Albania men's national basketball team

Albania

FIBA ranking	106 1 (7 December 2021)[1]
Joined FIBA	1947
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	FSHB
Coach	Afrim Bilali
Nickname(s)	Kuq e Zinjtë (The Red and Blacks) Shqiponjat (The Eagles)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	2 (first in 1947)
Medals	None
Home Away
First international
Italy 60–15 Albania  (Prague, Czechoslovakia; 27 April 1947)
Biggest win
Albania 112–77 Iceland  (Wolfenbüttel, West Germany; 15 May 1975)
Biggest defeat
Belgium 114–11 Albania  (Prague, Czechoslovakia; 28 April 1947)

The Albania men's national basketball team (Albanian: Kombëtarja e basketbollit të Shqipërisë) represents Albania in international basketball competitions. The national team is governed by the Albanian Basketball Association.

Albania has competed at the EuroBasket twice throughout their history, in 1947 and 1957. While the team has appeared on the continental level in the past, Albania still looks to obtain qualification to reach the FIBA World Cup.

History[]

20th century[]

Basketball was introduced in Albania in the early 20th century, and it became popular in the 1920s following the end of World War I as sports societies and clubs were being formed all over the country, and basketball was soon introduced to the major towns and cities in Albania. Basketball was played informally by teams representing different sports clubs, and it wasn't until September 1945 that a National Basketball Committee was formed that would be responsible for dealing with the issues basketball teams in the country faced. The committee paved the way for the creation of the Albanian Basketball Association (ABA) a year later in 1946, which became a member of FIBA in 1947. Their main goals were to enable clubs to compete in national competitions, as well as to promote the sport. The first National Championship in Albania was held in 1946, and a year later the first Women's National Championship also took place. In 1951 the ABA created the Republic's Cup, which was a competition open to all professional and amateur basketball clubs in Albania, with the women's and youth versions of the competition both starting in 1952. During the Communist regime in Albania, the National Spartakiad was held between 1959 and 1989, where basketball was one of the more popular sports in display in the country's biggest sports events. In 1999 the ABA held the first Albanian Basketball Supercups for men and women, which is played between the winners of the league and cup.

Albania first competed in a European Championship at EuroBasket 1947 held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, shortly after joining FIBA as an affiliate national team. In the preliminary round of the competition Albania was placed in Group D, with Italy, Belgium and Egypt. Albania's their first game in a major tournament came against Italy, which was a 15–60 loss.^[2] In their next two matches, Albania would suffer heavy defeats at the hands of Belgium 114–11 and to Egypt 19–104. In the next round, Albania were placed in the lower bracket Group 3 to determine who finishes between 7th and 10th place. There, the national team were up against Romania and Austria. Albania would go on to lose 19–73 to Romania and 27–44 to Austria. The team then went on to face Yugoslavia in the final game to determine 13th and 14th place, where they would lose 13–90 to Yugoslavia to finish in last place out of 14 teams.^[3] During the tournament, Albania registered a record of (0–6), while averaging just 17.3 points per game. Their highest point tally came against Austria where they scored 27 points, which was also the match where the team had its smallest margin of defeat at 17 points. Albania conceded an average of 80.3 points per game, with their highest scoring opponent being Belgium.

Ten years after their debut tournament appearance at the Euros, Albania competed at EuroBasket 1957 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Albania were placed in Group A in the preliminary round with Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Scotland. The national team lost 57–89 to Yugoslavia in their opening match, and then went on to lose 71–37 to Czechoslovakia and 65–42 against Scotland to finish bottom of the group. During the classification round, Albania faced Turkey, Italy, Finland, Belgium, West Germany, Austria and Scotland. Albania would lose all seven games in the classification round, which sent the team toward finishing at the bottom of another EuroBasket tournament, this time out of 16 teams.^[4] Albania during the competition averaged 47.6 points per game, with their highest points tally coming against Turkey in a 64–97 defeat. Albania conceded an average of 78.4 points per game during their ten games played at the event. Despite putting up better statistical numbers than those in 1947, Albania could not manage to earn a victory at the Euros for the second consecutive tournament.

After EuroBasket 1957, Albania failed to reach a major tournament again throughout the rest of the 20th century. Although the national team did go on to attempt to qualify on numerous occasions, but were unsuccessful.

