Albania national under-21 football team

Albania U21
Nickname(s)	Kuq e Zinjtë (The Red and Blacks); Shqiponjat (The Eagles); Shpresat e Shqipërisë (Albanian Expectations/Hopes)
Association	Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit (FSHF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Redi Jupi
Captain	Amir Rrahmani
Most caps	Amarildo Belisha (16)
Top scorer	Armando Sadiku (6)
Home stadium	Elbasan Arena; Loro Boriçi Stadium
FIFA code	ALB
First international
	Yugoslavia 1–0 Albania ; (Thessaloniki, Greece; 25 June 1976)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	1 (First in 1984)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 1984

The Albania national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Championship, which is held every two years.

History

Albania U-21 participated in the Balkan Youth Championships, which started in 1969 and ended in 1981 in 10 overall competitions, and won the two last, the 1978 and the 1981 ones with finals against Romania and Bulgaria. Notably in 1978 the second leg of the final match against Romania was characterized by a large Albania win (7–1), which is, until September 2014, the largest win ever recorded of Albania U-21.^[2]

1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

Albania Under-21's have managed to qualify only once in their history, and that came in the year of 1984 when they managed to qualify for the 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, although they were competing for the first time in such tournament. They were drawn in a very tough group which included the West Germany, Turkey and Austria. The historic event in Albanian football history is the only occasion where any Albanian national team has ever managed to qualify for a major European or even World championship. To this day the team that qualified for 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship are still regarded as the most successful team in Albanian football history. Albania U21 managed to qualify without losing a single game and managing two very good draws against one of the biggest and best footballing nations, West Germany.

Albania played the quarter finals against Italy, against which it lost twice 0–1, and 0–1, in Albania and Italy respectively. Italy advanced to the semifinals of Euro '84 and lost them against England, eventual champions of the tournament.

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 nd 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 leave last in groupe Iceland, but was preceded by Czechoslovakia, France and Spain. In the qualifiers of the 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Albania againe left at bottom the 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 goalscoarer of the group. Albania drew in Russia against the famous hosts during that tournament, a noticeable fact.

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification

Group stage

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	8	7	1	0	24	6	+18	22	Play-offs
2	Austria	8	5	1	2	15	12	+3	16
3	Hungary	8	3	0	5	12	13	−1	9
4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	8	2	0	6	10	22	−12	6
5	Albania	8	2	0	6	7	15	−8	6

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Group 4

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portugal	6	6	0	0	23	1	+22	18	Final tournament	—	4–0	2 Sep	2–0	6 Sep	4–0
2	Albania (X)	8	3	3	2	10	14	−4	12	Possible Play-offs	1–6	—	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–0
3	Israel	6	3	2	1	9	4	+5	11		0–3	10 Oct	—	3–0	6 Oct	6 Sep
4	Hungary (X)	7	2	2	3	11	10	+1	8		6 Oct	2–2	0–0	—	2–1	1 Sep
5	Greece	6	2	1	3	8	7	+1	7		0–4	2 Sep	0–1	10 Oct	—	5–0
6	Liechtenstein (E)	7	0	0	7	0	25	−25	0		11 Oct	0–2	0–4	0–6	0–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 28 March 2016. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated; (X) Cannot qualify directly as the top team, but may still qualify for the play-offs.

Players

Current Squad

The following players have been called up to for the double friendly matches against Czech Republic U21 on 20 & 23 May 2016.^[3]

Caps and goals as of 28 March 2016, 21:46 (UTC +1)

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Aldo Teqja	(1995-05-04) 4 May 1995 (age 28)	4	0	Anorthosis Famagusta
12	1GK	Elhan Kastrati	(1997-02-02) 2 February 1997 (age 27)	0	0	Pescara

4	2DF	Bruno Lulaj	(1995-04-02) 2 April 1995 (age 29)	8	0	Skënderbeu Korçë
5	2DF	Herdi Prenga	(1994-08-31) 31 August 1994 (age 29)	7	1	Lokomotiva Zagreb
3	2DF	Erion Hoxhallari	(1995-10-15) 15 October 1995 (age 28)	6	0	Tirana
2	2DF	Silvester Shkalla	(1995-08-10) 10 August 1995 (age 28)	0	0	Teuta Durrës
14	2DF	Esin Hakaj	(1996-12-06) 6 December 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Vllaznia Shkodër
19	2DF	Erdenis Gurishta	(1995-04-24) 24 April 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Vllaznia Shkodër
15	2DF	Ardit Toli	(1997-07-12) 12 July 1997 (age 26)	0	0	Olympiacos
17	2DF	Kostandin Kariqi	(1996-01-01) 1 January 1996 (age 28)	0	0	Trikala

