Kosovo women's national football team
The Kosovo women's national football team (Albanian: Kombëtarja e futbollit të femrave të Kosovës; Serbian: Женска фудбалска репрезентација Косова, romanized: Ženska fudbalska reprezentacija Kosova) represents Kosovo in international women's football and is controlled by the Football Federation of Kosovo.
| Nickname(s) | Dardanet (Dardanians) |
|---|---|
| Association | Federata e Futbollit e Kosovës (FFK) |
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) |
| Head coach | Karin Anneli Andersen |
| Captain | Edona Kryeziu |
| Most caps | Kaltrina Biqkaj (36) |
| Top scorer | |
| Home stadium | Fadil Vokrri Stadium |
| FIFA code | KVX[a] |
| FIFA ranking | |
| Current | NR (9 December 2022)[3] |
| Highest | 97 (December 2017) |
| Lowest | 126 (July 2019) |
| First international | |
| Kosovo 0–5 Poland (Alanya, Turkey; 1 March 2017) | |
| Biggest win | |
| Luxembourg 0–5 Kosovo (Bissen, Luxembourg; 9 November 2019) | |
| Biggest defeat | |
History
Permitting by FIFA to play friendlies
On 6 February 2013, FIFA gave the permission to play international friendly games against other member associations.[4] 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.[5] On 3 May 2016, at the Ordinary Congress. Kosovo were accepted into UEFA after members voted 28–24 in favor of Kosovo.[6][7] Ten days later, Kosovo was accepted in FIFA during their 66th congress in Mexico with 141 votes in favour and 23 against.[8]
First tournament
Debut in World Cup and Euro qualifications
Kosovo began to make their debut in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification, where Kosovo was drawn with Albania, Greece and Malta.[9] The Kosovars despite the efforts failed to qualify and finished last in the group with three losses.
After failing to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, Kosovo participated in the UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying, together with Estonia, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey and 2019 World Cup runners-up finisher Netherlands,[10] the Kosovars created their first big surprise, defeating Turkey in a 2–0 home win, which was also the team's first-ever competitive win,[11] victory which increased the enthusiasm which unfortunately did not last long and after the positive results began to experience a decline which resulted in disqualification.
Team image
Nicknames
The Kosovo women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "Dardanet (Dardanians)".
Kits and crest
The Kosovan women's national football team wears blue jersey at home matches, white jersey at away matches, black jersey at neutral matches, but mostly this jersey is used as an alternative jersey, following the tradition of the Kosovo men's team. On 5 October 2016, Kosovo signed with Spanish sportswear company Kelme to a four-year contract and was the first official kit suppliers of Kosovo after membership in UEFA and FIFA.[12] On 16 June 2018, Kosovo signed with Swiss sportswear company Fourteen to a four-year contract and becomes the current kit suppliers of Kosovo.[13][14]
| Kit supplier | Period | Contract | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Announcement | Duration | ||
| Kelme | 2016–2018 | 5 October 2016 | 2016–2020 (4 years) |
| Fourteen | 2018–present | 16 June 2018 | 2018–2022 (4 years) |
Home stadium
Kosovo's home stadium is the Fadil Vokrri Stadium. The stadium capacity is 13,500, which makes it the second largest national stadium in Kosovo. Kosovo's previous national stadium was the Adem Jashari Olympic Stadium which is currently under renovation.
| Kosovo national football team home stadiums | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stadium | Capacity | Location | Pld | W | D | L | Win % | First match | Last match | UEFA category | |||
| Opponent | Date | Opponent | Date | ||||||||||
| Fadil Vokrri Stadium | 13,500 | Pristina, Kosovo | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 25.00 | North Macedonia | 8 April 2019 | Albania | 30 November 2021 | ||
| Adem Jashari Olympic Stadium | 18,500 | Mitrovica, Kosovo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | Montenegro, 26 November 2017 | |||||
| Gjakova City Stadium | 6,000 | Gjakova, Kosovo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | North Macedonia, 5 April 2019 | |||||
Results and fixtures
- The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
- Legend
Win Draw Lose Void or postponed Fixture
2022
| 7 April 2023 World Cup qualification | Norway | 5–1 | Kosovo | Sandefjord, Norway |
| 18:00 | Report | Memeti 55' | Stadium: Sandefjord Arena Referee: Tanja Subotič (Slovenia) |
| 24 June Friendly | North Macedonia | 3–1 | Kosovo | Skopje, North Macedonia |
| 17:30 |
| Report | Shala ?' (pen.) | Stadium: Petar Miloševski Training Centre |
| 27 June Friendly | Kosovo | 4–0 | North Macedonia | Pristina, Kosovo |
| 19:00 | Report | Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium Referee: Genc Nuza (Kosovo) |
| 1 September 2023 World Cup qualification | Kosovo | 2–1 | Armenia | Pristina, Kosovo |
| Report | Smaili 77' (o.g.) | Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium Referee: Jelena Jermolajeva (Latvia) |
Coaching staff
Current coaching staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Karin Anneli Andersen |
| Assistant coach | |
| Nisse Jansson | |
| Katarina Olsson | |
| Technical director | Albert Bunjaki |
Players
Current squad
- The following players were called up for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification matches against Armenia and Poland, on 1 and 6 September 2022.[15]