21st century[]

In 2002, Albania entered a smaller competition, the 2002 European Championship for Small Countries. Albania would begin the tournament in Group A, where the team would eventually earn a (2–1) record. However, due to point differential, Albania missed out on advancing to the knockout phase and were relegated to the classification round. There, the team defeated Gibraltar, but lost to Moldova to finish the tournament in sixth place.^[5]

After achieving nearly similar results at the competition in 2004, Albania were poised to change the narrative at the 2006 tournament. The national team quickly set the tone, as they went undefeated (3–0) in the group stage to advance. In the semis, Albania won a high scoring affair against Andorra 111–101, to send the team into the final. Although the team would fall short of winning the competition, losing a tightly contested match to Azerbaijan to finish as the runners-up.^[6]

Entering qualification for EuroBasket 2017, Albania struggled to a (1–5) record during the qualifiers, picking up their lone victory against Slovakia and missing out to qualify.^[7] During the process for Albania to qualify for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the national team went through European Pre-Qualifiers. However, Albania were overwhelmed in all four of their matches in the pre-qualifying stage, and failed to advance.^[8]

Following Albania's lost attempt to qualify for the 2019 World Cup, the team directed their attention toward EuroBasket 2022 qualifying. Although Albania would display similar results which caused the team to miss out on the World Cup, and being eliminated.^[9]

Competitive record[]

FIBA World Cup[] World Cup Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1950 Did not enter Did not enter 1954 1959 1963 1967 1970 Did not qualify EuroBasket served as qualifiers 1974 1978 Did not enter Did not enter 1982 1986 Did not qualify 6 0 6 1990 Did not enter Did not enter 1994 Did not qualify EuroBasket served as qualifiers 1998 2002 Did not enter Did not enter 2006 Did not qualify EuroBasket served as qualifiers 2010 2014 2019 4 0 4 2023 6 1 5 Total 0/19 16 1 15 Olympic Games[] Olympic Games Qualifying Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1948 Did not enter 1952 1956 1960 Did not enter 1964 1968 1972 Did not qualify 3 0 3 1976 Did not enter Did not enter 1980 1984 1988 1992 Did not qualify 6 1 5 1996 to 2016 Did not qualify 2020 2024 2028 To be determined To be determined Total 0/20 9 1 8 Championship for Small Countries[] FIBA European Championship for Small Countries Year Position Pld W L 2002 6th 5 3 2 2004 5th 5 3 2 2006 5 4 1 Total 15 10 5

EuroBasket[] EuroBasket Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1947 14th 6 0 6 1949 Did not enter 1951 1953 1955 1957 16th 10 0 10 1959 Did not enter 1961 1963 Did not enter 1965 1967 1969 Did not qualify 4 0 4 1971 4 1 3 1973 Did not enter Did not enter 1975 Did not qualify 5 3 2 1977 Did not enter Did not enter 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 Did not qualify 4 1 3 1993 Did not enter Did not enter 1995 Did not qualify 6 1 5 1997 5 1 4 1999 5 1 4 2001 Did not enter Did not enter 2003 2005 Division B 6 0 6 2007 Division B 8 0 8 2009 Division B 8 2 6 2011 Division B 8 0 8 2013 Did not qualify 8 0 8 2015 Did not enter Did not enter 2017 Did not qualify 6 1 5 2022 8 0 8 2025 To be determined To be determined Total 2/37 16 0 16 85 11 74 Mediterranean Games[] Mediterranean Games Year Position Pld W L 1991 8th 5 0 5 2009 6th 6 1 5 Total 11 1 10

Results and fixtures[]

  Win   Loss

2020[]

Portugal  v  Albania

20 February 2020 2023 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers - 1st round	Portugal	70–62	Albania	Albufeira, Portugal
18:30	Scoring by quarter: 9–18, 22–13, 13–16, 26–15
	Pts: Fonseca 16 Rebs: Fonseca, 6 Asts: , Ventura 4	Boxscore	Pts: Taflaj 18 Rebs: 9 Asts: 7	Arena: Referees: Can Mavisu (TUR), Raúl Zamorano (ESP), James Dominique (GIB)

Albania  v  Cyprus

23 February 2020 2023 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers - 1st round	Albania	71–64	Cyprus	Durrës, Albania
17:00	Scoring by quarter: 14–17, 13–16, 22–15, 22–16
	Pts: Moore 20 Rebs: Hysenagolli 11 Asts: four players 2	Boxscore	Pts: 17 Rebs: , Stylianou 6 Asts: Razis 6	Arena: Dhimitraq Goga Sports Palace Referees: Aleksandar Milojević (MKD), Ivan Miličević (BIH), Jasmina Juras (SRB)

Belarus  v  Albania

26 November 2020 2023 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers - 1st round	Belarus	90–50	Albania	Matosinhos, Portugal* [note 1]
16:30	Scoring by quarter: 21–16, 24–7, 23–20, 22–7
	Pts: Parakhouski 17 Rebs: Parakhouski 10 Asts: , 5	Boxscore	Pts: 15 Rebs: Shima 7 Asts: 3	Arena: Referees: Charalampos Karakatsounis (GRE), Guido Giovannetti (ITA), Maxime Boubert (FRA)