7	3MF	Endri Çekiçi	(1996-11-23) 23 November 1996 (age 27)	7	1	Lokomotiva Zagreb
8	3MF	Qazim Laçi	(1996-01-19) 19 January 1996 (age 28)	7	1	Olympiacos
20	3MF	Jurgen Bardhi	(1997-11-06) 6 November 1997 (age 26)	2	0	Partizani Tirana
10	3MF	Myrto Uzuni	(1995-05-31) 31 May 1995 (age 28)	2	0	Apolonia Fier
6	3MF	Damian Gjini	(1995-04-06) 6 April 1995 (age 29)	1	0	Kallithea
16	3MF	Realdo Fili	(1996-05-14) 14 May 1996 (age 27)	1	0	Partizani Tirana
11	3MF	Eros Grezda	(1995-04-15) 15 April 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Lokomotiva Zagreb
13	3MF	Emiliano Hysi	(1997-07-12) 12 July 1997 (age 26)	0	0	Backenham Town

9	4FW	Fiorin Durmishaj	(1996-11-14) 14 November 1996 (age 27)	3	0	Kallithea
18	4FW	Isnik Alimi	(1994-02-02) 2 February 1994 (age 30)	1	0	Maceratese

Recent call-ups

Following players have been called up in the previous 12 months and are still eligible to represent Under 21 team.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Thomas Strakosha	(1995-03-19) 19 March 1995 (age 29)	10	0	Salernitana	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
GK	Alen Sherri	(1997-12-15) 15 December 1997 (age 26)	0	0	Vllaznia Shkodër	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
GK	Klevis Hasanbelli	(1997-06-30) 30 June 1997 (age 26)	0	0	Akademia Futbollit	v. Ukraine, 30 January 2016
GK	Gentian Selmani	(1998-03-09) 9 March 1998 (age 26)	0	0	Laçi	v. Portugal, 8 September 2015

DF	Amir Rrahmani	(1994-02-24) 24 February 1994 (age 30)	8	0	RNK Split	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
DF	Mërgim Vojvoda	(1995-02-01) 1 February 1995 (age 29)	7	0	FC Carl Zeiss Jena	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
DF	Muhamet Cakolli	(1997-04-08) 8 April 1997 (age 27)	0	0	SV Werder Bremen	v. Ukraine, 30 January 2016
DF	Kristi Marku	(1995-04-13) 13 April 1995 (age 29)	2	0	Budapest Honvéd	v. Portugal, 8 September 2015

MF	Enis Gavazaj	(1995-03-21) 21 March 1995 (age 29)	11	1	Roeselare	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
MF	Liridon Latifi	(1994-02-06) 6 February 1994 (age 30)	8	3	Skënderbeu Korçë	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
MF	Milot Rashica	(1996-06-28) 28 June 1996 (age 27)	6	1	Vitesse Arnhem	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
MF	Keidi Bare	(1997-08-28) 28 August 1997 (age 26)	4	0	Atletico Madrid	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
MF	Rron Broja	(1996-04-09) 9 April 1996 (age 28)	4	0	Gent	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
MF	Maldin Ymeraj	(1995-03-06) 6 March 1995 (age 29)	1	0	Akropolis	v. Ukraine, 30 January 2016
MF	Fjoart Jonuzi	(1996-07-09) 9 July 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Kukësi	v. Ukraine, 30 January 2016
MF	Jasir Asani	(1995-05-19) 19 May 1995 (age 28)	0	0	Vardar	v. Ukraine, 30 January 2016
MF	Federico Zenuni	(1997-01-19) 19 January 1997 (age 27)	0	0	Torino	v. Ukraine, 30 January 2016
MF	Berat Beqiri	(1996-06-03) 3 June 1996 (age 27)	0	0	København	v. Ukraine, 30 January 2016
MF	Engjell Hoti	(1997-02-26) 26 February 1997 (age 27)	0	0	Eintracht Braunschweig	v. Ukraine, 30 January 2016
MF	Xhuljo Tabaku	(1995-06-03) 3 June 1995 (age 28)	0	0	FC Köln	v. Ukraine, 30 January 2016
MF	Kristi Qose	(1995-06-10) 10 June 1995 (age 28)	4	0	Panserraikos	v. Liechtenstein, 16 November 2015
MF	Klodian Gino	(1994-02-13) 13 February 1994 (age 30)	7	0	Panargiakos	v. Hungary, 13 October 2015
MF	Ennur Totre	(1996-10-29) 29 October 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Shkëndija	v. Hungary, 13 October 2015
MF	Valon Ahmedi	(1994-10-07) 7 October 1994 (age 29)	1	0	Maribor	v. Portugal, 8 September 2015
MF	Dejvi Bregu	(1995-10-24) 24 October 1995 (age 28)	0	0	Flamurtari Vlorë	v. Portugal, 8 September 2015
MF	Klaudio Hyseni	(1994-07-15) 15 July 1994 (age 29)	2	0	Teuta Durrës	v. Sweden, 16 June 2015
MF	Ardit Krymi	(1996-05-02) 2 May 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Vllaznia Shkodër	v. Sweden, 16 June 2015
MF	Elvir Maloku	(1996-05-14) 14 May 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Hajduk Split	v. Kazakhstan, 8 June 2015