- All caps and goals as of 6 September 2022 after match against Poland, only matches as FIFA member are included.[b]
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club[c] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Besarta Leci | 14 October 1993 | 14 | 0 | VfB Stuttgart |
| 12 | GK | Ilfete Kryeziu | 18 October 1998 | 1 | 0 | EP-COM Hajvalia |
| 16 | GK | Lavdije Behramaj | 1 May 1999 | 0 | 0 | Donat |
| 5 | DF | Liridona Syla | 5 February 1986 | 31 | 4 | Mitrovica |
| 21 | DF | Agnesa Gashi | 21 May 1998 | 10 | 0 | Donat |
| 2 | DF | Fatlinda Ramaj | 1 October 2000 | 7 | 0 | EP-COM Hajvalia |
| 3 | DF | Drita Çelaj | 7 May 1994 | 2 | 0 | Rijnvogels |
| 7 | DF | Merita Bajrami | 12 August 2003 | 0 | 0 | Vizioni |
| 11 | MF | Edona Kryeziu | 3 October 1995 | 35 | 0 | Mitrovica |
| 8 | MF | Blerta Shala | 3 December 1998 | 34 | 1 | Mitrovica |
| 17 | MF | Erëleta Memeti (captain) | 30 June 1999 | 19 | 3 | 1899 Hoffenheim |
| 6 | MF | Besarta Hisenaj | 21 October 1998 | 16 | 0 | SG 99 Andernach |
| 18 | MF | Blerta Smaili | 8 May 2002 | 10 | 0 | VfB Stuttgart |
| 15 | MF | Lumbardha Misini | 3 May 2003 | 10 | 0 | EP-COM Hajvalia |
| 22 | MF | Verona Berisha | 5 April 2000 | 9 | 0 | EP-COM Hajvalia |
| 19 | MF | Elizabeta Ejupi | 21 April 1994 | 3 | 0 | Durham |
| 9 | FW | Kaltrina Biqkaj | 5 August 2000 | 36 | 4 | Mitrovica |
| 10 | FW | Valentina Limani | 2 February 1997 | 29 | 3 | Eintracht Frankfurt III |
| 4 | FW | Donjeta Halilaj (vice-captain) | 12 March 2000 | 22 | 2 | Mitrovica |
| 13 | FW | Loreta Lulaj | 24 June 2003 | 7 | 0 | RB Leipzig |
| 14 | FW | Valentina Metaj | 3 October 2004 | 2 | 1 | Ifö Bromölla |
| 20 | FW | Alketa Rama | 30 December 2003 | 2 | 0 | Zürich U19 |
| 23 | FW | Albulena Guri | 16 December 2004 | 1 | 0 | EP-COM Hajvalia |
Recent call-ups
- The following players have been called up for a squad within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club[c] | Latest call-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Florentina Kolgeci | 30 October 2000 | 26 | 0 | Mitrovica | v. Belgium, 12 April 2022INJ |
| DF | Edona Kastrati | 12 August 1999 | 9 | 0 | Vicenza | v. Belgium, 12 April 2022 |
| MF | Donika Grajqevci | 14 November 2002 | 10 | 0 | Carl Zeiss Jena | v. North Macedonia, 27 June 2022 |
| MF | Marigonë Tahiri | 25 February 1999 | 15 | 0 | Mitrovica | v. Belgium, 12 April 2022 |
| MF | Viola Avduli | 22 November 1999 | 9 | 0 | Zürich U21 | v. Belgium, 12 April 2022INJ |
| MF | Argnesa Rexhepi | 23 November 2000 | 4 | 0 | Zürich U21 | v. Belgium, 12 April 2022 |
| MF | Gentiana Fetaj | 4 August 2002 | 0 | 0 | Carl Zeiss Jena | v. Norway, 7 April 2022DOC |
| FW | Leonora Ejupi | 7 February 2000 | 19 | 3 | Arminia Bielefeld | v. Poland, 6 September 2022 |
| FW | Fleta Musaj | 7 May 2000 | 7 | 1 | Mitrovica | v. Belgium, 12 April 2022 |
| ||||||
Competitive record
FIFA Women's World Cup
On 19 January 2017, in Nyon, it was decided that Kosovo should be part in Group 2 of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification, together with Albania, Greece and Malta.[9] On 6 April 2017, Kosovo made their debut on 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifications with a 3–2 away defeat against Albania.[16]
| FIFA Women's World Cup record | FIFA Women's World Cup qualification record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| 1995 | Part of FR Yugoslavia | |||||||||||||||
| 1999 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Team did not exist | |||||||||||||||
| 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Not a FIFA member | |||||||||||||||
| 2015 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Did not qualify | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | |||||||||
| 2023 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 21 | ||||||||||
| Total | — | 0/9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 33 | |
UEFA Women's Championship
On 21 February 2019, in Nyon, it was decided that Kosovo should be part in Group A of the UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying, together with Estonia, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey and 2019 World Cup runners-up finisher Netherlands.[10] On 30 August 2019, Kosovo made their debut on UEFA Women's Championship qualifying with a 2–0 home win against Turkey, which was also the team's first-ever competitive win.[11]
| UEFA Women's Championship record | UEFA Women's Championship qualification record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| 1993 | Part of FR Yugoslavia | |||||||||||||||
| 1997 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Team did not exist | |||||||||||||||
| 2005 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Not a UEFA member | |||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Could not enter | |||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Did not qualify | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 29 | |||||||||
| Total | — | 0/13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 29 | |
Minor tournaments
Kosovo has so far participated in two editions of the Turkish Women's Cup, the first time was in the 2017 edition, when Kosovo lost in all three matches of this tournament against Poland (0–5), which was also her first international match as a FIFA member, against Romania (0–3) and against the host Turkey (2–4). A year later, Kosovo again participated in the 2018 edition, when they lost against France (0–6), Ukraine (0–2), draw against Kazakhstan (1–1) and win against Northern Ireland (1–0).