Albania  v  Portugal

28 November 2020 2023 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers - 1st round	Albania	70–88	Portugal	Matosinhos, Portugal* [note 1]
18:00	Scoring by quarter: 16–22, 21–26, 25–21, 8–19
	Pts: Shima 18 Rebs: 7 Asts: 7	Boxscore	Pts: 16 Rebs: Queiroz 8 Asts: , Ventura 7	Arena: Referees: Charalampos Karakatsounis (GRE), Guido Giovannetti (ITA), Alberto Sánchez (ESP)

2021[]

Cyprus  v  Albania

18 February 2021 2023 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers - 1st round	Cyprus	88–66	Albania	Nicosia, Cyprus* [note 1]
19:00	Scoring by quarter: 18–22, 14–12, 26–15, 30–17
	Pts: Iliadis 21 Rebs: 7 Asts: 6	Boxscore	Pts: 17 Rebs: Hysenagolli 9 Asts: 5	Arena: Eleftheria Indoor Hall Referees: Ilya Putenko (RUS), Péter Praksch (HUN), Franko Gracin (CRO)

Albania  v  Belarus

20 February 2021 2023 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers - 1st round	Albania	72–93	Belarus	Nicosia, Cyprus* [note 1]
19:00	Scoring by quarter: 24–25, 15–19, 16–26, 17–23
	Pts: Taflaj 16 Rebs: Hysenagolli 10 Asts: , Hysenagolli 4	Boxscore	Pts: 26 Rebs: , 6 Asts: 7	Arena: Eleftheria Indoor Hall Referees: Nemanja Ninković (SRB), Péter Praksch (HUN), Franko Gracin (CRO)

Albania  v  Luxembourg

25 November 2021 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Albania	92–89	Luxembourg	Durrës, Albania
18:00 (UTC+1)	Scoring by quarter: 27–26, 21–20, 20–28, 24–15
	Pts: 23 Rebs: 9 Asts: 4	Boxscore	Pts: 25 Rebs: 7 Asts: 8	Arena: Dhimitraq Goga Sports Palace Referees: Goran Sljivić (AUT), Can Mavisu (TUR), Anastasios Kardaris (GRE)

2022[]

Romania  v  Albania

24 February 2022 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Romania	vs.	Albania
		Boxscore

Luxembourg  v  Albania

27 February 2022 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Luxembourg	vs.	Albania
		Boxscore

Albania  v  Romania

3 July 2022 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Albania	vs.	Romania
		Boxscore

Team[]

Current roster[]

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers match on 25 November 2021 against Luxembourg.^[11]

Albania men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SF 4 Çelis Taflaj 23 – (1998-03-12)12 March 1998 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Trapani F 8 Julian Hamati 29 – (1992-11-16)16 November 1992 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Tirana F 9 30 – (1991-06-23)23 June 1991 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Kamza PG 10 23 – (1998-04-22)22 April 1998 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Tirana PG 12 Elvisi Dusha 27 – (1994-07-15)15 July 1994 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Plymouth City G/F 13 24 – (1997-11-16)16 November 1997 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Peja C 14 Endrit Hysenagolli 33 – (1988-07-05)5 July 1988 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Tirana PG 17 28 – (1993-09-14)14 September 1993 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Vllaznia C 21 23 – (1998-02-26)26 February 1998 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Teuta SG 22 22 – (1999-08-30)30 August 1999 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Tirana G 23 Dallas Moore 27 – (1994-10-27)27 October 1994 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Partizan F 55 28 – (1993-10-03)3 October 1993 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Forlì	Head coach Afrim Bilali Assistant coach(es) Mikel Serbo Bruno Hoxha Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 25 November 2021

Depth chart[]

Head coach history[]

Past rosters[]

1947 EuroBasket: finished 14th among 14 teams

3 Muntaz Peshkopia, 4 Naim Pilku, 5 Bajram Kurani, 6 Çerçiz Zavalani, 7 Dilaver Toptani, 8 Ferdin Toptani, 9 Vlash Koljaka, 10 Dhimitraq Goga (Coach: Naim Pilku)

1957 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 16 teams

3 Ilo Teneqexhi, 4 Feti Borova, 5 Dhimitraq Goga, 6 Kiço Gjata, 7 Ferdinand Qirici, 8 Muhamet Përmeti, 9 Fatmir Meka, 10 Muhamet Sokoli, 11 Salvador Sotiri, 12 Muhamet Moursakou, 13 Jorgji Çako (Coach: Naim Pilku)

See also[]

• Sport in Albania
• Albania women's national basketball team
• Albania men's national under-18 basketball team
• Albania men's national under-16 basketball team

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albania men's national basketball team.

• Official website (in Albanian)
• Albania at FIBA site
• Albania National Team - Men at Eurobasket.com
• Albania Basketball Records at FIBA Archive