The Albanian national football team were founded in 1930 but didn’t play their first match until 1946 against Yugoslavia. The team registered their only major success in the same year with a Balkan Cup triumph over Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Their next competitive action was in 1964 as they attempted to qualify for the Euro Cup for the first time. Despite progressing past Greece due to their withdrawal, the team lost 4-1 to Denmark on aggregate in the following two legged match.
Albania 23/24 Kits
Albania Home Kits
2023 Albania Home Shirt
The Red and Blacks remained as such for their 2023 Macron home shirt. The outfit was predominantly red with black accents from the side trim, sleeve cuffs and collar. Using a tonal colour, the shirt presented an abstract front graphic, delivered in a geographic manner to depict the double-headed eagle. A red pinstripe near the edge of the cuffs and collar completed the look.
2021 Albania Home Shirt
The Albania 2021 home produced by Macron was a predominantly red shirt. The micro triangular graphic depiction of the Albanian eagle on the front side had varying degrees of tone, resulting in a pixelated effect. Both the sleeve cuffs and the round collar with a front slit had a rear black-front red split.
Albania Away Kits
2023 Albania Away Shirt
The black trims with red pinstripe offset border and the tonal two-headed eagle graphic were the details carried over from Albania’s red home shirt for the year towards their alternate strip. But for the away outfit, the main talking point was the base or predominant colour, which was white.
2021 Albania Away Shirt
The Albania 2021 away produced by Macron was a predominantly white shirt. The micro triangular graphic depiction of the Albanian eagle on the front side had varying degrees of grey tones, resulting in looking pixelated. Both the sleeve cuffs and the round collar with a front slit had a rear red-front white split.
Qualification for the 1966 World Cup and 1968 Euro Cup were both disappointing as the team failed to win a match. Political reasons saw Albania fail to take part in the 1970 and 1972 qualifying campaigns before the team finally returned to action in 1974 after six years in the wilderness. Even so, Albania were to miss a further six years of football from 1976 to 1982 due to further political reasons.
Further qualification campaigns from 1982 to 2002 saw the Albanians mainly finishing last in the groups. The Euro 2004 qualification group saw a marked improvement though as the team remained unbeaten at home throughout the campaign. Unfortunately, a total of zero points on the road stopped them from pushing into contention for the qualifying spots. The 2006 World Cup qualification group also saw some highlights for the team.
In particular, a 2-1 victory over Greece just two months after they had won Euro 2004 was a memorable moment. The 2008 and 2010 campaigns also saw some hard fought draws but a lack of victories has halted their progress somewhat.