On Tuesday, Albania will compete against Iceland in the UEFA Nations League as a member of Group F.
After Israel’s victory against Albania on Saturday in Tel Aviv by a score of 2-1, Israel was officially promoted to League A, making this match meaningless.
Our Match Preview: Albania vs Iceland
Despite the long odds, Albania still wanted to play in the top division of the Nations League, thus they traveled to Tel Aviv knowing that only a victory would do.
Shon Weissman scored less than a minute into the second half to break a scoreless tie, but Myrto Uzuni seemed to have salvaged a draw for the visitors with two minutes remaining.
Israel, however, was not intimidated in their pursuit of promotion, and Tai Baribo scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time to erupt the Bloomfield Stadium crowd. With Russia already condemned for their military invasion of Ukraine, Albania has nothing to lose by beating Iceland and finishing second in the group.
Barb’s goal likely left Iceland even more disappointed than the Albanians, since it dashed their hopes of passing Israel and taking first place in Group F.
Amar Vidarsson’s squad, who were relegated from League The last time out without registering a single point, would have been able to make an immediate return to the top tier with a win in Tirana had the score remained 1-1.
No matter what happens on Tuesday, they will be playing in League B again, which may be a better level for a country that has constantly punched above its weight despite having a population of less than 400,000.
They won a friendly match against Venezuela 1-0 in Austria on Thursday, giving them confidence that they can avoid a loss against Albania and keep their current position in the group.
Our Team News: Albania vs Iceland
Due to injuries, Albania is missing Endri Cekici and Keidi Bare, which has left Edoardo Reja’s side with a bit of a hole to fill in the center midfield position.
Following his goal-scoring performance off the bench against Israel, the 76-year-old might give Uzuni a starting role in the attacking third.
As a result of having an added two days to heal in comparison to their opponents, Iceland can use the same starting eleven that they used in their victory against Venezuela on Thursday.
As a result of this, Aron Gunnarsson, the captain of Iceland’s national team, will most certainly earn his 99th cap on his way to reaching 100 total appearances for Iceland.
- Albania’s possible starting lineup: Strakosha, Balliu, Ismajli, Ajeti, Hysaj, Gjasula, Abrashi, Asllani, Laci, Uzuni, Broja.
- Iceland’s possible starting lineup: Runarsson, Palsson, Bjarnason, Magnusson, Olafsson, Sigurdsson, Porsteinsson, Haraldsson, Gunnarsson, Poroarson, Finnbogason.
Our Prediction: Albania 1-1 Iceland
Since the beginning of the current Nations League season, all three of Iceland’s matches have ended in a tie for them, and the streak may continue on Tuesday.
Since neither team has anything to play for, they could be satisfied with just avoiding loss as their goal.
