Kosovo national under-19 football team

Kosovo Under-19
NicknameDardanët (Dardanians)
AssociationFederata e Futbollit e Kosovës (FFK)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachAlbert Bunjaku
CaptainRotation
Most capsDior Gërbovci (13)[a]
Top scorerEliot Bujupi
Leotrim Kryeziu (5)[a]
Home stadiumFFK National Educational Camp
FIFA codeKOS[1]
First colours
Second colours
Third colours
First international
 Austria 1–0 Kosovo 
(Mittersill, Austria; 3 October 2017)
Biggest win
Unofficial
 Kosovo 7–1 Saxony
(Hajvalia, Kosovo; 4 June 2025)
Official
 Ukraine 0–4 Kosovo 
(Ta' Qali, Malta; 18 November 2023)
Biggest defeat
 Portugal 5–0 Kosovo 
(Porto, Portugal; 21 March 2018)

The Kosovo national under-19 football team (Albanian: Kombëtarja e futbollit të Kosovës nën 19 vjeç; Serbian: Фудбалска репрезентација Косова до 19. године, romanizedFudbalska reprezentacija Kosova do 19. godine) is the national under-19 football team of Kosovo and is controlled by the Football Federation of Kosovo.

History

Permitting by FIFA to play friendlies

On 6 February 2013, FIFA gave the permission to play international friendly games against other member associations.[2] Whereas, on 13 January 2014, there was a change of this permit that forbade Kosovo to play against the national teams of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Club teams were also allowed to play friendlies and this happened after a FIFA Emergency Committee meeting. However, it was stipulated that clubs and representative teams of the Football Federation of Kosovo may not display national symbols as flags, emblems, etc. or play national anthems. The go-ahead was given after meetings between the Football Association of Serbia and Sepp Blatter.

Membership in UEFA and FIFA

In September 2015 at an UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Malta was approved the request from the federation to the admission in UEFA to the next Ordinary Congress to be held in Budapest.[3] On 3 May 2016, at the Ordinary Congress. Kosovo were accepted into UEFA after members voted 28–24 in favor of Kosovo.[4][5] Ten days later, Kosovo was accepted in FIFA during their 66th congress in Mexico with 141 votes in favour and 23 against.[6]

Team image

Kits and crest

The Kosovo national team kits were mostly red and black before the declaration of independence, with occasional variations over the years. After independence, the kits have primarily been blue and yellow. On 5 October 2016, Kosovo signed a four-year contract with the Spanish sportswear company Kelme, becoming the first official kit supplier of Kosovo following the country's membership in UEFA and FIFA.[7] On 23 February 2022, Kosovo signed a three-year contract with the Italian sportswear company Erreà, making it the team's kit supplier.[8] Starting from June 2026, the German sportswear company Adidas will become the team's next kit supplier.[9]

Kit sponsorship

Kit supplier Period Contract
Announcement Duration
Kelme 2016–2018 5 October 2016 2016–2020 (4 years)
Fourteen 2018–2022 16 June 2018 2018–2022 (4 years)
Erreà 2023–2026 23 February 2023 2023–2026 (3 years)
Adidas 2026–present 5 February 2026 To be determined

Fixtures and results

2025

8 October UEFA Euro 2026 qualification Norway  4–0  Kosovo Skien, Norway
15:00 Røssing-Lelesiit 64', 88' (pen.)
Nilsen-Modebe 82', 90+1'
Stadium: Odd Stadion
Attendance: 251
Referee: Matteo Marchetti (Italy)
11 October UEFA Euro 2026 qualification Germany  5–0  Kosovo Skien, Norway
19:00 Souza 9', 52'
Erlein 27'
Onyeka 50', 88'
Stadium: Odd Stadion
Attendance: 137
Referee: Marc Nagtegaal (Netherlands)
14 October UEFA Euro 2026 qualification Kosovo  3–0  Armenia Sandefjord, Norway
17:00 Ahmeti 12'
Rrahmani 36'
Abdullahu 55'
Stadium: Sandefjord Arena
Attendance: 100
Referee: Marc Nagtegaal (Netherlands)

2026

24 March UEFA Euro 2027 qualification Armenia  v  Kosovo Manavgat, Turkey
11:00 Report Stadium: Arslan Zeki Demirci Sports Complex
Referee: Szabolcs Kovacs (Romania)
27 March UEFA Euro 2027 qualification Kosovo  v  Gibraltar Manavgat, Turkey
11:00 Report Stadium: Arslan Zeki Demirci Sports Complex
Referee: Szabolcs Kovacs (Romania)
30 March UEFA Euro 2027 qualification Kosovo  v  Turkey Manavgat, Turkey
15:00 Report Stadium: Arslan Zeki Demirci Sports Complex
Referee: Matteo Marchetti (Italy)

