Albania vs Spain Full Match EURO 2024

Albania’s dramatic last-ditch equaliser to claim a 2-2 draw with Croatia kept their Euro 2024 hopes alive. Sylvinho’s men can now reach four points on matchday four with a victory, which should be enough to see them reach the knockout stages, however, beating Spain to reach that target would rank as an enormous upset given they’ve lost all eight prior H2Hs by an aggregate 31-3 scoreline.

Scoring against Italy (L 2-1), and only losing the last meeting with Spain 2-1, should give the Red and Blacks some encouragement as they approach their final group game having won plenty of admirers for their commitment and persistence. Those traits have helped them net both the European Championship’s quickest ever goal (23 seconds v Italy) and the then-latest ever equaliser excluding those in extra time (95th minute v Croatia).

Spain’s 1-0 win over Italy on Thursday secured their place in the knockout stage as group winners, and they perhaps ought to have beaten the reigning champions by more goals given their dominance of the contest. After four straight victories while conceding only once, Luis de la Fuente’s side are looking dangerous and are growing into the tournament nicely.

The boss isn’t getting carried away despite hailing their “fantastic” performance, saying they won’t lose their heads and are taking the tournament “step by step”. Few will relish meeting the three-time European champions during the knockouts, especially if La Roja complete their group-stage obligations by extending that aforementioned perfect H2H record (W8).

Players to watch: Klaus Gjasula equalised for Albania against Croatia (having earlier scored an own goal), and he also has the potential to keep the referee busy as he’s been booked in three of his last four appearances for club and country. Nico Williams’ cross led to Spain’s goal against Italy, though a deflection meant he couldn’t add to his three direct goal contributions (G1, A2) across his last five games for club and country.

Hot stat: Across Albania’s last three matches (W1, D1, L1), there have been five goals scored before the 20th minute.