Faroe Islands vs Albania

Torshavn’s Tórsvøllur is the venue as Faroe Islands take on Albania in a ‘make or break’ Euro 2024 qualifying match-up.

With less than a year remaining on his contract as Faroe Islands manager, Håkan Ericson is under pressure to demonstrate his capability to lead the team forward. Despite achieving notable results earlier in his tenure, such as their survival in UEFA Nations League C last year, the team’s performance has declined recently. They have gone five games without a victory (D2, L3), with their latest defeat being a 3-0 loss at home in the European Championship qualifying match against the Czech Republic. This defeat has placed them at the bottom of Group E, rendering this upcoming clash a ‘must-win’ duel. However, the hosts won’t shy away from the task, especially at home, where they’ve been victorious in three of their last five outings (L2), winning each contest by a single-goal margin.

On the other hand, in their pursuit to compete with the Czech Republic and Poland for the two available spots in Euro 2024 from Group E, Albania fulfilled expectations by securing a comfortable 2-0 victory at home against Moldova over the weekend. The newly appointed manager, Sylvinho, expressed his nervousness ahead of his touchline debut, yet he passed it with flying colors. After their recent victory, the Albanians aim to continue their momentum and break a four-game winless streak in away matches (D1, L3) as they face the Faroe Islands for the first time. Historically, the ‘Red and Blacks’ have only lost to one of the ten lowest-ranked European nations according to FIFA’s current world rankings, going down to Lithuania.