On Romania's “route” to the World Cup, the players from Kosovo are ready for a historic success

• Slovakia and Kosovo will meet on Thursday, March 26, from 9:45 p.m., in Bratislava, in the semi-final of the 2026 World Championship qualifier. The duel will be broadcast in liveTEXT format on GSP.ro.

For his part, the coach of the guests, Franco Foda, said before the play-off semi-final for participation in the WC 2026 that his players focused on tactics during the training camp and that their only goal is victory.

Kosovo is fighting for its first participation in a World Cup, having so far not had a presence at a European tournament.

Kosovo has only the victory in the semi-final against Slovakia in mind

“We know how important this match is. We have had three essential training sessions, we know Slovakia's strengths and weaknesses. We are on the verge of a historic success and I expect a balanced duel. I personally and the whole team are ready for the fight against Slovakia,” said Muriqi at the press conference in Bratislava, according to the Kosovar portal Koha.net, quoted by sport.aktuality.sk.

The 31-year-old striker, who plays for Mallorca in Spain, missed a penalty at Elche on Saturday when he could have leveled at 2-2 in the second minute of second-half extra time. “Only the penalty taker is wrong. On Thursday, if there is a penalty, and I hope it is, I will take it.” reacted the goalscorer Muriqi, who scored no less than 18 goals in 28 matches in the current La Liga season.

At the same time, he praised a club teammate, Slovakian defender Martin Valjent: “He is the player closest to me and he helps me both on and off the field. We have been close since day one. He is a professional and I have respect for him. He loves his country very much and has always supported it, even when he was not called up. It will be an interesting duel between me and Martin.” the Kosovar star also said.

The Kosovo national team, which took second place in Group B of the qualifiers behind Switzerland, did not arrive in Slovakia in full form. Amir Rrahmani cannot be relied upon, nor can Hoffenheim midfielder Leon Avdullahu.

However, the Kosovars have won seven of their last ten matches, drawn twice and lost only in Switzerland.

“We have only one goal, to win the match. I am not focusing on anything else. When I signed the contract, the goal was to qualify for the next European Championship. But the team has grown and now we will try to qualify for the World Championship. We had to improve and gradually young players joined to help grow the team. Now we look forward.

During the training camp we prepared well, we focused on tactics. We are ready to show that we can win, as we did against Iceland, Slovenia and Sweden,” said the Kosovar coach, Franco Foda.