Albania national futsal team

Albania
Nickname(s)Kuq e Zinjtë (The Red and Blacks)
Shqiponjat (The Eagles)
AssociationFederata Shqiptare e Futbollit (FSHF)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachErind Resuli
CaptainRoald Halimi
Most capsRoald Halimi (20)
Top scorerRoald Halimi (11)
FIFA codeALB
FIFA ranking80 Decrease 15 (4/2023)[1]
Home colours
Away colours
First international
Albania Albania 4 - 13 Greece Greece
(Braga, Portugal; 7 November 2003)
Biggest win
San Marino San Marino 0 - 11 Albania Albania
(Ciorescu, Moldova; 17 January 2015)
Biggest defeat
Portugal Portugal 18 - 6 Albania Albania
(Braga, Portugal; 8 November 2003)
FIFA World Cup
Appearances0
European Championship
Appearances0

The Albanian national futsal team represents Albania in international futsal competitions and is controlled by the Albanian Football Association. The team debuted in the 2005 UEFA Futsal Championship qualifiers. They won the first match 8–6 against England, and then they drew to Cyprus, but failed to qualify because of goal difference. In the 2007 UEFA Futsal Championship qualifiers, Albania performed badly, losing all of its matches and finishing last in its group. In the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifiers, Albania was drawn against Slovenia, Greece, and Malta. They ended up in second place, winning two matches and losing only one. In the end, Slovenia topped the group and advanced to the two-legged play-offs.

Competition history

FIFA Futsal World Cup

FIFA Futsal World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Pos Pld W D L GF GA Squad Year Pos Pld W D L GF GA
Chinese Taipei 2004 Did not qualify Chinese Taipei 2004[a] 3rd 2 0 0 2 10 31
Brazil 2008 Did not qualify Brazil 2008[b] 2nd 3 2 0 1 9 9
Thailand 2012 Did not qualify Thailand 2012[c] 2nd 3 1 1 1 7 8
Colombia 2016 Did not qualify Colombia 2016[d] 2nd 3 2 0 1 11 6
Lithuania 2020 Did not qualify Lithuania 2020[e] [f] 6 2 1 3 17 16
Uzbekistan 2024 Did not qualify Uzbekistan 2024 3 1 0 2 5 9
Total 0/6 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 5/5 17 7 2 8 54 70
Notes
  1. ^ Participated in Group 6 of the European Qualifying Tournament
  2. ^ Participated in Group 7 of the European Qualifying first round
  3. ^ Participated in Group D of the European Preliminary Round
  4. ^ Participated in Group C of the European Preliminary Round
  5. ^ Participated in Group C of the European Preliminary Round, finishing 2nd and qualifying for the main round
  6. ^ Participated in Group 5 of the European Main Round, finishing 4th

UEFA Futsal Championship

UEFA Futsal Championship record Qualification record
Year Round Pos Pld W D L GF GA Squad Year Pos Pld W D L GF GA
Czech Republic 2005 Did not qualify Czech Republic 2005[a] 2nd 2 1 1 0 9 7
Portugal 2007 Did not qualify Portugal 2007[b] 4th 3 0 0 3 8 16
Hungary 2010 Did not qualify Hungary 2010[c] 3rd 3 1 0 2 5 8
Croatia 2012 Did not qualify Croatia 2012[d] 2nd 3 2 0 1 11 17
Belgium 2014 Did not qualify Belgium 2014[e] 4th 3 0 0 3 6 17
Serbia 2016 Did not qualify Serbia 2016[f] 3rd 3 1 0 2 15 9
Slovenia 2018 Did not qualify Slovenia 2018[g] [h] 6 3 1 2 24 19
Netherlands 2022 Did not qualify Netherlands 2022[i] 9 3 0 6 35 24
LatviaLithuania 2026 To be determined LatviaLithuania 2026 To be determined
Total 0/9 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 8/9 26 10 2 14 86 96
Notes
  1. ^ Participated in Group B of the preliminary round
  2. ^ Participated in Group A of the preliminary round
  3. ^ Participated in Group C of the preliminary round
  4. ^ Participated in Group E of the preliminary round
  5. ^ Participated in Group F of the preliminary round
  6. ^ Participated in Group D of the preliminary round
  7. ^ Participated in Group D of the preliminary round, finishing 1st and qualifying for the main round
  8. ^ Participated in Group 2 of the main round, finishing 4th
  9. ^ Participated in Group D of the preliminary round, finishing 1st and qualifying for the Qualifying Group Stage finish 4th

Mediterranean Cup

Albania's only participation in a major tournament in futsal came at the 2010 Mediterranean Futsal Cup held in Libya.

