Albania national football team

Albania

Nickname(s)	Kuq e Zinjtë (The Red and Blacks) Shqiponjat (Eagles)
Association	Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Gianni De Biasi
Captain	Lorik Cana
Most caps	Altin Lala (79)
Top scorer	Erjon Bogdani (15)
Home stadium	Qemal Stafa
FIFA code	ALB
FIFA ranking	78
Highest FIFA ranking	50 (April 2011)
Lowest FIFA ranking	124 (August 1997)
Elo ranking	97
Highest Elo ranking	76 (4 September 2004 )
Lowest Elo ranking	127 (December 1994 )
Home colours Away colours
First international
Albania 2–3 Yugoslavia (Tirana, Albania; October 7, 1946)
Biggest win
Albania 6–1 Cyprus (Tirana, Albania; August 12, 2009)
Biggest defeat
Hungary 12–0 Albania (Budapest, Hungary; September 24, 1950)
European Championship
Appearances	1 (First in 1964)
Best result	Round of 16, 1964

The Albania national association football team is the national association football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania.

Founded on June 6, 1930, Albania had to wait 16 years to play the first international match, debuting against Yugoslavia in 1946. In 1932, Albania joined FIFA (during the congress June 12 — June 16) and in 1954, it was one of the founding members of UEFA.

Results in History

Main article: Albania national football team results

Recent developments

In December 2007, Football Association of Albania's president, Armand Duka, announced Arie Haan would replace Croatia's Otto Barić as Albania's head coach. Haan signed a two-year contract on January 4, 2008.

Albania started their 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign against Sweden on September 6, 2008. They have been drawn in Group 1 with Sweden, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary and Malta.

On March 14, 2008, Albania was suspended from international football (FIFA and UEFA), due to heavy political interference in the Football Association. The suspension lasted 46 days.

FIFA World Cup 2010

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 1

Albania started 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification with a 0–0 draw against Sweden. Four days later, the Albanians defeated Malta 3–0 with goals from Erion Bogdani Armend Dallku and Klodian Duro. On 11 October Albania lost 2-0 to Hungary in Budapest and then drew 0–0 with Portugal in Braga. On 11 February, Albania drew versus Malta in Ta'Qali. Albania then lost 1-0 to Hungary at home on 28 March and 3-0 to Denmark on 1 April. 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 1Albania drew 1-1 against Denmark and lost 4-1 to Sweden.

Team 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 Cup 2012

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group D

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. Seedings were based on the UEFA national team coefficient ranking. Albania was drawn in Group D along with France, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, and Luxembourg.

Group D

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group D

Team 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 —

Results and fixtures

Group D fixtures were negotiated between the participants at a meeting in Luxembourg on 19 February 2010.

3 September 2010 21:00 UTC+3	Romania	1 – 1	Albania	Stadionul Ceahlăul, Piatra Neamţ Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (Austria)
	Stancu  80'	Report	Muzaka  87'

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7 September 2010 20:15 UTC+2	Albania	1 – 0	Luxembourg	Qemal Stafa, Tirana Attendance: 11,800 Referee: Richard Trutz (Slovakia)
	Salihi  37'	Report

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8 October 2010 20:30 UTC+2	Albania	1 – 1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Qemal Stafa, Tirana Attendance: 19,600 Referee: Kristinn Jakobsson (Iceland)
	Duro  45+2'	Report	Ibišević  21'

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12 October 2010 20:30 UTC+3	Belarus	2 – 0	Albania	Dinamo Stadium, Minsk Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Peter Rasmussen (Denmark)
	Rodionov  10' Krivets  77'	Report

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26 March 2011 20:00 UTC+2	Albania	1 – 0	Belarus	Qemal Stafa, Tirana Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Markus Strömbergsson (Sweden)
	Salihi  62'	Report

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7 June 2011 20:15 UTC+2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2 – 0	Albania	Bilino Polje, Zenica Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Kevin Blom (Netherlands)
	Medunjanin  67' Maletić  90+1'	Report

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2 September 2011 21:00 UTC+2	Albania	1 – 2	France	Qemal Stafa, Tirana Attendance: 20'000 Referee: Aleksei Nikolaev (Russia)
	Bogdani  46'	Report	Benzema  11' M'Vila  18'

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6 September 2011 20:15 UTC+2	Luxembourg	2 – 1	Albania	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City Attendance: 2'300 Referee: Petteri Kari (Finland)
	Bettmer  27' Joachim  78'	Report	Bogdani  64'

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7 October 2011 21:00 UTC+2	France	3 – 0	Albania	Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 67,000 Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (Greece)
	Malouda  11' Rémy  37' Réveillère  66'	Report

