2018 World Cup qualification, Albania had been thrown into a tough group composing Spain and Italy. Albania, despite its passionate play, failed to reach the World Cup, falling to both Italy and Spain as well as a shocking 0–3 loss to Israel at home. During this era, their successful manager, Gianni De Biasi, resigned and Christian Panucci, another Italian, replaced him as coach of Albania. However, thing got little improved. Albania played poorly in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, winning only to Israel 1–0 and lost the remaining three, especially the devastating 0–4 defeat to Scotland at home. Panucci would be sacked after a 0–2 defeat to Turkey in the opening campaign for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying. Another Italian, Edoardo Reja, was appointed to help Albania to improve in a tough group, but improvement is still very little. The Albanian side continued to slump, suffering a 0–1 loss away to Iceland before managed to gain its second win against Moldova 2–0. Reja would lead Albania in their encounter against world champions France in Paris, where the Albanians suffered a devastating 1–4 loss, the match was also marred with controversy after Andorran anthem was mistakenly played instead of Albanian one. After the defeat, Albania managed one of its biggest feat in their qualification, beating 2018 World Cup participant Iceland 4–2 at home soil to keep the team on track. Despite this outcome, Albania's trip to Turkey became a nightmare, when the Albanians, despite its passionate display, lost 0–1 in final minutes because of defensive mistake, thus losing every chance to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2020. In the next match, Albania won comfortably 4–0 versus Moldova at Zimbru Stadium, achieving the fourth win in group; by doing so, Albania set two records: it was the biggest away win in competitive matches and the first time in history that Albania has scored three goals in the first half in competitive matches and second time overall, though it was not enough to prevent Albania from elimination. References External links Albania Football Association official profile Albania national team profile at UEFA.com Albania national football teams Albania