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President Duka: Qualifying for the play-offs is historic. England is difficult, but in football anything can happen

2025-11-15 14:27:00, Sport CNA

President Duka: Qualifying for the play-offs is historic. England is difficult,

The Albanian national team secured its first ever participation in the play-off phase of a World Cup. The 0-1 victory in the Andorran transfer was worth much more than three points. It sealed a safe place in the play-offs of the next World Cup. In an interview with Telegrafi, President Armand Duka expressed the emotions of this historic moment in Andorra and underlined the importance of this victory.

The head of the football government stated that the team's objective in these qualifiers was achieved, despite the difficulties, given that the group includes teams such as England, Serbia, Latvia and Andorra.

Among other things, President Duka praised the match against Serbia as one of the most beautiful of these qualifiers and spoke about tomorrow's challenge against England at "Air Albania", as well as the play-offs and possible opponents.

– Mr. Duka, Albania has qualified for the World Cup play-offs for the first time in history. What does this achievement mean to you personally and how did you experience the moment of the qualification logo?
– It was an important victory and we knew very well that it was difficult. Despite the belief we had in the victory, the boys were under pressure. To be honest, I was also under pressure as a team, until the moment Asllani scored the goal and then I believe that not only we there, but all Albanians everywhere calmed down. A special emotion, inexplicable in words. Every qualification, whether it was in the European finals before or this one now in the play-offs, always has its own emotions and each one is different from the other. Beautiful emotions. But qualifying for the World Cup play-offs is historic for us and I believe that we should all feel lucky to live in this era.

– When the draw was made and Albania ended up in a group with England and Serbia, did you expect that we would end this qualification in second place?
In fact, our objective was second place. We knew that we would have a very difficult time with England. Not impossible, because in football anything happens, but we knew that it would be difficult. We had really sensitive matches with Serbia, but we had direct confrontations with them. Just like Latvia and Andorra should be appreciated. Let's not forget the draw in Latvia because I have said and continue to say that there are no easy teams anymore. I believed it, because I have seen every preparation of the team and I have been in every training camp. I have seen the desire, the grit of the team to move forward and to believe in the dream that they have. We say that the World Cup is the dream of every Albanian, but in fact more than ours, it is the dream of these footballers who live with football.

– In all these qualifiers, which match do you single out as the best that Albania has played?
Without a doubt, I would rate the two matches with Serbia. The one at “Air Albania” on June 7 and the return match on October 11 where we won. I wouldn't want to separate them because I really saw a team that was eager to win, despite the draw in Tirana. But in general, except for the draw in Latvia that really left a bad taste in our mouths, all the matches of the national team in this campaign have been enjoyable.

– There is still one match left against England, with a win – Albania climbs to the second pot. Do you believe that the Red and Blacks can show the world another surprise since England has not only not dropped a point, but does not even know how to concede a goal?
To be honest, anything can be expected from this team. Not only from the team, but it is, let's say, a law of football that any result can happen since football is unpredictable. So I want to believe that why not, against England we can try to be the winners. Even if we accept that we are playing against the finalists of the last European Championship and one of the top 5 best teams in the world.

– Who would be the opponents you would like in the play-off semi-finals? A possible rematch with Italy in the play-off final?
I wouldn't single out one name, all the opponents are difficult. Even Andorra, which everyone thinks is an easy team, is actually not like that. There are no easy teams anymore. I just want to believe that this team will continue to surprise us as it always does. Italy? We have faced them before. We even scored the fastest goal in the European Championship with Nedim Bajrami, which is also a record goal in the history of a European Championship. Who knows, we might even face them. We will play our chances against any team.

– Finally, do you believe that this time Albania can realize its dream and secure the World Cup for the first time in history?
After qualifying for the World Cup play-offs, I believe that this team can do anything. But for now we should be happy with this result and the play-offs.