Albania national under-21 football team

The Albania national under-21 football team represents Albania in men's under-21 international football and is governed by the Football Association of Albania (Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit, FSHF). The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held biennially, and also plays friendly and qualifying fixtures throughout the year. The team is nicknamed Kuqezinjtë ("The Red and Blacks") and Shpresat e Shqipërisë ("Albania's Hopes"). Home matches are typically played at Elbasan Arena or the Loro Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër.

History Balkan Youth Championship

Albania Under-21 participated in the Balkan Youth Championship as the successor to the Albania under-23 team, competing in the 1976–78 and 1981 editions. The team won both tournaments, defeating Romania and Bulgaria respectively in the finals. In the 1978 edition, the second leg of the final against Romania ended in a 7–1 victory for Albania, which remains the team's largest win in its history.Balkan Youth Championship 1968–1981 RSSSF

1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

Albania made its debut in UEFA European Under-21 Championship during the 1984 competition, qualifying for the tournament for the first and, to date, only time. This historic event was the first time a team from Albania qualified for a Europe or World Championship. In the qualifying stage they played against West Germany, Turkey and Austria. Albania U21 managed to qualify without any loss winning both home-away versus Austria (1–2 away & 3–0 home) & Turkey (both 1–0) and managing two draws against West Germany (both 1–1), heading the group with 10 points, 1 above West Germany. Albania played the quarter finals against Italy, against which it lost twice 0–1 both home and away as Italy advanced to the semifinals losing against England, the eventual champions.

1986–1994 In the 1986 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania came last in group after Poland and Greece, and could not qualify. In the 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania came again last in group after Spain, Romania and Austria. In the 1990 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania came last in group after Sweden, England and Poland. In the 1992 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship managed to precede Iceland as last in the group, but was preceded by Czechoslovakia, France and Spain. In the qualifiers of the 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania preceded bottom team Republic of Ireland, but was preceded by Spain, Germany and Denmark.

1996–2002 In the 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Albania did not participate. In the qualifiers of the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania left behind Armenia, but had to trail in the final rankings Germany, Ukraine, and Portugal. In the qualifiers of the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania trailed Greece, Norway, Georgia, Latvia, and Slovenia and closed at the bottom of the group. In the qualifiers of the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania came again last behind England, Greece, Germany, and Finland.

2004–2007 In the qualifiers of the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania had the best result since Euro '84, when it had won the group, as it left two teams behind (Republic of Ireland and Georgia), but was preceded by Switzerland and Russia, and thus failed to qualify to the main tournament. In the qualifiers of the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania left behind itself Kazakhstan, but was preceded by Denmark, Ukraine, Greece, Turkey, and Georgia. In the qualifiers of the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, in a 3 teams group, Albania came last behind Spain and Slovakia and failed to qualify.

2009–2013 In the qualifiers of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania was fourth out of 6 teams in the final ranking, leaving behind the Faroe Islands and Azerbaijan, but trailing behind Italy, Croatia and Greece. In the qualifiers of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania left again behind Azerbaijan but trailed Scotland, Belarus, and Austria in the final rankings. In the qualifiers of the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania came last trailing behind Russia, Portugal, Poland, and Moldova. However, as a consolation for the first time an Albanian footballer, Armando Sadiku was the top goalscorer of the group. Albania drew in Russia against the famous hosts during that tournament, a noticeable fact. Albania were also able to draw against Portugal in Durrës with 2–2 during this qualifying. Albania suffered close losses against Poland in Grudziądz with 4–3 and to Russia with 0–1 in Durrës respectively.

2015–2019 In the qualification in Group 4 Albania would finish in last place. They were able to beat Hungary with 0–2 away from home. Albania would also beat notable Austria with 1–3 away from home in the Merkur-Arena(Liebenaur Stadium) in Graz. As a fact Albanian won for the first time in their history more matches away than at home in an Under-21 qualification. In the following 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 4. Albania finished fourth leaving Hungary and Liechtenstein but trailing behind Greece, Israel and eventual Group winners Portugal. securing 12 points in the progress. Albania were able to win three matches in this qualifying. They beat Liechtenstein with 2-0 and away from home with the same result. As well as beating Hungary in Elbasan with 2–1 in fact. They drew three times once against Israel in Elbasan with 1-1 and away to Hungary with 2-2 and in the derby at home against Greece with 0:0.

Competitive record UEFA European Under-23/21 Championship The event was classified as a U-23/21 tournament where at time were played three competitions, 1972, 1974 & 1976.

UEFA European Under-21 Championship recordUEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification recordYearRoundPosition * 1978Did not enterdid not enter 1980 1982 1984Quarter-finals6th200202642093 1986Did not qualify410337 19886024410 1990601518 19927124313 19948125518 1996did not enter 19988116619 200010145821 20028116319 200483141010 200612237927 2007201103 2009103341013 201181161120 201381251118 20158206715 2017103341120 201910145917 2021104241621 202310316917 2025105141217 2027Qualified as co-hostsQualified as co-hostsTotal200202169383794157316

Note: The year of the tournament represents the year in which it ends.

Fixtures and results

2024

2025

2026

Players Current squad The following players were called up for the friendly against Ukraine, on 5 October 2026. Caps and goals are correct , after the match against Ukraine. Players in bold have been called up or have played at least one full international match with national senior team.

Recent call-ups The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Notes A = Was called up from national senior squad. INJ = The player is not part of the current squad due to injury. WD = Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Coaching staff Current coaching staff:Kombëtarja U-21 (Albania national under-21 team) FSHF.org PositionName Head coach Alban Bushi Assistant coach Endri Zjarri Goalkeeping coach Erion Meta Athletic coach Mark Dodaj Team manager Denis Lilo Video analyst Xhoen Tugu Team doctor Mehmet Buzmerxhani Physiotherapist Gledi Rexha Physiotherapist Edison Koçi Base materials Lusjos Sina

Balkan Youth Championship Balkan Youth Championship recordYearRoundPosition* 1976–1978Champions1st6321126 1981Champions1st220062Total2 Titles2/28521188

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shoot-out. **Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.

Honours Balkan Youth Championship Winners (2): 1978, 1981

Albania national under-21 football team

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