All eyes are on the ‘Elbasan Arena’ this Wednesday at 19:00 for the showdown between Elbasan and Egnatia. Following a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg, this winner-takes-all clash decides who advances to the final.

While Vllaznia faces Dinamo City at the ‘Loro Boriçi’ stadium in Shkodra on Thursday at 19:00. Tied 1-1, the showdown promises a dramatic conclusion.

Tickets for the 2026 Albanian Cup Final are now available online at ebileta.al. The grand finale will take place at 19:00 on May 13 at the Air Albania Stadium, where the Cup’s winner will be crowned.

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Duka emphasized that the ambition for the qualification of the Albanian National Team into the World Cup is an objective that, according to him, is based on the continuous work and the real potential of the team.

“Being an economist by profession, I say, we have a 25% probability, because there are four potential teams with the same level and all the four have 25% chance. I have a lot of confidence and I will always have,” said Duka.

Asked if he compares this opportunity with the 2016 European Championship, Duka said that, “The World Cup is something else, it is much more difficult than the European Championship to qualify.”

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Under the auspices of President of the Tennis Federation Ferdinand Sulo, Albania has once again shown its organizational capacity to host high-level international events in the sport of tennis.

Kosovo and Azerbaijan have been promoted to Group III of Europe, after defeating Andorra and Liechtenstein respectively in the “Promotion Play-Off”.

Albania failed to score positive results, losing the matches against Kosovo, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

The Albanian team was composed by Martin Muedini, Mario Zili, Joan Sura, Denis Gaba and coaches Përparim Zano and Ervin Rota.

President of the Albanian National Olympic Committee Fidel Ylli followed the event with great interest. /r.e/j.p/p.s./

On the final night, the Organizing Committee honored the Georgian Ensemble “Colkhida” with the cup of the seventeenth edition of the festival. The cup was handed over by Mayor of Vlora Ermal Dredha.

For four days in a row, Vlora was conquered by the songs, dance rhythms and various colors of folk costumes of the folklore groups that came to this festival from different countries of Europe.

For the seventeenth year in a row, the Aulona Festival has become a beautiful tradition for the coastal city of Vlora.

This year, ensembles from Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Georgia, Ukraine, Kosovo, North Macedonia took part in this great folk activity. While Albania was represented by ensembles “Dropulli” and “Eagle’s Wing” as well as the polyphonic group “Labëria treasures” from Albania.

Director of the “Aulona” Cultural Center and the General Director of the Festival Sejmen Gjokoli told ATA that, “During the festival days, 330 festival-goers crowded Vlora and its surroundings with songs, dances and colorful costumes, conveying the spiritual tradition of European peoples and at the same time becoming a bridge of cooperation and integration between each other’s cultures.”

According to him, in the opening days of the tourist season, this festival marks another extraordinary activity as part of the cultural agenda of Vlora municipality.

In context of the festival, there were also visits to places rich in cultural and natural heritage such as Zvërnec Monastery or the beaches of Radhima.

In addition to free performances in the streets and squares of the city, the festival also gave performances in the historical center of the city in the reconstructed square in front of the municipality, but also in the premises of the “Orbital Forest” near the National Museum of Independence in Skela.

On the first day of the festival, Mayor Ermal Dredha received the representatives of the participating groups at the premises of Vlora Municipality.

“The fact that there are so many of you and from such a wide geography of Europe shows the power of art and culture in connecting and strengthening friendship between countries, as well as the power of spiritual heritage in integrating the cultures of peoples”, said Dredha.

Aulona Inter Folk Festival is the largest international festival in the field of folklore where only for the effect of this activity, in the seventeen editions together, Vlora has been visited by 133 folklore ensembles with over 4700 participants from 38 countries of the Balkans, Europe and Asia.

The festival was supported by the municipality of Vlora, the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation as well as other donors. /k.s/j.p/p.s./

The match and the added time ended in a 2-2 draw. Hence, the match went to spot-kicks and Dinamo City triumphed 5-4 in the shootout.

Dinamo City won the Cup of Albania for the 14^th time in history.

After the final match, there was held the ceremony of giving the Cup and the medals to the winning team. President of the Albanian Football Association Armand Duka was in attendance at the final.