In this tournament, the Albanians secured 11th place after a poor start in their group, losing all of their matches. They were able to beat Cyprus 3–4 despite being 3–0 down on the result in the Classification 9th–16th round. After a close loss to rivals Greece (1–2), they beat Algeria in their rematch for 11th place (1–3), securing their second and final win at this tournament. This represents Albania's last participation in a major or regional futsal tournament to date.

Mediterranean Cup Record
Year Round Pld W D* L GS GA DIF
Libya 2010 Classification 9th–16th 6 2 0 4 12 22 -10
Total 0/1 6 2 0 4 12 22 -10
*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Fixtures and results

2020

29 January 2020 Futsal Euro 2022 Q Albania  4–1  San Marino Varna, Bulgaria
17:30 EET Kaca Goal 4:20
Selmanaj Goal 18:3322:19
Rexhepaj Goal 31:06
Report Belloni Goal 12:48 Stadium: Palace of Culture and Sports
Referee: Petar Radojcic (Serbia) and
Yiangos Yiangou (Cyprus)
30 January 2020 Futsal Euro 2022 Q Andorra  1–0  Albania Varna, Bulgaria
17:30 EET Massana Valls Goal 29:59 Report Stadium: Palace of Culture and Sports
Referee: Grigori Ošomkov (Estonian) and
Petar Radojcic (Serbia)
1 February 2020 Futsal Euro 2022 Q Bulgaria  1–4  Albania Varna, Bulgaria
20:00 EET Stanković Goal 31:00 Report Halimi Goal 00:4738:38, Karaja Goal 15:43, Selmanaj Goal 26:04 Stadium: Palace of Culture and Sports
Referee: Stefan Vrijens (Belgium) and
Petar Radojcic (Serbia)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Futsal Euro 2022 qualifying.[2][a]
All caps and goals as of 1 February 2020 after match against  Bulgaria, only competitive matches are included.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club[a]
1 1GK Klodian Rrapi (1983-08-27) August 27, 1983 (age 41) Albania Tirana
12 1GK Cristiano da Silva (1989-02-17) February 17, 1989 (age 35) 6 0 Kosovo Prishtina Futsal

2 2DF Kemal Gashi (1986-08-09) August 9, 1986 (age 38) 0 0 Kosovo FC Liburn
3 2DF Narcis Alibegu (1990-04-09) April 9, 1990 (age 34) 0 0 Kosovo FC Liburn
4 2DF Rej Karaj (1997-07-07) July 7, 1997 (age 27) 0 0 Italy Elledì Carmagnola
8 2DF Azem Brahimi (1988-06-13) June 13, 1988 (age 36) 3 1 Kosovo Prishtina Futsal
13 2DF Ermir Kryeziu (1996-02-23) February 23, 1996 (age 28) 0 0 Kosovo FC Liburn
14 2DF Roald Halimi (1988-07-01) July 1, 1988 (age 36) 5 1 Italy Sporting Altamarca

5 4FW Duio (1990-11-15) November 15, 1990 (age 33) 3 0 Czech Republic Era-Pack Chrudim
6 4FW Almir Hasaj (1995-11-30) November 30, 1995 (age 28) 0 0 Italy Futsal Villorba
7 4FW Besnik Rexhepaj (1992-04-16) April 16, 1992 (age 32) 0 0 Italy Sporting Altamarca
9 4FW Endrit Kaca (1990-01-02) January 2, 1990 (age 34) 0 0 Albania Tirana
10 4FW Mentor Mejzini (1984-08-30) August 30, 1984 (age 40) 3 3 Kosovo FC Liburn
11 4FW Halim Selmanaj (1992-10-02) October 2, 1992 (age 32) 3 2 Kosovo FC Liburn
Notes
  1. ^
    Playing positions, dates of birth and clubs of players are according UEFA's website.

References