Historic year for the National Team/ Records and qualification, eyes on... March

2026-01-01 09:39:00, Sport CNA

Albania left behind a very important year in its sports history, which was crowned with qualifying for the World Cup "Play Off" for the first time.

An achievement that comes after a difficult path, especially at the beginning of the year, when the National Team was coming off a disappointing performance in the Nations League and expectations were low due to the difficult draw.

The Rossoneri's journey began with a difficult transfer to "Wembley" against England. Albania was defeated, but put up a good performance against a superior opponent.

In the second match, the National Team did the job in Tirana by defeating Andorra with a score of 3-0. Throughout the campaign, England remained the only team that managed to defeat Albania, both in the first and last match, which took place without much weight in the standings, as the objectives had been achieved.
One of the key moments of the qualifiers was the confrontation with Serbia.

After a draw in Tirana and a much-discussed missed penalty by Rei Manaj, Albania achieved a historic away win in Leskovac. Manaj's goal late in the first half gave Albania three crucial points, which changed the course of the group and put the fate of qualification in the team's own hands.

That victory also marked Albania's first sporting triumph over Serbia on the field of play.
Qualification was finally sealed in Andorra, where Albania won 0-1 thanks to a goal by Kristjan Asllani. At the same time, Serbia's loss to England in London meant that Albania mathematically secured second place in the group, qualifying for the World Cup "Play Off" for the first time, with 14 points accumulated.

The year 2025 ended with only two losses for the national team, both against England. Albania also recorded a record series of five consecutive victories, something that had never been achieved before. In terms of individuals, Elseid Hysaj became the player with the most appearances in the history of the national team, surpassing Lorik Cana's record and ending the year with 96 matches in the red and black jersey.

The positive results were also reflected in the FIFA rankings, where Albania fluctuated throughout the year, but ended 2025 in 63rd place. At the end of the year, the Federation decided to renew coach Silvinjo's contract until the end of the "Play Off" matches, with the possibility of extension in case of qualification. Albania thus enters the decisive months of March, with the aim of taking the biggest step in its football history.