Italy had beaten Albania home and away in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers: the team coached by Giampiero Ventura had won 2-0 in Palermo on 24 March 2017 thanks to goals from Daniele De Rossi (12′ pen .) and Ciro Immobile (71′).
Albania – with former Italy defender, Christian Panucci, on the bench in place of Gianni De Biasi – lost 1-0 in Scutari on 9 October of the same year, with Antonio Candreva (in his 50th appearance for the national team) scorer of the only goal of the match 17 minutes from time.
It took a late goal to resolve the first match, in Genoa on 18 November 2014, in Italy’s favour. Coming on during the match, Stefano Okaka scored the only goal of the match for Antonio Conte’s Azzurri eight minutes from time at the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris.
The Azzurri have been European champions on two occasions: in 1968 and again at EURO 2020. They also finished second in 2000 and 2012.
This is Italy’s eleventh participation in the EURO and the eighth in a row. The last failure to qualify dates back to 1992. On the other hand, they have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups.
At EURO 2020, the team coached by Mancini won all three matches in Group A, finishing the group composed of Wales, Switzerland and Turkey with a five-point advantage, before beating both Austria, after extra time, and Belgium 2-1 in the round of 16 and quarterfinals respectively.
In the semi-final the Azzurri beat Spain 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation and extra time, while in the final played at Wembley they won 3-2 on penalties after overcoming a one-goal deficit scored by the English after just three minutes.
Italy began their EURO 2024 qualifiers with Mancini on the bench and concluded them under the guidance of Luciano Spalletti, who took over on 1 September 2023 following Mancini’s departure in August.
In EURO qualifying, Italy finished second in Group C, losing home (1-2) and away (1-3) to England, but booking their place in the finals with a draw 0-0 against Ukraine on the last day of the qualifiers, a result sufficient to go through based on head-to-head matches after both had finished with 14 points, six less than England.
Italy has already played twice at the BVB Stadion Dortmund, both against Germany. The most significant match was the first, with goals from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero at the end of extra time, when Italy won the 2006 World Cup semi-final 2-0; the Azzurri also drew 1-1 in Dortmund in a friendly in February 2011.
This is Albania’s second overall qualification for the EURO finals (both having reached the last three tournaments).
In their EURO finals debut in 2016, the Albanians lost 1-0 to Switzerland and 2-0 to hosts France, before a 1-0 win against Romania on matchday three, with Armando Sadiku who scored the only goal in Lyon. Gianni De Biasi’s team therefore finished third in Group A, exiting in the group stage.
Albania finished fourth in their EURO 2020 qualifying group, finishing with 13 points, behind France (25 points), Turkey (23) and Iceland (19).
With Sylvinho replacing Edoardo Reja as manager on 1 January 2023, Albania began their EURO 2024 qualifying campaign with a 1-0 defeat in Poland, but have since remained unbeaten (W4 D3) finishing in top of Group E with 15 points. Their place in the finals was sealed with a 1-1 draw in Moldova on the penultimate matchday.
The defeat against Poland in the first match of 2023 was the only one last year (W5 D3).
Albania’s only match at the BVB Stadion in Dortmund was an 8–0 defeat against West Germany in a 1982 World Cup qualifier in November 1981.
Connections and curiosities
Kristjan Asllani (Empoli 2012–22, Inter 2022–)
Etrit Berisha (Lazio 2013–16, Atalanta 2016–19, SPAL 2019–21, Turin 2021–23, Empoli 2023–)
Elhan Kastrati (Pescara 2014–20, Piacenza 2016 loan, Trapani 2020 loan, Cittadella 2020–)
Elseid Hysaj (Empoli 2009–16, Napoli 2015–21, Lazio 2021–)
Berat Djimsiti (Atalanta 2016–, Avellino 2016/17 loan, Benevento 2017/18 loan)
Ardian Ismajli (Spezia 2020/21, Empoli 2021–)
Nedim Bajrami (Empoli 2019–23, Sassuolo 2023–)
Ylber Ramadani (Lecce 2023–)
Thomas Strakosha (Lazio 2015–22, Salernitana 2015/16 loan)
Asllani is a teammate at Inter of the Italians Darmian, Bastoni, Barella, Frattesi and Dimarco.
Hysaj is Zaccagni’s teammate at Lazio.
Scamacca and Djimsiti play together for Atalanta.
Hysaj was part of the Napoli team that won the Italian Cup in 2019/20, coming on as a mid-match substitute in the final against Juventus.
Albania coach Sylvinho was part of Inter’s coaching staff from 2014 to 2016.
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