group winners Germany went to the European Championship, but were eliminated there for the first time in a major tournament in the preliminary round.

EM 1988

For the European Championship in 1988 Albania, which was now trained by Agron Sulaj , had to qualify against Spain , Romania and again Austria. The Albanians could not meet Germany this time because Germany was automatically qualified as host. For the first time the Albanians lost all qualifying games, but the home games all with only one goal difference, and were again bottom of the group. The term of office of Sulaj, his successor Shyqyri Rreli , who was his predecessor, ended in 1988 , but failed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup . Group winners Spain then dropped out of the final round in the preliminary round.

EM 1992

In qualifying for the European Championship in 1992 , Albania met again on Spain as well as France , Czechoslovakia and Iceland . The Albanians lost their first five games in a row and after a 9-0 win against Spain, national coach Agron Sulaj , who had only returned to office before qualifying, was replaced by Bejkush Birçe before they drew 2-1 in the home game against Iceland for the first time in 20 years again won a European Championship qualifier. This was followed by a 2-1 defeat in the penultimate game against Czechoslovakia. The last home game against Spain, which was no longer important for the outcome of the qualification, was then no longer played due to unrest in Albania.

EM 1996

In qualifying for the European Championship in England in 1996, which was held for the first time with 16 teams , the Albanians , who had been trained by Neptun Bajko since 1994, had to play against Germany again. Other opponents were Bulgaria , Georgia and the Republic of Moldova , both of which participated for the first time, as well as Wales . The Albanians could only win the two games against Moldova and two draws in the home games against Bulgaria and Wales. Against Germany, they lost just 2-1 twice. So they were tied with Wales and had the better goal difference, but since they had lost the first game in Wales, they were again only bottom of the group. After all, they scored 10 goals in qualifying for the first time. Group winners Germany and the second placed Bulgarians qualified for the European Championship finals, where Germany became European champions for the third time.

EM 2000

For the EM 2000 the Albanians had to qualify in a group with Norway , Slovenia , Greece , Latvia and again Georgia. Albania, which was now coached by Astrit Hafizi , could only win the last game against Georgia and thus for the first time did not come in bottom of the group, which ended Hafizi's tenure. Group winners Norway qualified directly and thus for the first time for the European Championship finals, Slovenia also qualified for the first time as group runners-up in the relegation games against Ukraine. But both were eliminated in the preliminary round.

EM 2004

In qualifying for the 2004 European Championships, the Albanians went with Giuseppe Dossena as national coach and met Switzerland , Russia , Ireland and their new permanent opponent Georgia. Albania remained undefeated in their home games, but could only win two games - 3-1 each against Russia and Georgia. Against Ireland and Switzerland it was only enough to draw. In contrast, all away games were lost. After the first, Dossena had lost his post, he was followed by the former German European champion Hans-Peter Briegel , who made it 3-1 against Russia. In the end, Briegel couldn't lead the Albanians to the European Championship and again only Georgia was relegated to last place. Group winners were Switzerland, which qualified directly for the European Championship finals, while Russia was second in the group but also managed to secure a place in the finals in the playoffs against Wales. Both were eliminated in the preliminary round.

EM 2008

Four years later, Albania had to qualify for the next European Championship against Romania , the Netherlands , Bulgaria , Belarus , Slovenia and Luxembourg . Since Briegel could not lead the Albanians to the World Cup in his home country , Otto Barić replaced him in May 2006. The Albanians started with two defeats and three draws before they won against Luxembourg for the first time. After a win in the second leg in Luxembourg, three defeats and two draws followed. This meant they were third from bottom in front of the Slovenians tied with points with the slightly better goal difference and Barić's tenure as national coach ended. Former runner-up world champion Arie Haan took over his post, but was also replaced after the failed qualification for the 2010 World Cup . Romania and the Netherlands went first and second to the European Championship finals where they met again.

EM 2012

Four years later, the Albanians now trained by Josip Kuže could not qualify again . In a group with France, Bosnia and Herzegovina , Romania, Belarus and Luxembourg they could only win the home games against Belarus and Luxembourg with 1-0 each. In addition, there were still three draws. The other games were lost and only the penultimate place occupied before Luxembourg, which could only win the home game against the Albanians. Group winners France failed in the final round in the quarter-finals to defending champions Spain, group runners-up Bosnia and Herzegovina failed in the playoffs to Portugal, who lost to Spain on penalties in the final round in the semi-finals . After the missed qualification, the term of office of Kuže ended, who was represented by Džemal Mustedanagić at two games due to health problems . The Italian Gianni De Biasi took over as national coach .

EM 2016

Starting line-ups in the Albanians' first European Championship game against Switzerland

→ Main article : European Football Championship 2016 / Albania

For the first time, 24 teams took part in the European Championship in France. For the draw of the qualifying groups , which took place on February 23, 2014, Albania was only placed in Pot 5 and was drawn to the group with Portugal. Other opponents were Denmark , Serbia and Armenia . In addition, EM host France was assigned to the group. The free team played a friendly game against the French on the match day, which was not included in the rating.

