Qatar 2022 qualification: Albania-England –

After just one day, he immediately clashed at the top in group I of the European qualifiers in Qatar 2022. At the Air Albania Stadium in Tirana, Albania and England compete against each other, able to win in the inaugural match respectively against Andorra (1-0 away with goals di Lenjani) and San Marino (5-0). The group is completed by Hungary and Poland, on paper the most formidable opponent for England: only the first classified of each group will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the ten runners-up will play the play-offs together with the two best ranked Nations League teams. from third place down in their group. Three more qualifiers will come out of the play-offs: Albania has never played the World Cup in all its history, while England has been participating permanently in the competition since 1998 after skipping the previous edition.

THE MOMENT

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The national team coached by Edy Reja, an old acquaintance of Italian football, finished in first place in the Nations League group of League C completed by Belarus, Lithuania and Kazakhstan: 11 points in six days for Albania, which also considering the match against Andorra has won their last three official matches. England finished third in their League A Nations League grouping, behind Belgium and Denmark: in the last two official matches, against Iceland and San Marino, Southgate’s men have scored nine goals without conceding.

PREVIOUS

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Tomorrow, kick-off at 18, will be the fifth challenge between the two national teams, who have always faced each other in the World Cup qualifiers, as in this season: twice towards Italy ’90 and the same number before the 2002 World Cup. in Japan and South Korea. England have always won, both at home and away, and without ever suffering: the overall balance, as regards the goals scored, is 12-1 in favor of the English. Albania’s only goal was made by Altin Rraklli, in 3-1 in favor of England on March 28, 2001 in Tirana.