It was Albania’s 73-rd edition of the Cup of Albania.

Egnatia was the winner of the Cup last year.

The two teams have faced each other 27 times in their history and last evening they played their 28th match. Egnatia has won 14, while Dinamo City has triumphed in 4 matches. 9 challenges have ended in a draw.

Dinamo City has won 13 Albanian Cup trophies, while Egnatia has participated in two finals and won both.

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This historic event will take place from June 8 to 15 and will gather 12 teams from all over the world in our country.

The organization of this tournament is thanks to cooperation of the Albanian Football Association with the “Albitsol” foundation, the University of Sports of Tirana and the Centro Giovani Calciatori Viareggio (CGC Viareggio), the organizers of the “Viareggio Cup”.

President of the Albanian Football Association Armand Duka, the representative of the “Albitsol” foundation Vasenka Rangu Leka, Rector of the University of Sports of Tirana Agron Kasa as well as representatives of CGC Viareggio presented the tournament today during a press conference at the “House of Football”.

In his remarks, Duka expressed his satisfaction with the organization of this tournament and considered it as a good development opportunity for Albanian football and for the country. He guaranteed the partners that the Albanian Football Association will do its utmost to organize a fantastic tournament in June and hopes it will become a tradition.

The press conference was also greeted by the former world champion with Italy, Fulvio Collovati, Coordinator and Technical Director of the “Eagle Cup” Enzo Gambaro and the former Italian footballer Alberto Bigon, who praised the organization of this tournament for the first time in Albania and the work that the Albanian Football Association is doing to support football for young people. /j.p/p.s./

Present at the event were Director of the Competitions Department at the Albanian Football Association Marjus Sulejmani, representatives of the participating clubs and media representatives.

According to the regulation, the teams were placed into two pots; in the first pot there were: Egnatia, Partizani, Vllaznia and Skënderbeu and in the second pot: Laçi, Dinamo City, Bylis and AF Elbasani

There were also determined the fixture, as follows:

Bylis – Egnatia

AF Elbasani – Vllaznia

Laçi – Partizani

Dinamo City – Skënderbeu

There will be home-and-away matches. The first challenges will be played in the field of the teams positioned in the second pot. The first leg matches will be played on February 5th and the return leg on February 26th. /p.s./

This is the first time in history that “Egnatia” is declared the winner of the Albanian Super Cup.

The Rrogozhina team of “Egnatia” dominated the match and scored a goal in each half-time.

While their North-easterner challengers of “Kukës” did very little to claim this trophy.

“Egnatia” took the lead in the 19th minute of the match with the goal scored by Ujka.

The numbers doubled in the 84th minute by Bakayoko, closing all accounts in this challenge.

After the championship and the Cup, “Egnatia” wins the Super Cup, closing the year 2024 with a trophy. /p.s./

President of the Albanian Football Association Armand Duka reacted following the draw saying that the group is difficult and that the team must train and work hard during the qualifying matches.

“The draw is a draw. It is not the best possible group that we would like to be. England is one of the best teams in the world; it is difficult to face them. Then, the match versus Serbia. It is really sensitive. I hope it goes well; I hope it will be a message of cooperation, which is what football should do. It could have been different, but the World Cup qualifiers are always difficult, much more difficult than the European and Nations League qualifiers”, said Duka. /p.s./

During the opening ceremony, President of the Wrestling Federation Sahit Prizreni expressed his pride for this historic event, highlighting that, “We are proud that for the first time Albania is listed for the organization of an event of this caliber”. He emphasized the significance of wrestling as a priority sport in the country.

Further on, President of the National Olympic Committee of Albania (KOKSH) Fidel Ylli positively assessed the trust of international organizations towards Albania for this event. He also said that wrestling will be included as a discipline in the “School Sports Teams” project, emphasizing the commitment to the development of this sport in the country.

On October 27, in Shijak, there will be held the World Wrestling Congress, where 200 delegates from 117 countries of the world are expected to participate. This congress will serve as a platform for the discussion of important issues affecting this sport at a global level.

The Adult Wrestling World Cup event will contribute to the promotion of Albania as a sports destination and will encourage Albanian athletes for new achievements. /a.f/p.s./