The President of the Albanian Football Federation, Armand Duka, spoke ahead of the match against Andorra for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in an interview with journalist Alban Xhihani on TV Klan.
The head of Albanian football described tomorrow’s encounter as one of the most important of this edition, emphasizing that the team must be fully focused to secure three points and keep alive the hope of qualifying for the play-off stage.
FULL INTERVIEW:
The match against Andorra? – Every match for the National Team is important. All matches are worth three points, even though some carry emotions beyond football. For me, this is the most important match of this edition because it keeps our hopes alive to play the play-off matches in March. Of course, we also have one eye on England. But the team must be focused on doing its job and taking the three points in this stadium.
Have we played several matches here against Andorra? – In the first match, we lost at the old stadium 2-0 to Andorra; it was a friendly match. We won the official matches in Andorra in 2019 and 2021. But those were tough matches, not easy at all. At Elbasan Arena in November 2019, we drew while being down 1-2. It was not an easy match. Andorra today is stronger than before. They have a team that fights. England scored against them with difficulty: 0-1 here and 2-0 in England with an own goal. It remains a tough match, but I am very confident that our team understands the importance of the game. There is no room for complacency, only maximum effort to do the job.
In this qualifying edition, is there something to improve in mentality? – A deep analysis shows there are many reasons why we are not always at the same level. This is the difference between big teams and smaller ones, like us. If we played every match at the same level, then we would no longer be Albania. We would not be a team fighting for the play-off, but we would be England, who has secured first place. For me, Latvia is not a weak team. They play organized football and gave us a lot of trouble even in Tirana. But the result makes you forget things. We won 1-0, even though they could have drawn. Nevertheless, we are in Andorra to give our maximum and to continue hope for the World Cup. First and foremost, for the boys themselves, for the joy a World Cup can give them, and for all the fans who have supported and continue to support us, not only in the stadium stands but also through television, etc. Let’s hope we do our job, and I am confident we will not falter.
Andorra is filled with many Albanian fans – I think that we, as fans, in a way, have developed a sports culture and understand that there are no easy matches anymore. National Team supporters know this is not an easy game, but they know it must be won. That’s why they are present in the stadium stands: to support the team, to encourage it, to push it toward victory. I believe we are the country that feels the National Team the most. We really feel it and support it at every moment.
World Cup Play-off, possible opponents? – Of course, we have thought about plans, but we have focused our attention more on tomorrow here in Andorra. Let’s close the story here and not leave it to fight in Tirana. Let the match at Air Albania against England be a luxury match for us and for England.