The history of the Albania national football team dates from the team's formation and first ever international match in 1946.
History 1930–45: Founding and early years Although it never played any matches, the Albania national football team existed before the Albanian Football Association (FSHF) was created in 1930. This is evinced by the registration of the Albanian team in the 1929–31 Balkan Cup a year before the creation of the FSHF. The FSHF was founded on 6 June 1930, and two years later, Albania joined FIFA. It was in 1946 that Albania hosted its first international match, against Yugoslavia. In 1954, Albania was one of the founding members of UEFA.
1946: Champion of the Balkans
The early years saw a notably successful Balkan Cup run in 1946. Albania won their group over favourites Yugoslavia by earning a better goal difference. After defeating Bulgaria 3–1 in the semifinal, Albania won the tournament by defeating Romania 1–0 in the final. Albania initially wasn't expected to participate in the tournament, but the withdrawal of Greece offered Albania a chance to join in the re-established post-war cup.
1958–68: Among the Top 16 Teams on the Continent
Albania did not participate in qualifiers for the 1960 European Nations' Cup. Four years later, Albania competed in 1964 European Nations' Cup qualification for the first time, earning forfeit victories against Greece in the opening ties, earning them a place in the Round of 16. Albania drew Denmark in the next round, losing 4–0 in the first leg and winning the second leg 1–0 thanks to an early goal from Panajot Pano despite that, ending their cup run with a 4–1 aggregate defeat. At the end of the tournament Albania ranked 9th in Europe for the first and only time in its history. Also Winning three Matches in their debut campaign.
Albania took part in the qualifiers for the 1966 World Cup in England, with Northern Ireland, Netherlands and Switzerland drawn in their group. Albania's only point in the group came from a 1–1 home draw to Northern Ireland in Tirana, which denied Northern Ireland a place in the Finals.
In UEFA Euro 1968 qualification, Albania had a 0–0 home draw with West Germany that denied the Germans participation in the final tournament.
1964–72 Albania participating in Football at the Summer Olympics qualifying tournaments
Albania participated in Olympic qualifying for the first time in 1964. The Albanians faced Bulgaria in the opening round, losing both matches 1–0 and failing to qualify for the next round. It wasn't until the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich that Albania made another attempt to qualify. Facing Romania in the opening round, they lost both legs 2–1, despite goals from Medin Zhega and Panajot Pano, respectively.
1980–84: Return to competitions and nearly Qualified for the World Cup in Mexico in 1986
After six years of virtually no international matches, Albania managed to return to international football, participating in the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification. In Group 1, Albania managed to end above last place, which Finland got instead. They only win came in September 1980 against Finland thanks to the goals of Sefedin Braho and Millan Baçi.
In the 1984 European Championship qualifiers, Albania finished in last place in their group of five teams. In 8 matches, Albania got 2 points, with 2 draws, 6 losses, and no wins. On the other hand, Albania had some impressive results against bigger teams. They lost 0–1 away to Turkey with the goal being scored in the 86th minute. 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. The last game of the competition was an away game to Germany. After 22 minutes, Albania led 0–1 with a goal by Genc Tomorri. However, they were tied one minute later, and after Genc Tomorri was sent off by the referee after a simulation of Rudi Völler, Albania had to play one man down for 60 minutes. Eventually Albania lost 2–1 with the last goal being scored in the 79th minute.Ndeshjet e pashlyeshme që çuan te "Drama e Trier-it"… Panorama Sport
In the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification Albania would face in this qualification Belgium, Poland and their rivals Greece. In the first match they faced Belgium in Brussels. The Albanians lost with 3-1 despite the equalizer from Bedri Omuri in the 71st minute. Albania would face away from home against Poland in the Stadion Stali Mielec. They drew the result through goals from Bedri Omuri and even the leading goal from Agustin Kola with 2-1 but at the end Poland scored again. Albania missing out on their first win, in this qualification. After that Albania famously beat Belgium at home with 2–0 in the Qemal Stafa Stadium. The goals were scored by Mirel Josa and Arben Minga securing Albania their first and only win in this qualification. As Albania loss their next two games against Greece away with 2-0 and against Poland at home close with 0–1. Missing out close to qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. In their last match they faced Greece at home 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. At the end playing a 1–1 draw. Despite finishing their campaign with four points in the third place. Albania came close to qualify as they nearly beat every opponent in this Group. It was their most successful FIFA World Cup qualification in the history of Albania.