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11 October 2011 20:00 UTC+2	Albania	1 – 1	Romania	Qemal Stafa, Tirana Attendance: 6'500 Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania)
	Salihi  24'	Report	Luchin  77'

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Friendlies

15 November 2011 13:00 UTC+2	Macedonia	0 – 0	Albania	Goce Delcev Stadium, Prilep Attendance: 3'000 Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)

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11 November 2011 20:00 UTC+2	Albania	0 – 1	Azerbaijan	Qemal Stafa, Tirana Attendance: 1'540 Referee: Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni (Italy)
			Aliyev  22'

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9 February 2011 20:00 UTC+2	Albania	1 – 2	Slovenia	Qemal Stafa, Tirana Attendance: 7'500 Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (Greece)
	Bulku  62'		Novakovič  24' Dedič  90+2'

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20 june 2011 23:10 UTC+3	Argentina	4 – 0	Albania	El Monumental, Argentina Attendance: 31'000 Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)
	Lavezzi  6' Messi  43' Agüero  75' Tévez  90'

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10 August 2011 20:00 UTC+2	Albania	3 – 2	Montenegro	Loro Boriçi, Shkodër Attendance: 7'000 Referee: Anton Genov (Bulgaria)
	Bogdani  33' Hyka  64' Salihi  69'		Savić  40' Savić  47'

Current squad

Players called up for Friendly matches against Azerbaijan on 11 November 2011, and Macedonia on 15 November 2011.

Caps and goals as of 16 November 2011.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Orges Shehi September 20, 1977 (1977-09-20) 0 0 Skënderbeu Korçë 12 GK Isli Hidi October 15, 1980 (1980-10-15) 17 0 AEL Limassol 2 DF Andi Lila February 12, 1986 (1986-02-12) 25 0 PAS Giannina 3 DF Kristi Vangjeli September 5, 1985 (1985-09-05) 32 0 Chornomorets Odesa 4 DF Armend Dallku June 16, 1983 (1983-06-16) 48 2 Vorskla Poltava 6 DF Franc Veliu November 11, 1988 (1988-11-11) 3 0 Flamurtari Vlorë 7 DF Ansi Agolli October 11, 1982 (1982-10-11) 29 2 Qarabağ 16 DF Admir Teli June 2, 1981 (1981-06-02) 15 0 Qarabağ 26 DF Debatik Curri December 28, 1984 (1984-12-28) 34 1 Gençlerbirligi 5 MF Lorik Cana (captain) July 27, 1983 (1983-07-27) 56 1 Lazio 8 MF Ervin Bulku March 3, 1981 (1981-03-03) 36 1 AZAL Baku 10 MF Jahmir Hyka March 8, 1988 (1988-03-08) 27 2 Luzern 11 MF Emiljano Vila March 12, 1988 (1988-03-12) 11 1 PAS Giannina 13 MF Sabjen Lilaj February 10, 1989 (1989-02-10) 3 0 Lokomotiva 19 MF Elis Bakaj July 25, 1987 (1987-07-25) 23 0 Dinamo Bucureşti 17 MF Gilman Lika January 13, 1987 (1987-01-13) 15 0 Tirana 20 MF Gjergji Muzaka September 26, 1984 (1984-09-26) 20 1 Skënderbeu Korçë 21 MF Odise Roshi May 22, 1991 (1991-05-22) 4 0 Köln 9 FW Edmond Kapllani July 31, 1982 (1982-07-31) 34 7 Augsburg 15 FW Ahmed Januzi July 8, 1988 (1988-07-08) 4 0 Vorskla Poltava 18 FW Hamdi Salihi January 19, 1984 (1984-01-19) 32 9 DC United 25 FW Xhevahir Sukaj October 5, 1987 (1987-10-05) 1 0 Sepahan 22 FW Erjon Bogdani April 14, 1977 (1977-04-14) 64 15 Siena

Recent call-ups

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

Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest Call-up DF Renato Arapi 28 September 1986 (1986-09-28) 1 0 Skënderbeu Korçë v. Argentina, 20 June 2011 DF Ditmar Bicaj 26 February 1989 (1989-02-26) 2 0 Skënderbeu Korçë v. Argentina, 20 June 2011 DF Endrit Vrapi 23 March 1982 (1982-03-23) 11 0 Skënderbeu Korçë v. Argentina, 20 June 2011 MF Ledian Memushaj 7 December 1986 (1986-12-07) 2 0 Carpi v. Slovenia, 9 February 2011 MF Armando Vajushi 3 December 1991 (1991-12-03) 1 0 Litex Lovech v. Argentina, 20 June 2011 MF Altin Lala 18 November 1975 (1975-11-18) 79 3 Hannover 96 v. Romania, 11 October 2011 MF Klodian Duro 12 September 1977 (1977-21-12) 78 6 KF Tirana v. France, 7 October 2011 FW Besart Berisha 29 July 1985 (1985-07-29) 14 2 Brisbane Roar v. Sweden, 14 October 2009

Coaching staff

According to the FSHF website, the following is the current coaching staff:

Head Coach	Gianni De Biasi
Assistant Coach	Džemal Mustedanagić
Goalkeeping Coach	Ilir Bozhiqi
National Team Manager	Denis Bastari
Team Doctor	Arben Celiku
Physios	Achim Bullinger
	Ylli Mihali

Stadium

Old Qemal Stafa Stadium as seen from the Sheraton hotel.

