Who will lead Albania in the "play off"? Armand Duka reveals Silvinjo's future

2025-11-16 13:40:00, Sport CNA

Who will lead Albania in the "play off"? Armand Duka reveals

The President of the Albanian Football Federation, Armand Duka, spoke on the eve of the Albania-England match, which will be played at the "Air Albania" stadium.

The head of the Albanian Football Association commented on the chances of Albania and Kosovo facing each other in the play-off round of the 2026 World Cup.

"England is a strong opponent. It is a team that has won all the group matches, has not conceded a single goal, comes as the leader of our group. It is to be respected to the maximum, but in any case our team knows how to do well against other teams, although against England we have never done well and I hope we will because the pressure is almost non-existent, since both teams have secured or have received what was expected from the group, first place and second place.

But let's do it as well as possible to please the spectators and why not to make a historic result. Those who will get the most pleasure if we go to the World Cup are the footballers, and they should play for their own pleasure. They have made us proud with what they have achieved, with their participation in the play-offs, with the victory against Serbia, with a positive performance throughout the qualifiers and throughout 2025. Let's try to avoid the great pressure of 'World Cup qualification' and enjoy the play-offs to get the most out of them, enjoying them in the best professional way.

The only thing, the only wish I have, is that we don't have Kosovo in front of us, because it would be a real disaster for us, for Kosovo, to be forced to challenge each other. I would really like us to continue in parallel to realize our dream of the World Cup without clashing at any moment. I hope and wish very much that it doesn't happen for the reason I said, that we and Kosovo continue, but if it does happen, we will think about it the moment it happens," he said.

The Duke also had some advice for Armando Broja. The President of the Albanian Federation also has dilemmas about the future of coach Silvinjo, on the bench of the red and black national team.

"Clearly he was not satisfied with himself, he claims more and more of himself because he knows his ability, he knows the qualities he has, he can do much better. In the same way that all of us who love Broja and the national team. We know that he is a footballer with special abilities, but football knows these, not only in Broja, but in all the stars of the world. There are oscillations, there are matches where you may not be at your best, but he remains a very talented footballer, with a lot of potential and I am very sure that we will help the Albanian national team a lot.

"Undoubtedly, Silvinjo and his staff will continue, because we have the play-off matches and we can't touch anything until the play-offs. And let's see how the play-off matches go to decide further," Duka told Klan News.