By Ervin Lisaku
TIRANA, Aug. 31 – Albania will play away to Denmark and at home to Portugal in early September in two key Euro 2016 qualifiers in its bid to secure a historic qualification in a major international football competition as the national side find themselves in a comfortable position in Group I.
With one game in hand, Albania currently rank third in Group I of France 2016 qualifiers on 10 points, level with second-placed Denmark and two points behind group leaders Portugal.
Armenia and Serbia have 1 point and -2 points respectively, meaning that with four game to go Albania has almost mathematically secured a spot in the play-offs in case of finishing third in the group and can also hope to qualify directly as the best third-placed side in the nine groups.
Albania will play away to Denmark on Friday, Sept. 4 for a second time in the Euro 2016 qualifiers after a 1-1 home draw last October which currently ranks Denmark second only thanks to an away goal although Albania have played one game less.
Albania remain unbeaten in their first four qualifiers including two friendlies with Euro 2016 hosts France, but the record with Denmark is negative with only one victory and two draws in nine senior international meetings.
Albania’s coach, Italian Gianni De Biasi, who has led Albania to unprecedented success in the past four years, has described the match against Denmark as a key qualifier, but not decisive for Albania’s qualification bid.
“This match is not decisive because fortunately we have ten points, level with Denmark but one game less. At the end of the qualifiers, when we play away to Armenia, Denmark will play against France [friendly] and can earn no points. If we collect enough points, we can achieve the qualification in the final match differently from Denmark which does not have that chance.”
“Currently we are mathematically in the play-offs and are in the race to qualify as the third-best placed team the same to Hungary,” said De Biasi in a video conference ahead of the qualifier.
Three days later, on September 7, Albania host group leaders Portugal whom they beat 1-0 in a surprise away victory in the opening qualifier in September 2014.
Albania’s qualifying campaign will close with a delicate home match against bottom Serbia on October 8 before travelling to Armenia three days later.
For the very first time Albania’s national football team has made it to the world’s top 30 following a surprise positive performance in its Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Albania climbed 14 places to a historic high of 22nd in the August FIFA Men’s ranking after Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport gave Albania a 3-0 victory in last October’s abandoned match away to Serbia in a final decision ending a legal battle which reversed a previous ruling by Europe’s football governing body. Albania had previously beaten Euro 2016 hosts France 1-0 in a home friendly.
The FIFA monthly ranking includes 208 football associations from all over the world.
Meanwhile, Albania will face a tough race in the 2018 Russia World Cup qualifiers after being drawn against four-time World Cup winners Italy and 2010 winners Spain in Group G.
