The Albania–Serbia football rivalry, is a sports rivalry that exists between the national football teams of the two countries, as well as their respective sets of fans. The rivalry is considered to be one of the most bitter in the world owing to the events that took place relatively recently during the

Kosovo war The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. Tense relations between the two nations are thus fueled by political and historical differences. The teams have had only two matches, with both

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

having one win. The first match took place between the two respective nations on 14 October 2014, which was awarded a 3–0 victory to Albania.

History

21st century

At the UEFA Euro 2016 qualification game, the first association football match between

and

took place on 14 October 2014, at Partizan Stadium in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. At the beginning of the match, the Serbian crowd chanted "Ubij, ubij Šiptara" (''Kill, kill the Albanian''). Chants like "Kill the Serb", "Kill the Croat", and "Kill the Albanian” became part of the Balkan football folklore in stadiums across the region after

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

rose after wars between the countries. Afterwards, a drone quadcopter carrying the map of Greater Albania appeared on the pitch. After Serbian player Stefan Mitrović tried to grab the flag, Albanian players attacked him. This led to a scuffle between the two sides. After the riot broke out,

Branislav Ivanović Branislav Ivanović ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Ивановић, ; born 22 February 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer. A versatile defender, Ivanović played as a right back, although he can also play as a centre back. Ivanovi ...

said that the players shielded the Albanian players while they were going back to the tunnel. The match was abandoned at 0–0 after the fans invaded the pitch. FIFA's president condemned the behavior and punished both football associations. On 10 July 2015, the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

(CAS), awarded a 3–0 victory to Albania. On 8 October the same year, the second match between the nations took place at the

Elbasan Arena Elbasan Arena ( sq, Elbasan Arena, formerly known as Ruzhdi Bizhuta) is a multi-purpose stadium in Elbasan, Albania. The stadium was completed in 1967 and has been the home ground of KF Elbasani ever since. The stadium was under reconstruction a ...

in Albania. The Serbian football team's bus was attacked by Albanian protesters with stones. A few hours before the kickoff, the Albanian police carried out riots, firing water cannon bursts as a helicopter buzzed over nearby buildings. The match ended with Serbia defeating Albania by 2–0 score. The second match was mostly free of tensions because heavy security and other measures were imposed to guard against incidents. The only sign of the intense rivalry was the loud booing by Albanian fans during the Serbian national anthem. Since this match, Albania and Serbia have not played a football game due to tensions.

Overall and matches

Overall

Matches

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albania-Serbia football rivalry International association football rivalries

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Albania national football team rivalries Serbia national football team rivalries