History of the Albania national football team
[5][6][7] Albania took part in the qualifiers for the 1966 World Cup in England, with Northern Ireland, Netherlands and Switzerland drawn in their group.
In UEFA Euro 1968 qualification, Albania had a 0–0 home draw with West Germany that denied the Germans participation in the final tournament.
Facing Romania in the opening round, they lost both legs 2–1, despite goals from Medin Zhega and Panajot Pano, respectively.
In the next two games, Albania tied Northern Ireland to a scoreless draw and lost 1–2 to Germany, both at home.
In the last three matches, Albania tied Turkey in the Qemal Stafa Stadium and lost 2–1 to Austria in Tirana.
They go in front by a goal from Bedri Omuri but they couldn't hold on as Greece equalized the result in the 54th minute.
Albania finished in last place with 2 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses due to having worse head-to-head results against Wales.
After a poor start in which Albania would draw at home against Switzerland with 1-1 by a goal from Edvin Murati but lose in the next match away against Russia with 4-1 despite an earlier equalizer scored by Klodian Duro Albania sacked his manager Giuseppe Dossena[18] to replace him with German Hans-Peter Briegel for the following match [19] against Russia in the Loro Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër.
[22][23] Albania went on to disappoint by losing to Georgia away and Denmark at home, before returning to winning ways by beating Kazakhstan 0–1 with a goal from Alban Bushi.
The last positive result for Albania in this qualification would be a 2–2 away draw with Ukraine where Bogdani scoring two surprising goals.
Albania's hopes of qualifying mathematically ended when they failed to win over Slovenia away and managed another 0–0 draw.
In the penultimate match at home against Bulgaria, Albania played wonderfully, but ended up in a very unlucky draw.
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 disastrous 6–1 away loss to Romania, which eventually resulted in the resignation of the coach Otto Barić and his assistant.
[30][31][32] 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.
[33] 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.
[38] The team was at one point 2nd with 6 matches played and 4 to spare, but failed to be successful in the last four, losing away in Slovenia and Iceland,[39][40] as well at home against Switzerland,[41] and drawing in Cyprus.
Albania started the qualifiers with a historic result as they beat group favourites Portugal 1–0 away thanks to a goal from Bekim Balaj.
Albania made history again by beating one-time world champions and UEFA Euro 2016 hosts France at the Elbasan Arena in the "Group I" friendly match.
Despite losing to Portugal and Serbia, Albania defeated Armenia 3–0 in Yerevan and qualified for UEFA Euro 2016,[55] its first appearance at a major men's football tournament after 50 years.
[56] For this achievement the entire team was bestowed the Honor of Nation Order by Albania's President Bujar Nishani.
Albania, despite its passionate play, failed to reach the World Cup, falling to both Italy and Spain as well as a shocking 0–3 loss to Israel at home.
[61] During this era, their successful manager, Gianni De Biasi, resigned and Christian Panucci, another Italian, replaced him as coach of Albania.
Albania played poorly in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, winning only to Israel 1–0 and lost the remaining three, especially the devastating 0–4 defeat to Scotland at home.
The Albanian side continued to slump, suffering a 0–1 loss away to Iceland[67] before managed to gain its second win against Moldova 2–0.
[69] After the defeat, Albania managed one of its biggest feat in their qualification, beating 2018 World Cup participant Iceland 4–2 at home soil to keep the team on track.
[70] Despite this outcome, Albania's trip to Turkey became a nightmare, when the Albanians, despite its passionate display, lost 0–1 in final minutes because of defensive mistake, thus losing every chance to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2020.