The Qemal Stafa Stadium (Albanian: Stadiumi Qemal Stafa), named after Qemal Stafa, a World War II hero, is a national stadium and the largest football stadium in Tirana, Albania. Construction started in 1939 and the stadium was inaugurated in 1946 for the Balkan Cup, which was won by the Albania national football team. The stadium has been used for football matches of the Albanian Superliga and the national team, for athletic events, and for the six Albanian Spartakiads. Although it was enlarged in 1974 to accommodate up to 35,000 spectators, in the 1990s it became an all-seater stadium, and its capacity was reduced to the current 19,600. Plans to demolish the current stadium and begin construction of a new one right after the Qualifiers for Euro 2012 have already been approved by the Football Association of Albania and the Albanian government, which will divide the property rights to the stadium between them; the football association will hold 75% rights and the government 25%. A new stadium with a capacity of over 33,000 spectators will be built at a cost of €60 million. The new stadium will be football-only; the athletics track will be eliminated. It will have the shape of the map of Albania, and its outside will be black and red, the colours of the Albanian flag. The outside shape will be rugged to harmonise with the mountainous skyline of Tirana. The stadium is expected to meet the highest UEFA category.

Renaming

In January 2010, after the death of notable Albanian player Panajot Pano, an official request from the Partizani Tirana club and from the Albanian Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports was addressed to the Albanian government, that the stadium be renamed for the famous footballer.

Supporters

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 December 25, 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. In this sense, TKZ is joined by different supporters' associations throughout Albanian-speaking regions mainly in Kosovo (Plisat-Dardanët of Pristina etc.), Republic of Macedonia (Ballistët of Tetovo, Sokolat of Debar, Ilirët of Kumanovo, etc.) and in Albania itself. 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.

Kit History

The Albanian kit has been mostly red and black with small changes through years.

Managerial History

This is a chronological list of the 22 managers who have guided Albania since 1946 (note that Bejkush Birçe and Agron Sulaj have had the job twice):

1. Ljubiša Broćić
2. Adem Karapici
3. Sllave Llambi
4. Ludovik Jakova
5. Myslim Alla
6. Miklos Vadas
7. Loro Boriçi
8. Nikolai Ljuksinov
9. Zyber Konçi
10. Ilia Shuke
11. Shyqyri Rreli
12. Agron Sulaj
13. Bejkush Birçe
14. Agron Sulaj
15. Bejkush Birçe
16. Neptun Bajko
17. Astrit Hafizi
18. Medin Zhega
19. Sulejman Demollari
20. Giuseppe Dossena
21. Hans-Peter Briegel
22. Otto Baric
23. Arie Haan
24. Josip Kuže
25. Gianni De Biasi

Players

Most appearances

Below is a list of the 10 players with the most appearances for Albania, as of November 16, 2011 (* denotes players still available for selection):

No	Name	Matches	Goals	First game (age)	Last game (age)
1	Altin Lala*	79	3	1998	11-10-2011 (35)
2	Klodian Duro*	78	6	2001 (23)	07-10-2011 (33)
3	Ervin Skela*	75	13	2000 (22)	06-09-2011 (34)
4	Foto Strakosha	73	0	5-30-1990	08-13-2004 (39)
5	Igli Tare	68	10	1997	07-02-2007 (33)
5	Alban Bushi	68	14	1995	17-11-2007 (34)
7	Altin Haxhi	67	3	1995	14-11-2009 (32)
8	Erion Bogdani*	65	15	1996	11-11-2011 (34)
9	Altin Rraklli	63	11	1992	30-03-2005 (34)
10	Rudi Vata	59	5	30-5-1990 (21)	01-09-2001 (32)

Top goalscorers

Below is a list of the 10 players with the most goals for Albania, as of November 16, 2011 (* denotes players still available for selection):

