World European Preliminaries-Serbia VS Albania: A life-or-death battle for qualification for the play-offs

They are both from the former Yugoslavia. Although they have produced many stars, in terms of competition results, Serbia is far from comparable to Croatia.

In the 2018 World Cup, Croatia historically won second place and Serbia was eliminated from the group. In the 2022 World Cup, the aging Croatia still made it to the semi-finals, and Serbia was eliminated at the bottom of the group.

Looking forward to the 2026 World Cup, it is no problem for Croatia to at least qualify for the main draw, but it is hard to say for Serbia.

In the European group stage of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Serbia's luck was also not good, and it was drawn into Group K with England, Albania, Latvia, and Andorra. In this group, the top spot in the group is definitely England, depending on how many rounds in advance they are locked in. Serbia can only compete for second place in the group, and then try to break through in the play-offs.

In competing for second place in the group, Serbia cannot make any mistakes. In the upcoming seventh round home game against Albania, they must win in order to take the initiative to compete for second place in the group.

Serbia VS Albania

Nature of the match: Round 7 of Group K of the World Cup European Group Stage

Match time: 2:45 on October 12

Group K currently leads England with 15 points after winning 5 games, scoring 13 goals and conceding 0 goals , the first place in the group advanced only in the morning and evening. Albania ranked second with 8 points from 5 games, 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. Serbia, which had one round less, ranked third with 7 points from 4 games, 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Latvia ranked fourth with 4 points from 5 games, 1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses. Andorra lost all 5 games and ranked bottom with 0 points, conceding 10 goals and 0 goals.

Serbia VS Albania, obviously, this is a "Battle of Heavenly Kings Mountain" for the second place in the group! If Serbia wins, it will overtake Albania and move to second place, taking the initiative. Otherwise, the initiative to compete for the play-off qualification will not be within its control.

The same is true for Albania. If they lose in the away game, the second position will be replaced by their opponents, and they may never have a chance to regain it. After all, they will face England at home in the last round. Even if the Three Lions advance in advance and train with all substitutes, Albania has no hope of scoring points.

In European football, Albanian football can only be considered a third-rate player, but it has been on the rise in recent years. It was shortlisted for the first time in the 2016 European Cup and the second time in the 2024 European Cup. They have never qualified for the World Cup. What about the 2026 World Cup? You definitely have to fight for it.

Serbia has 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses in the past 10 games in all competitions. In the last round of World Cup preliminaries, they suffered a 0:5 home defeat against England. Their unbeaten streak ended with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses in the first 3 rounds.

Albania has 4 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses in the past 10 games in all competitions. It lost to England 0:2 away from home in the first round of world qualifying. In the next 4 rounds, it won 2, drew 2 and was undefeated.

The two sides have met in the past 3 times, with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss. In the first round of this world preliminaries, Serbia drew 0:0 with Albania away from home.

Serbian center Vlahovic is currently in good form. In this crucial game, playing at home is naturally worth looking forward to.