UEFA European Championships 2016 Preview: Albania

Albania will make their first European Championship appearance during the 2016 competition in France. Getty

Albania will make their first European Championship appearance during the 2016 competition in France. (Getty)

Albania finished second in Group I to qualify for the 2016 European Championship in France. Although Albania finished 4-2-2 in the group, the punctuation on their European Championship berth was a 1-0 win over world power Portugal. No one scored more than one goal for the Albanians in qualification but good defense saw the side only allow five goals in eight matches.

The 3-0 win over Armenia on October 11, 2015 clinched the first major tournament berth for Albania. Futhermore, this is only the second time that Albania has finished better than third in qualification, as they were third in qualification to the 1968 European Championship. A positive trait for the founding UEFA member is that they have not ended bottom of a qualifying group in their last seven campaigns.