Players

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club[b]
1GK Ismajl Hasimi (2008-04-01) 1 April 2008 Prishtina U19
1GK Arlind Qela (2008-12-13) 13 December 2008 Eintracht Braunschweig U19

2DF Leka Podvorica (2008-02-19) 19 February 2008 Famalicão U19
2DF Diart Gashi (2008-02-03) 3 February 2008 Hertha BSC U19
2DF Besar Dema (2008-02-26) 26 February 2008 Young Boys U19
2DF Redon Zekaj (2008-03-17) 17 March 2008 Ballkani U19
2DF Edon Krasniqi (2008-04-02) 2 April 2008 1860 Munich U19
2DF Aldon Osmani (2008-10-07) 7 October 2008 2 Korriku U19
2DF Albion Rashica (2008-12-30) 30 December 2008 Inter Turku II

3MF Leonit Gabrica (2008-01-06) 6 January 2008 Prishtina U19
3MF Alban Mehmetaj (2008-01-07) 7 January 2008 1. FC Kaiserslautern U19
3MF Donart Ahmeti (2008-01-10) 10 January 2008 Prishtina U19
3MF Agon Uka (2008-09-01) 1 September 2008 Jönköpings Södra
3MF Omer Shala (2008-09-04) 4 September 2008 2 Korriku U19
3MF Ardian Sopaj (2008-10-04) 4 October 2008 Malisheva U21
3MF Orges Maçastena (2008-11-08) 8 November 2008 Maryland United
3MF Bleonit Jashari unknown Inter Turku U19

4FW Loris Balaj (2008-04-12) 12 April 2008 Prishtina U19
4FW Lorik Mehmeti (2008-06-05) 5 June 2008 Prishtina U19
4FW Rin Ahmeti (2008-08-09) 9 August 2008 Prishtina U19

Recent call-ups

Competition records

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record Qualification record
Era Year Round Pos Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA
FIFA 1951 to 1954 Part of  Yugoslavia and  Serbia and Montenegro N/a
UEFA 1955 to 1980
U18 1981 to 1999
2000 to 2001 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
U19 2002 to 2015
2016 to 2017 Could not enter
2018 Did not qualify 6 3 0 3 7 11
2019 3 0 2 1 1 4
2020 Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022 Did not qualify 3 0 0 3 0 7
2023 3 0 1 2 0 4
2024 6 2 2 2 9 7
2025 3 2 0 1 6 7
Total 0/18 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 7 5 12 23 40

See also

Men's
Women's

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ a b There may be more matches or goals because some match data is missing.
  2. ^ The club listed is the club for which the player last played a competitive match prior to the tournament.

References

  1. ^ "Football Federation of Kosovo". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  2. ^ "FIFA Circular no.1342" (PDF). FIFA. 6 February 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2019.
  3. ^ "UEFA shqyrton në mars të vitit të ardhshëm anëtarësimin e Kosovës" [UEFA reviews in March next year Kosovo's membership] (in Albanian). Voice of America. 19 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Football Federation of Kosovo joins UEFA". UEFA. 3 May 2016. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017.
  5. ^ "Kosovo accepted as member of Uefa after Congress vote". The Guardian. 3 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Zyrtare: Kosova pranohet në FIFA, jemi të barabartë me të gjitha vendet e botës" [Official: Kosovo is admitted to FIFA, we are equal to all countries in the world] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 13 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Nënshkruhet marrëveshja mes FFK-së dhe 'Kelme' për fanellat e Përfaqësueses së Kosovës (Foto/Video)" [Agreement signed between FFK and Kelme for the Kosovo national team kits (Photo/Video)] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 5 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  8. ^ "FFK lidh marrëveshje me kompaninë e veshjeve sportive 'ERREA'" [FFK signs an agreement with the sportswear company 'ERREÀ'] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 23 February 2022. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  9. ^ "New jersey presented, Kosovo to be outfitted by Adidas". Telegrafi. 5 February 2026.
  10. ^ "Përzgjedhësi i Kombëtares U19, Albert Bunjaku, ka publikuar listën e futbollistëve të ftuar për ndeshjet kualifikuese ndaj Armenisë U19, Gjibraltarit U19 dhe Turqisë U19" [The U19 National Team coach, Albert Bunjaku, has published the list of players invited for the qualifying matches against Armenia U19, Gibraltar U19 and Turkey U19]. Facebook (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 20 March 2026.[self-published]