The 14th episode of “In the House of Football” was broadcast live today on the FSHF TV channel. Hosted by Lenida Halilaj, the guests in the studio were journalist Kristi Sejatllari and football analyst Ardi Behari.
During this episode, there was extensive discussion about the recent performances of the Red and Blacks’ players, the progress of the “Abissnet Superiore” championship, with a special focus on the matches of Matchday 20, where the race for the top of the standings and survival has become increasingly competitive. The discussion also covered the Albanian Football Association’s ongoing investments in sports infrastructure and the development of football in the country.
This episode also featured an exclusive interview with the head coach of the Albanian national team, Sylvinho. The Red and Black coach has returned to the Albanian Football Association’s headquarters for more than a week following the winter break and has begun preparations for the March matches. Albania aims to make history by attempting, for the first time, to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Below is the interview with head coach Sylvinho for FSHF TV:
– How would you analyze or define your year 2025 with the Albanian national team?
– First of all, congratulations to everyone, best wishes for the new year! It’s a pleasure to speak with you. If I look back, I am satisfied with what we have done. We are talking about eight matches in the World Cup qualifiers: we won six, drew two, and lost two. Two of those were friendlies, which we won. We have always believed in this team. I must also say something very important: our players, every time they step onto the pitch, give everything—100%, with heart and soul. They represent our people very well, and I am proud of them for that.
– Which moments would you consider difficult, and which very positive, during the qualifiers?
– It’s a long journey, as you all know—this is how it is with national teams. Eight matches over 9–10 months. A long journey that generates stress. I think a very difficult moment for us was the draw in Latvia. We drew a tough match, but when you are talking about an objective, a dream, that match needed to be won. That was a difficult moment to reset mentally—it was June—to regroup and do the calculations. That’s when the idea is created that you have to recover those points in a future match, and then Serbia was next. It was very difficult to mentally reset after that moment.
– We all know that first place in the World Cup qualifying group was extremely difficult to achieve, but regarding second place, which moment do you consider decisive for qualifying for the play-off phase?
– After that very difficult moment in Latvia, in September we beat Latvia, in October we beat Serbia away, and in November we beat Andorra away as well. That was the moment when I saw a more mature team, after three years in which I experienced the European Championship qualifiers and a very important and beautiful European Championship. I can say that now we are used to playing important, decisive matches, whether against Italy or against a more modest team. These players have started to understand and play decisive matches against strong national teams. They performed very well in those three consecutive matches—it wasn’t easy—but we won, and that brought us to the play-offs. In my opinion, those three months were very special.
– In the play-off draw, Albania will face Poland away from home. How do you evaluate this draw?
– I was there. I always tell the President that we can’t go together to a draw—either one or the other should go, and of course the President should go. I say this jokingly, of course, because it’s always a difficult draw.
There aren’t many options to choose from there. We’re talking about two matches, where everyone comes at 100%. From time to time, I hear people say there might be a weak or easy team to beat. As a coach who has lived football for more than a decade, I disagree. Football has changed—everything is analyzed, and in 90 minutes anything can happen. Poland is a strong team; we know them well. They have their process, we have ours. Now it will be played, and anything can happen.
– We know Poland from the Euro 2024 qualifiers. Comparing Poland and Albania in 2023 and in 2025/2026, how do you see the two teams at this moment?
– In football, after three months everything can change, and now we’re talking about two or three years ago. They have a very good team with great players. Few people know or remember that the same Poland, four years ago, went to the play-offs for the 2022 World Cup. They didn’t play the first match because it was against Russia, but in the second match they beat Sweden 2–0 in the final. It’s a team with important players, used to and familiar with the play-off stage, and they have participated in the World Cup.
On our side, we have a team that has improved a lot. As I said, it’s a team that is now used to playing difficult, decisive matches. All matches are difficult, of course, but these are decisive ones. It’s 90 minutes where you know you have to make as few mistakes as possible, because every detail matters— even the smallest mistake can cost you dearly.
I believe very much in our team, in the players and in our work. There are still 2–3 months to go, and I hope we arrive there at full strength.
– As part of the preparations for the March match, how have you planned the work with the technical staff? Have you planned meetings with national team players?
– We have everything planned. We’ve been in Tirana for a week now and work has already begun. I’ve learned a lot from working with the national team, and mistakes cannot be made in reorganizing the work. At this moment, we are reviewing many things we did well and not so well in the past year. Now we are communicating with our players. Of course, the time will come to watch matches, study the opponent, and also visit our players. All of this is in the program. We have to carry it out over the next 6–7 weeks, work well, and of course we will visit 3–4–5 players during this period.
– Between the objective and the dream, where do you think Albania stands today regarding participation in the World Cup?
– This is an office. I have another office, but here we work. I’m used to telling the staff that this is a workspace, especially with a national team, where a lot of work is done inside the office. There is a small discussion here with someone from the staff—of course in a positive sense—about the dream and the objective. I believe that we have achieved a dream, and now we must move toward the objective.
– Can we do it?
– Absolutely!