Albania started qualifying with a surprising 1-0 win in Portugal and a 1-1 draw against Denmark. In the following game in Serbia , there was a scandal when Albanian nationalists let a drone with a Greater Albanian flag fly over the field, whereupon the previously heated atmosphere in the stadium escalated and the referee stopped the game and did not restart the game. UEFA initially rated the game 3-0 for Serbia, but the Serbs' points were immediately deducted. However, the International Court of Justice revised this decision in July 2015, so that the game was rated 3-0 for Albania. After the game, the Albanians managed to beat Armenia 2-1 and Denmark 0-0. With two home defeats against Portugal and Serbia, the qualification was then endangered. With a 3-0 win in Armenia in the last game, the previously second-placed but no-play Danes were overtaken and for the first time the qualification for the final round was perfect.

For the group draw on December 12, 2015, Albania was allocated to Pot 4 with the second worst UEFA coefficient of all participants.

Scene from the game against Romania

In the first group game against Switzerland , which was lost with one goal, Taulant Xhaka, who plays for Albania, and his brother Granit, who plays for Switzerland, faced each other for the first time in a European Championship match. Other Albanian players were trained in Switzerland or are even dual citizens, while the Swiss team consisted of several players of Albanian origin. Team captain Lorik Cana received a yellow-red card and was therefore suspended for the following game. In the game against hosts France , Albania was able to resist for a long time until the French finally scored in the 90th minute and in stoppage time. In the third group game, both Albania and Romania had to win in order to keep their chances for the round of 16. Thanks to a goal from Armando Sadiku  , the Albanians achieved their first European championship victory. This one victory was not enough to get into the top four group third and reach the last sixteen. After the tournament, record national player Lorik Cana announced his resignation at the welcome parade in his home country. National coach Gianni De Biasi remained in office, but announced his resignation in June 2017 during the unsuccessful qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

EM 2021

Albania had not applied to host games for the first pan-European European Championship finals. In the qualification needed to participate, which was also the organizer of finals games, there were Albanians with France, Turkey, Iceland, Andorra and the Republic of Moldova to do. Albania lost their first home game 2-0 against Turkey, whereupon national coach Christian Panucci was sacked. They followed up with a 3-0 win in Andorra under interim coach Ervin Bulku three days later . Under the new national coach Edoardo Reja , who received a contract until the end of the qualification, defeats and wins alternated in the next six games, so that they had no chance to qualify directly for the final round before the last two games. In the end, they finished fourth behind France and Turkey, who qualified directly for the finals. Since they only finished third in their league in the 2018/19 UEFA Nations League , they cannot qualify via the playoffs, which is still possible for the third-placed Icelanders.

Players banned from European championships

• In 2016 Lorik Cana received the yellow-red card in the first game and was suspended for the second game. Burim Kukeli received the second yellow card in the second group game and was suspended for the third group game.

Share of players playing abroad in the EM squad

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
2016 (3)	21 (1 in Azerbaijan, 2 in Germany, 2 in France, 2 in Greece, 5 in Italy, 2 in Croatia, 1 Liechentstein, 4 in Switzerland, 1 in Turkey, 1 in the USA)	Ansi Agolli (3); Amir Abrashi (3), Mergim Mavraj (3); Lorik Cana (2), Ermir Lenjani (3); Ergys Kaçe (1), Andi Lila (2); Arlind Ajeti (2), Migjen Basha (1), Etrit Berisha (3), Elseid Hysaj (3), Ledian Memushaj (2); Bekim Balaj (1), Odise Roshi (3); Armando Sadiku (3); Naser Aliji , Burim Kukeli (2), Frédéric Veseli , Taulant Xhaka (2); Sokol Cikalleshi (1); Shkelzen Gashi (1)

As of June 19, 2016

Games

Lens Lyon Marseille

Venues (green = positive balance, yellow = balanced balance, red = negative balance,)

All EM games
No.	date	Result	opponent	AH/*	venue	occasion	Remarks
1	June 11, 2016	0: 1	Switzerland	*	Lens ( FRA )	Group game	With Taulant Xhaka, who plays for Albania, and his brother Granit , who plays for Switzerland, two brothers faced each other in a European Championship match for the first time.
2	June 15, 2016	0: 2	France	A.	Marseille ( FRA )	Group game
3	19th June 2016	1-0	Romania	*	Lyon ( FRA )	Group game

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hellas at war with Albania. In: Donaukurier. July 3, 2016, accessed July 4, 2016 . 
2. ^ Albania 1-0 Denmark
3. ↑ Draw for the EURO qualification: Pot 1 in focus. In: uefa.com. UEFA , February 20, 2014, accessed March 11, 2014 . 
4. ↑ espn.co: Albania get heroes' welcome upon return after Euro 2016 exit
5. ↑ football-italia.net: "Official: Albania sack Panucci"
6. ↑ fshf.org: Edoardo Reja, the new manager of Albania