Today, just now, Albania scored in the 90th minute + 5 to force a 2-2 draw against "favourites" Croatia, in Group B of the UEFA European Championship. Laci put Albania ahead in 11 minutes; the lead lasted into the second half. Kramaric's made it 1-1 by 74 minutes and Gjasula own goal put the Croatians ahead two minutes later. In Gjasula helped his team recover in the final minutes with an equaliser in 90 mins + 5!! Exciting....
On June 6, 1930, the government of King Zog issued a royal decree recognizing the establishment of the Albanian Sports Federation. The newly formed sports entity would join the world governing body, FIFA during the June Congress of 1932, officially marking Albania’s participation in international football. A revised order was issued in March of 1934, to dissolve the Federation, transferring its authority to the heads of the national entity "Vllaznija Shqiptare" (est.1928), which oversaw various sports activities at the time. The federation was one of the founding members of UEFA in 1954.
On 14 March 2008, FSHF were suspended by FIFA for "heavy political interference." This meant that their national teams were banned from playing official matches, representatives banned from official events, and referees unable to officiate FIFA-sanctioned matches. The ban was subsequently lifted as the political interferences were clarified, and on 27 May 2008, Albania played a friendly against Poland.
The current president of FSHF, Armand Duka, has been at this position since 2002 and won the elections for a third term in 2010.
During the 2009 controversy between FSHF and the Albanian government as to the property of the Qelma Stafa Stadium. UEFA insisted in lobbying that the stadium be given to FSHF ownership so that investments on it can be made. In February 2011 it was decided that the new stadium, which will replace the current one and will cost 60M Euro, will be 75% of FSHF and 25% of the Albanian government.
Although it never played any matches, the Albania national football team existed before the Albanian Football Federation was created on 6 June 1930. Albania joined FIFA during a congress held between 12 and 16 June. Albania was invited to play in the 1934 World Cup, but did not take part due to logistical problems. Albania played its first international match against Yugoslavia in 1946, which ended in a 3–2 home defeat. In 1946, Albania also participated for the first time in the Balkan Cup, in which Albania won by beating Romania 1–0 in the final. In 1954, Albania was one of the founding members of UEFA. Albania waited until 1962 to compete in a Euro Cup competition, and the reason being Albania got past the first leg against Greece, for political reasons forfeited the game. At the end of the tournament Albania ranked 9th in Europe. Albania participated at the 1964 Summer Olympics and closely lost both matches against Bulgaria in the preliminary round. They would participate for the second and last time at the 1962 Summer Olympics, in which they faced Romania at the European qualifiers in the playoffs. Albania would lose both matches narrowly, 2–1 in the first leg and at home in the second leg.
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Albania participated for the first time in a qualifying phase of the World Cup in 1966. The team played in the Group 5, finishing in the last position with only one point from six matches. In the UEFA qualifiers 1968, Albania drew 0–0 against West Germany, denying the Germans a chance to participate in the finals. Albania did not participate in later UEFA tournaments, for "unknown" political reasons.
After six years without playing any international matches, Albania entered the 1982 World Cup, managing to finish second-to-last in the qualifying stages. For qualifying for the World Cup four years later, Albania beat Belgium in Tirana 2–0 as well as drawing Poland in Mielec 2–2.
On 17 November 2023, Albania qualified for UEFA 2024, their second major tournament. They were drawn in Group B, which is considered the "group of death" by many fans, containing three-time Euro winners Spain, two-time Euro winners and defending champions Italy, as well as Croatia, which came third in the 2022 World Cup competition. SEE ABOVE!!
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