| Year | Round | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Turkish Women's Cup | Group stage | 4th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | Squad |
| 2018 Turkish Women's Cup | 5th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | Squad | |
| Total | Group stage | 2/2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 21 | — |
Head-to-head record
- As of 30 October 2021
Head-to-head records are included only matches as FIFA member.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Armenia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Belgium | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0.00 |
| Bulgaria | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 100.00 |
| Estonia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 100.00 |
| France | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0.00 |
| Greece | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0.00 |
| Kazakhstan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Luxembourg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 100.00 |
| Malta | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0.00 |
| Montenegro | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | −12 | 0.00 |
| Norway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0.00 |
| North Macedonia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 80.00 |
| Northern Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0.00 |
| Russia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0.00 |
| Romania | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0.00 |
| Slovenia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0.00 |
| Turkey | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | +0 | 33.33 |
| Ukraine | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0.00 |
| 18 Countries | 34 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 39 | 83 | −44 | 38.24 |
See also
- Sport in Kosovo
- Football in Kosovo
- Women's football in Kosovo
- Football in Kosovo
- Men's
- Women's
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ The international governing body of football, FIFA uses the trigramme 'KVX' for Kosovo,[1] while the European governing body of football, UEFA uses the trigramme 'KOS' for Kosovo.[2]
- ^ Caps and goals of the friendly matches against Bulgaria (25 and 28 February 2019), North Macedonia (8 April 2019, 24 and 27 June 2022) and Luxembourg (9 November 2019) are missing.
- ^ a b The club listed is the club for which the player last played a competitive match prior to the call-up.
References
- ^ Dryomin, Mark; Tabeira, Martin; Lozano, Carles; Jeffree, Iain (2 June 2016). "FIFA Country Codes". rsssf.com. RSSSF.
Kosovo (KVX)
- ^ "Football Federation of Kosovo (KOS)". Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ^ (PDF). FIFA. 6 February 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Football Federation of Kosovo joins UEFA". UEFA. 3 May 2016.
- ^ "Kosovo accepted as member of Uefa after Congress vote". The Guardian. 3 May 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b "Kosova në grup me Shqipërinë" [Kosovo in a group with Albania] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 19 January 2017.
- ^ a b "U hodh shorti për Evropianin e femrave" [The lot was drawn for the European women] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 21 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Kosova e mrekullueshme kundër Turqisë, i nis kualifikimet me fitore" [Wonderful Kosovo against Turkey, starts the qualifications with a victory] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 30 August 2019.
- ^ "Nënshkruhet marrëveshja mes FFK-së dhe 'Kelme' për fanellat e Përfaqësueses së Kosovës (Foto/Video)" [Signed the agreement between FFK and 'Kelme' for the kits of Kosovo national football team (Photo/Video)] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 5 October 2016.
- ^ "FFK-ja promovoi logon e re dhe sponsorin e ri teknik" [FFK promoted the new logo and the new technical sponsor] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 16 June 2018.
- ^ "Zbulohen fanellat e reja të Kosovës për Ligën e Kombeve dhe logo e re e FFK-së" [Revealed the new jersey of Kosovo for the Nations League and the new logo of FFK] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 16 June 2018.
- ^ "Kosova grumbullohet për dy kualifikueset e fundit të Botërorit" [Kosovo gathers for the last two World Cup qualifiers] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 29 August 2022.
- ^ "Kosova pëson humbje kundër Shqipërisë me autogol në minutat shtesë" [Kosovo suffers losses against Albania with an own goal in extra minutes] (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 6 April 2017.
External links
- Official website (in Albanian and English)
- Kosovo (women) News about the team