Albania vs Belarus – News and Probable Lineups

Arena Kombetare is set to host Albania’s inaugural home fixture in the ongoing UEFA Nations League campaign against Belarus on Saturday evening.

Both teams are vying to top League C Group 3 – which also features Finland and San Marino – to secure direct promotion, or they could aim for second place to qualify for the promotion playoffs.

Match overview

Albania just fell short of achieving qualification for their first World Cup as an independent country this summer after losing 2-1 to Poland in the playoffs, relinquishing a one-goal advantage with under thirty minutes to go.

Sylvinho left his position as head coach in May, with Rolando Maran stepping in to bring a new challenge on the international circuit, having managed 11 different clubs in Italy over the course of 22 years.

However, Maran has yet to make a significant impact with Albania, suffering 1-0 losses in friendly matches against Israel and Luxembourg in June, extending their unfortunate losing streak to five games. This period has followed a five-match winning streak from September to November 2025.

Currently ranked 67th in the FIFA world rankings, Albania was relegated from League B in the last iteration of the Nations League, finishing at the bottom of their group despite gathering seven points across six games against the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Georgia.

The Red and Blacks have not faced six consecutive defeats since 1997, yet they remain undefeated in their last four meetings against Belarus (W3 D1), which includes victories both home and away during the 2020-21 Nations League.

Conversely, Belarus is on a six-match unbeaten run across all competitions (W3 D3) and has not tasted defeat under new head coach Viktor Goncharenko, who took over from Carlos Alos in January.

Before a 2-2 draw with Burkina Faso in their most recent game in June, Belarus secured three consecutive friendly wins over Cyprus (1-0), Armenia (2-1), and Syria (4-1).

Currently 96th in the world standings according to FIFA, Belarus has never qualified for a World Cup or European Championship. They narrowly missed out on a spot in the Nations League promotion playoffs during the 2024-25 campaign, finishing just two points behind Bulgaria in second place.

The White Wings will travel to Tirana on Saturday looking to achieve their first away victory against Albania since November 2007, when they defeated the Red and Blacks 4-2 in a European Championship qualifier.