Albania national football team

men's national football team representing Albania

Albania national football team is the national football team of Albania. Although it never played any matches, the Albanian national football team existed before FSHF was created. This is witnessed by the registration of the team in the Balkan Cup tournament of 1929-1931, which started in 1929 (although Albania eventually retired from the competition, before the competition started).[4] FSHF was founded on June 6, 1930, and Albania had to wait 16 years to play its 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.

Albania
Nickname(s)Kuq e Zinjtë (The Red and Blacks)
Shqiponjat (The Eagles)
AssociationFederata Shqiptare e Futbollit (FSHF)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachChristian Panucci
CaptainMërgim Mavraj
Most capsLorik Cana (93)
Top scorerErjon Bogdani (18)
Home stadiumVarious
FIFA codeALB
First colours
Second colours
Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current 66 Steady (22 December 2022)[1]
Highest22 (August 2015[2])
Lowest124 (August 1997[3])
First international
Unofficial
 Albania 5–0 Montenegro Socialist Republic of Montenegro
(Shkodër, Albania; 22 August 1946)[4]
Official
 Albania 2–3 Yugoslavia 
(Tirana, Albania; 7 October 1946)[5]
Biggest win
 Albania 6–1 Cyprus 
(Tirana, Albania; 12 August 2009)[5]
Biggest defeat
 Hungary 12–0 Albania 
(Budapest, Hungary; 24 September 1950)[5]
European Championship
Appearances1 (first in 2016)
Best resultGroup stage (2016)
Albania national football team (2016)

Most appearances

change
Pos Player Apps Goals Career
1 Foto Strakosha 73 0 1990-2005
2 Altin Lala 70 3 1998-present
3 Igli Tare 68 10 1997-2007
4 Alban Bushi 67 14 1995-2007
5 Altin Haxhi 65 3 1995-2007
6 Altin Rraklli 63 11 1992-2005
7 Rudi Vata 59 5 1990-2001
8 Ervin Skela 53 9 2000-present
9 Klodian Duro 50 3 2000-present
10 Arjan Xhumba 48 0 1992-2002

Top scorers

change
Pos Player Goals Apps Career
6 Erjon Bogdani 19 79 1996-present
1 Alban Bushi 14 67 1995-2007
2 Altin Rraklli 11 63 1992-2005
3 Igli Tare 10 68 1997-2007
4 Sokol Kushta 10 1987-1996
5 Ervin Skela 9 53 2000-2011
6 Adrian Aliaj 8 2002-2006
8 Loro Borici 6 1946-1958
9 Bledar Kola 6 1994-2001
9 Edmond Kapllani 6 2004-present

References

change
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  2. FIFA World Ranking 8.2015 Archived 2018-05-24 at the Wayback Machine, 2/11/2018.
  3. FIFA World Ranking 8.1997 Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine, 2/11/2018.
  4. "Albania (5–0) Montenegro". eu-football.info. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Kirill (16 August 2010). "Albania matches". Kirill. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.