The Albania national under-23 football team represents Albania in international football at this age level and is controlled by Albanian Football Association, the governing body for football in Albania. The team competed in the UEFA European Under-23 Championship and Balkan Youth Championship, but after the rule change in 1975, the event had an age limit of 21.
History Balkan Youth Championship
Albania Under-23 participated in the Balkan Youth Championship tournaments from 1969 until 1976 when the age limit rule changed to the under 21, and then Albania participated with the Albania national under 21 football team. In two first tournament 1969 & 1970, Albania U23 was ranked 3rd out 5 national teams Participations in both occasions. Then in the 1971 & 1972 tournament they were ranked in the 4th place in both cases. They withdrew from the 1973 tournament and in the 1974 edition, Albania U23 managed to reach the final after winning Group B against Turkey U23 & Greece U23. In the final they lost 1–0 against Romania U23.Balkan Youth Championship 1968-1981 RSSSF
UEFA European Under-23 Championship Albania U23 participated in 2 out 3 UEFA European Under-23 Championship in 1972 & 1974 where they were eliminated in both cases in the qualifying stages.Europe U-23 Championship 1972 RSSSFEurope U-23 Championship 1974 RSSSF
1991 Mediterranean Games
Group stage – Group B Team220080+84210126−42200215−40
1997 Mediterranean Games
Group stage – Group B Team211040+44211031+24200217−60
Players individual records
Top appearances Rank Position Name Career Caps Goals1 MF 1970–19741502 FW 1970–1971133 FW 1970–19721394 MF 1969–1971125 MF 1970–19741206 MF 1969–1971112 MF 1970–1971110 MF 1970–19711109 DF 1969–1971100 GK 1969–1971100 DF 1969–1971100 DF 1969–1970100
Top goalscorers Rank Position Name Career Goals Caps1 FW 1970–19729132 MF 1969–19715123 FW 1970–1971313 MF 1970–19713135 MF 1969–1971211 FW 196923 MF 1969–197127 FW 197621 MF 197623 FW 1974–197626
Competitive record
UEFA European Under-23 Championship Record UEFA European Under-23 Championship recordYearRoundGPWDLGSGA1972Qualifying Stage603327 1974Qualifying Stage411239 1976Did Not EnterTotal0/210145516
Balkan Youth Championship Record Balkan Youth Championship recordYearRoundPosition* 1968 Did Not Enter 1969Group Ch.3rd420294 1970Group Ch.3rd421132 1971Group Ch.4th4022811 1972Semi-final4th310235 1973Group Ch.Withdrew 1974Runners-Up2nd311133 1975Did Not Enter 1976Third Place3rd311155TotalBest:Runners-Up6/8217493130
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shoot-out. **Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.
Mediterranean Games - Football Football at the Mediterranean Games recordYearRoundPositionGPWDLGSGA 1991Group stage6th210126 1997Group stage11th200217Total0/2Best: 6th4103313
See also Albania national football team Albania national under-21 football team Albania national under-20 football team Albania national under-19 football team Albania national under-18 football team Albania national under-17 football team Albania national under-16 football team Albania national under-15 football team Albania national football team results Albania national youth football team Albanian Superliga Football in Albania List of Albania international footballers
References
External links at UEFA.com UEFA U-23 European Championship at RSSSF.com