Seeking back-to-back victories in World Cup 2026 Qualifying Group K, Albania welcome Serbia to the Arena Kombetare in Tirana on Saturday night.

The hosts collected three points from a potential six in March, while the Serbians have not yet begun their preliminary campaign but are nevertheless being kept off the foot of the standings.

Match preview

After becoming the first victims of Thomas Tuchel’s new-look England side, a home clash with minnows Andorra was just what the doctor ordered for Albania, who saw off the Tricolours without breaking too much of a sweat on matchday two.

Former Barcelona product Rey Manaj was on target twice inside the opening 20 minutes, before Myrto Uzuni’s last-gasp header sealed a comprehensive 3-0 victory for the Red and Blacks, who are on the hunt for consecutive major tournament appearances after their short-lived Euro 2024 appearance.

Managed by ex-Barcelona and Arsenal left-back Sylvinho – who can also call on the wisdom of Premier League winner Pablo Zabaleta, one of his assistant coaches – Albania’s second-placed ranking in Group K would suffice for a playoff spot, although Qualifying is still in its embryonic stages.

However, with Andorra and Latvia both unfancied to challenge for the top two positions, Albania and Serbia could find themselves contesting a straight shootout for second place behind expected group winners England, as the Red and Blacks finally seek a maiden World Cup Finals appearance.

If something goes spectacularly wrong for England against Andorra on Saturday, the door will swing open for Sylvinho’s side to temporarily claim top spot in Group K, and four wins from their last five World Cup Qualifying games at home certainly stands the Albanians in good stead.

While Albania are already in the thick of their qualifying campaign, Serbia had a delayed start to their next World Cup cycle, having had to fight to retain their top-tier Nations League status in March.

By virtue of finishing third in their League A section, Dragan Stojkovic’s men contested a two-legged relegation/promotion playoff with League B hopefuls Austria, and a 1-1 stalemate on the road in the first encounter gave the Serbians the upper hand.

Three days down the line, second-half strikes from Nemanja Maksimovic and Dusan Vlahovic sealed a 3-1 aggregate victory for Serbia, seeing them stave off relegation to the second tier of the Nations League and also extend a positive unbeaten sequence.

The Eagles have now avoided defeat in each of their last four matches ahead of their trip to Tirana, where their quest to qualify for a third straight World Cup gets underway, although they have never been past the group stage of the planet’s top tournament as an independent nation.

The only official battle between Serbia and Albania in senior men’s football went the way of the Eagles – a 2-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win – where two injury-time strikes did the damage.

However, the teams’ inaugural meeting in October 2014 was abandoned in chaotic circumstances, as a drone carrying an Albania flag was flown over the Belgrade stadium, leading to scuffles between players and fans before the Albanians were awarded a 3-0 victory.

Albania World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:

Albania form (all competitions):

Serbia form (all competitions):

Team News

Albania boss Sylvinho is spoiled for choice on the attacking front for this month’s fixtures with Serbia and Latvia, as Chelsea’s Armando Broja is competing with Uzuni and Manaj for spots in the Brazilian’s 4-2-3-1 setup.

Broja’s lack of minutes towards the end of the campaign for Everton will work against him, although Manaj also missed Sivasspor’s last two games of the Turkish Super Lig season with a groin problem so will need to be managed carefully.

All three members of Albania’s leadership group are Italy-based – captain Berat Djimsiti (Atalanta BC), vice-captain Elseid Hysaj (Lazio) and third captain Ardian Ismajli (Empoli) – and Hysaj needs just five more caps to set a new all-time men’s appearance record; his current total of 89 is four fewer than Lorik Cana.

However, Serbia will have to make do without their armband-wearer this month, as captain and goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic was forced to withdraw from the selection due to a serious thigh injury, which he has now undergone surgery on.

As a result, Chelsea shot-stopper Djordje Petrovic should don the gloves on Saturday, where Stojkovic faces his usual attacking dilemma; start one of Vlahovic or Aleksandar Mitrovic or field both from the first whistle in a 3-5-2 shape.

If the latter plays, he will earn his 99^th cap for the national team and could become one of just five Serbian men to make 100 appearances for the country later this month – his next goal will also be his 60^th on the international circuit.

Albania possible starting lineup:

Strakosha; Hysaj, Djimsiti, Ajeti, Mitaj; Asllani, Bajrami; Uzuni, Laci, Hoxha; Manaj

Serbia possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Milenkovic, Pavlovic, Erakovic; Zivkovic, Gudelj, Maksimovic, S. Mitrovic; Samardzic; Vlahovic, Mitrovic

We say: Albania 0-1 Serbia

Despite the enviable attacking talent at his disposal, Serbia boss Stojkovic has struggled to always get the best out of a Vlahovic-Mitrovic system, and Saturday’s game does not have the look of a high-scoring affair.

However, the visitors’ intimidating backline should have no problem shutting out Albania’s attackers, and they may just need one strike of their own to get their qualifying campaign off to a flyer.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Ben Knapton

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