No	Name	First game	Last game	Goals	Caps	Goals per Match
1	Erion Bogdani*	1996	2011	15	65	0.22
2	Alban Bushi	1995	2007	14	68	0.21
3	Ervin Skela*	2000	2011	13	75	0.17
4	Altin Rraklli	1992	2005	11	61	0.17
5	Sokol Kushta	1987	1996	10	31	0.32
5	Igli Tare	1997	2007	10	68	0.15
7	Hamdi Salihi*	2006	2011	9	37	0.24
8	Adrian Aliaj	2002	2006	8	29	0.28
9	Bledar Kola	1994	2007	6	39	0.15
9	Klodian Duro*	2001	2011	6	78	0.08
10	Edmond Kapllani*	2004	2011	6	36	0.17

Honours

• Winners of VIII Balkan Cup (Tirana, October 1946)
• Winners of Rothmans Football International Tournament (Valletta, February 4 — February 10, 2000)

World Cup record

• 1930 to 1962 – Did not participate
• 1966 – Did not qualify
• 1970 – Entry not accepted
• 1974 – Did not qualify
• 1978 – Did not participate
• 1982 to 2010 – Did not qualify

UEFA European Championship record

• 1960 - Did not enter
• 1964 - 1972 - Did not qualify
• 1976 - 1980 - Did not enter
• 1984 - 2012 - Did not qualify

Head-to-Head records against other countries

Opponent	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Differential
Algeria	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
Andorra	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2
Argentina	1	0	0	1	0	4	-1
Armenia	2	0	1	1	1	4	-4
Austria	6	0	0	6	1	17	-16
Azerbaijan	5	3	1	1	5	3	+2
Bahrain	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3
Belarus	4	1	1	2	5	8	-3
Belgium	2	1	0	1	3	3	=0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	1	2	1	3	3	=0
Bulgaria	11	2	4	5	8	15	-7
China PR	1	0	1	0	1	1	=0
Cuba	1	0	1	0	0	0	=0
Cyprus	2	1	0	1	7	3	+4
Czech Republic	5	2	0	3	6	10	-4
Denmark	8	1	1	6	3	18	-15
England	4	0	0	4	1	12	-11
Estonia	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2
Finland	7	2	1	4	6	8	-2
France	4	0	0	4	1	11	-10
Georgia	11	3	2	6	9	17	-8
Germany	14	0	1	13	10	38	-28
Greece	14	5	3	6	13	13	=0
Hungary	5	0	1	4	0	18	-18
Iceland	3	2	0	1	3	3	=0
Kazakhstan	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2
Latvia	5	0	5	0	6	6	=0
Liechtenstein	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Lithuania	3	1	0	2	3	5	-2
Luxembourg	5	3	1	1	7	2	+5
Malta	7	4	2	1	12	3	+9
Mexico	1	0	0	1	0	4	-4
Macedonia	8	1	3	4	4	10	-6
Moldova	2	2	0	0	6	2	+4
Netherlands	4	0	0	4	1	7	-6
Northern Ireland	8	1	2	5	4	13	-9
Norway	4	1	1	2	2	3	-1
Poland	11	1	3	7	7	14	-7
Portugal	5	0	1	4	4	12	-8
Republic of Ireland	4	0	1	3	2	6	-4
Romania	15	2	3	10	9	40	-31
Russia	2	1	0	1	4	5	-1
San Marino	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
Scotland	0	0	0	0	0	0	=0
Yugoslavia	5	0	1	4	4	13	-9
Slovenia	5	0	2	3	1	5	-4
Spain	5	0	0	5	2	24	-22
Sweden	5	1	1	3	5	10	-5
Switzerland	4	0	1	3	3	7	-4
Turkey	9	3	2	4	11	8	+3
Ukraine	4	0	1	3	2	6	-4
Uzbekistan	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Vietnam	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5
Wales	2	0	1	1	1	3	-2
53 Countries	251	55	53	143	210	424	−214

• Last updated: 15.11.2011 after the 0-0 away friendly match against FYR of Macedonia.

See also

• Kategoria superiore
• Albania national under-21 football team
• Albania national under-19 football team
• Albania national under-17 football team
• List of Albanian footballers

External links

• FutbolliShqiptar.net
• Fan Website
• AlbaniaSoccer.com
• AIFR archive of results: 1946-2000/01
• Tifozat Kuq e Zi / Red and Black Fan Club
• Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation – Albania
• Albania Sport
• Albanian Soccer News
• Frasheri, Dash (11 August 2010). "Albania, modest victory against Uzbekistan" (in Albanian). Albania Sport. http://albania-sport.com/mat.php?idm=15496. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
• Sauku, Endrit (21 January 2010). "History of the Qemal Stafa Temple" (in Albanian). Albania Sport (Dash Frasheri). http://albania-sport.com/mat.php?idm=13808. Retrieved 3 August 2010. 
• Worldstadiums. "Stadia in Albania". http://www.worldstadiums.com/europe/countries/albania.shtml. Retrieved 3 August 2010.