FW	Rey Manaj	(1997-02-24) 24 February 1997 (age 27)	5	3	Inter Milan	v. Hungary, 28 March 2016
FW	Albion Avdijaj	(1994-01-12) 12 January 1994 (age 30)	1	0	Vaduz	v. Portugal, 8 September 2015
FW	Esad Morina	(1997-01-17) 17 January 1997 (age 27)	0	0	Unattached	v. Sweden, 16 June 2015

|}

= Not called-up due to the injury.
^INJ = Withdrew due to the injury.

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff:^[4]

Position	Name
Head Coach	Redi Jupi
Assistant Coach	Vasillaq Zëri
Athletic Coach	Iris Selimi
Goalkeeping Coach	Gut Tafaj
Physiotherapists	Xhaferr Koçi

Competitive record

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship record								UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Qualification record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA	Position	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA
1978	Did Not Participate
1980
1982
1984	Quarter-finals	2	0	0	2	0	2	Qualifying stage 1/4	6	4	2	0	9	3
1986	Did not qualify							Qualifying Stage 3/3	4	1	0	3	3	7
1988								Qualifying Stage 4/4	6	0	2	4	4	10
1990								Qualifying Stage 4/4	6	0	1	5	1	8
1992								Qualifying Stage 4/5	7	1	2	4	3	13
1994								Qualifying round 4/5	8	1	2	5	5	18
1996	Did Not Participate
1998	Did not qualify							Qualifying round 4/5	8	1	1	6	6	19
2000								Qualifying round 6/6	10	1	4	5	8	21
2002								Qualifying round 5/5	8	1	1	6	3	19
2004								Qualifying round 3/5	8	3	1	4	10	10
2006								Qualifying round 6/7	12	2	3	7	9	27
2007								Qualifying round 3/3	2	0	1	1	0	3
2009								Qualifying round 4/6	10	3	3	4	10	13
2011								Qualifying round 4/5	8	1	1	6	11	20
2013								Qualifying round 5/5	8	1	2	5	11	18
2015								Qualifying round 5/5	8	2	0	6	7	15
2017	To Be Determined
Total: 1/20	Best: Quarter-finals	0	0	0	0	0	0	Total	119	22	26	71	101	229

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Honours

Balkan Youth Championship

Winners (2): 1978, 1981

References

External links

[1] Balkan Youth Championship 1976 RSSSF

[2] Balkan Youth Championship 1968–1981

[3] Kombëtarja U-21, dy ndeshje miqësore me Çekinë FSHF.org

[4] Kombëtarja U-21 (Albania national under-21 team) FSHF.org

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Albania National Football Team
General	History Head coaches
Venues	Elbasan Arena Qemal Stafa Stadium Loro Boriçi Stadium
Matches / Results	Results and Fixtures Albania v Yugoslavia (1946) Serbia v Albania (2014)
Players	List of Albania international footballers International footballers
Balkan Cup	Summary Final tournaments 1946 1947 1948
FIFA World Cup	Summary Final tournaments
UEFA Euro	Summary Final tournaments 2016
Other tournaments	2000 Rothmans International Tournament
Other Albania teams	Men Under-21 Under-20 Under-19 Under-17 Women Under-19

Albania national under-21 football team

Contents

History

1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

1986–1994

1996–2002

2004–2007

2009–2013

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification

Group stage

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Group 4

Players

Current Squad

Recent call-ups

Coaching staff

Competitive record

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

Honours

See also

References

External links

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