Spain will be looking for the third win in a row this weekend when they host Albania at RCDE Stadium in an international friendlies fixture. Showdown schedules for 26th March 2022 at 21:45 EAT.
Spain comfortably secured their spot at the 2022 World Cup by finishing top of Group B, collecting 19 points from eight matches, with La Roja finishing their campaign with a win against Sweden on November 14. The Spaniards have finished their qualifying campaign with six wins, one draw, and one defeat in eight outings, shipping only five goals along the way. The hosts also went unbeaten in all of their home qualifiers.
Luis Enrique’s side prepares for this fixture following 1-0 WC Qualifiers – Europe win to beat Sweden in their last game. In that match, Spain had 72% possession, 12 shots on goal with 4 of them on target and a goal scored by Álvaro Morata (86′). Sweden got seven shots with none of them on target.
Albania on the other hand did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup, having finished third in Group I with 18 points from their 10 matches, two points behind second-placed Poland. The team has never qualified for the finals of a World Cup, but they did compete at Euro 2016, losing two of their three matches to drop out of the tournament in the group stage. Currently the visitors have some high-profile Serie A defenders in their ranks and we expect them to give Spain a game here.
Albania will be hoping for another coming off 1-0 WC Qualifiers – Europe victory over Andorra in their previous fixture. In that game, Albania had 75% possession, 19 shots with six of them on target and a goal scored by Endri Çekiçi (73′). Andorra got eight shots with three of them on target.
Spain vs Albania head to head
In five head-to-head encounters between the two sides since 1986, Spain holds the clear advantage, having won all the five games.
- Spain 3-0 Albania 06/10/17
- Albania 0-2 Spain 09/10/16
- Spain 9-0 Albania 19/12/90
- Spain 5-0 Albania 18/11/87
- Albania 1-2 Spain 03/12/86
Home
- Spain 1-0 Sweden
- Greece 0-1 Spain
- Spain 1-2 France
- Italy 1-2 Spain
- Kosovo 0-2 Spain
Away
- Albania 1-0 Andorra
- England 5-0 Albania
- Albania 0-1 Poland
- Hungary 0-1 Albania
- Albania 5-0 San Marino
Spain team news
Diego Llorente is the only confirmed injury concern for the hosts.
Albania team news
As for Albania, Enea Mihaj has been forced to withdraw from the squad due to a positive COVID-19 test, while Nedim Bajrami will also not be involved in this match through injury.
Prediction and odds
Spain is our favorite to win in this fixture however they have not managed to score more than two goals in any of their last five fixtures while Albania has been struggling to create chances against bigger teams recently.
- Spain Win
- Goals under 2.5
- Both teams to score (No)