1991–99: Transition years
Albania managed to get impressive results against Germany during this campaign with Germany winning both matches only by 2–1 and the winner coming only in the last minutes. Albania finished in last place with 2 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses having worse head-to-head results against Wales. However, Albania beat (Moldova) away in an international qualifying tournament for the first time.
In the 1998 World Cup, Albania was drawn in a 6-team group which included Germany, Portugal, Ukraine, Northern Ireland and Armenia, Albania finished last with 4 points, but showed some respective results against the bigger teams. Their two matches with Germany saw them lose 2–3 at neutral ground and 3–4 in Hannover, taking the lead in both games. Albania got a 1–0 win against Northern Ireland and a 1–1 tie against Armenia.
In a relatively easy group, Albania only won once at home against Georgia. However, they memorably drew Greece 0–0 at home, Norway 2–2 and Latvia 0–0 (both away). Albania also drew Latvia 3–3 at home. All the other matches were narrowly lost.
2000–05: Failed qualifying campaigns
After a loss to Finland, Albania won over Greece 2–0 with an own goal and a late goal of Ervin Fakaj. However, after that win, another 6 losses followed for Albania, which brought the Albanian Football Federation to think about hiring a foreign coach, 33 years after the last foreign coach, Luznikov, had led Albania in a Moscow tournament in 1959.
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 to replace him with German Hans-Peter Briegel for the following match against Russia in the Loro Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër. In which the Albanians won deservedly with 3-1 through goals from Altin Rraklli, Altin Lala and Igli Tare to secure Hans-Peter Briegel in his debut match, as a manager his maiden win for Albania. He led Albania to an undefeated run at home matches by drawing against Republic of Ireland 0–0 and beating in the last match Georgia 3–1 by goals from Besnik Hasi, Igli Tare and striker Alban Bushi. Despite the good results, Albania finished the group in the penultimate spot with eight points. Away Albania couldn't score any points, but managed to score 4 goals. Missing close out to the Playoffs stage by six points.
Two months after Greece beat Portugal to win the European Championship, Albania defeated Greece 2–1 at home by two quick goals from Edvin Murati and Adrian Aliaj, denting the Greeks' possibility to qualify. As the Albanians leading for the table for the first time in a qualification after this match. 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. Then, Albania played Ukraine, Turkey, and Greece, losing all three matches. Later Albania beat Georgia 3–2 by two goals from Igli Tare and one from Ervin Skela as well as beating Kazakhstan with 2–1 by goals from Florian Myrtaj and striker Erjon Bogdani. The last positive result for Albania in this qualification would be a 2–2 away draw with Ukraine where Bogdani scoring two surprising goals. At the end, Albania got 13 points, and four wins in their best result then. They surpassed for the first time in the history two nation's in the qualifying standings.
2006–10: Disappointing results under Barić and Haan
In the matches for the 2008 European qualifiers campaign, Albania have managed very good results as well as good team play in some matches compared to previous times. They started with a 2–2 away draw to Belarus, two wins against Luxembourg home and away (2–0, 3–0) and a 0–0 draw away to Bulgaria. They had two good matches against the Netherlands in both legs, although controversial refereeing Disallowed Albanian goal, versus the Netherlands, Euro 2008 qualifier: ESPNsoccernet website. Retrieved on 14 September 2007.Albanian Football Federation , files official complaint with UEFA regarding Netherlands game: Albania soccer website. Retrieved on 16 September 2007. caused the matches to end up in two losses (2–1, 0–1). Other setbacks included a 0–0 draw against Slovenia and a 0–2 loss to Romania, both at home. 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. After going ahead, they conceded in the dying minutes and later missed a penalty. In the last match at home, Albania was hugely disappointing, losing 2–4 against Belarus. 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.
In December 2007, Football Association of Albania's president, Armand Duka, announced Arie Haan would replace Croatian-Austrian Otto Barić as Albania's head coach. Haan signed a two-year contract on 4 January 2008. On 14 March 2008, Albania was suspended from international football (FIFA and UEFA), due to heavy political interference in the Football Association. The suspension lasted 46 days.