Albania – Norway Prediction & Picks (26.03.2018)

That Albania and Norway will not be present at the World Cup next summer should not be called a surprise. In the Elbasan Arena in Albania, however, these national teams will play a friendly international match on Monday-evening.

Albania:

The Albanian national football team is of course not a major player in country football. Nevertheless, the country is well on the road in recent years with the absolute highlight being participation in the previous European Championship. At the European championship two years ago, Albania was divided into a group with Switzerland, Romania and organizer France. The Eagles did not even get that bad with a victory over Romania, but France and Switzerland turned out to be too strong for Albania and so the first final tournament for Albania was already after three games.

However, the success of the Albanians in recent years also has to do with the Kosovan influence in the national selection. A few weeks before the 2016 European Championships, however, Kosovo was also admitted to UEFA and FIFA as a country, with the result that many Kosovo footballers now no longer play for Albania but for Kosovo. Perhaps the best example is Werder Bremen player Milot Rashica who has won two international matches for Albania, but now sings the national anthem of Kosovo.

By joining Kosovo, the selection of Albania has also become a lot less, but the question is whether that really had a lot of influence on the qualification series of Albania. In a group with Spain, Italy, Israel, Macedonia and Liechtenstein, Albania finished in a neat third place behind Spain and Italy. The selection that national coach Christian Panucci has called for the first international match of 2018 is home to few really well-known names. Elseid Hysaj is under contract with Napoli and plays regularly there. In addition, the name Taulant Xhaka might ring a bell, but that is mainly because his brother Granit Xhaka is under contract with Arsenal and is active as an international for Switzerland.

Norway:

Like Albania, Norway does not really have a big name in international football. The last time the Norwegians participated in a final tournament is already eighteen years ago, at the 2000 European Championship organized by the Netherlands and Belgium. The Norwegians then stranded in the group stage, but two years earlier at the World Championships in France they did a lot better with a place in the eighth finals. That is immediately the best performance of the Norwegian national football team at a final tournament and there will be no change this coming summer.

Norway was unable to qualify for the World Cup in Russia in a group including Germany, Northern Ireland and the Czech Republic. The team of national coach Lars Lagerbäck managed to keep Azerbaijan and San Marino under their control, but that is also the least expected of a country like Norway. Despite Lagerbäck not being able to place with Norway, the Swede is still national coach of the Scandinavian country, because Lagerbäck has not been doing so badly with Norway since his mid-term and has the objective that he should lead Norway to the next EC.

Australia’s Bert van Marwijk lost 4-1 to Norway last Friday. Ola Kamara was the big man in Norway with three hits and Tore Reginiussen also managed to hit Australia. A 4-1 victory over Australia in a friendly international match might not mean much, but Australia has been placed for the World Cup and took the game against the Norwegians seriously. With Fredrik Midtsjø and Björn Johnsen there were two players from the Eredivisie in base against Australia, Heerenveen player Martin Ødegaard came in as a substitute and Lagerbäck with players like Markus Henriksen and Jonas Svensson still have two players in his selection with experience in the Netherlands. The coach left after the duel of last Friday that he was disappointed in the number of spectators in the Ullevaal Stadium. There were about 6,000 spectators in the stands and Lagerbäck thought that was pretty little for a stadium that can accommodate 28,000 men. However, against Lagerbäck, Albania also does not have to expect cartloads of supporters, because in the Elbasan Arena only 12,000 spectators can stay and the question is how many Albanians are interested in a game of friendly football on Monday night.