Turkey to face Albania in EURO 2020 qualifiers Friday

By Fatih Erel

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Turkish National Football Team will face Albania on Friday in the European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2020.

In Group H, Turkey will meet Albania in an away match on Friday at Loro Borici Stadium in Shkoder at 1945GMT.

The Turkish team will face France, Iceland, Albania, Moldova and Andorra in Group H in the qualifying rounds.

Turkey could not score in their last four matches when they played against Russia, Sweden Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine.

So far in 566 matches, the Turkish National Football Team won 212 and lost 221 matches.

In their 10 previous encounters Turkey beat Albania four times, taking four defeats with the remaining two matches ending in a draw.

Besiktas manager Senol Gunes will be leading the Turkey against Albania before officially becoming the team’s manager for a 4-year term starting June 1.

Earlier this month, the Turkish national football team and head coach Mircea Lucescu mutually terminated their contract.

During Lucescu's tenure, Turkey had failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia.

Gunes had previously brought Turkey to third place in the 2002 FIFA World Cup during his last and only other time at the head of the team.

On Friday, Andorra will take on Iceland while Moldova will face France in other Group H matches.

On March 25, Turkey will play against Moldova at home in Eskisehir in the second group matches.

The European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2020 will kick off on Thursday night.

The winner and runner-up from 10 groups each will automatically qualify for the UEFA EURO 2020 final tournament.

The EURO 2020 qualifiers will determine 20 teams while four others will qualify from the UEFA Nations League playoffs in March 2020.

The schedule for match day 1 is as follows:

(All kick-off at 1945GMT unless otherwise stated)

Thursday

Group C: Netherlands v Belarus, Northern Ireland v Estonia

Group E: Croatia v Azerbaijan, Slovakia v Hungary

Group G: Austria v Poland, North Macedonia v Latvia, Israel v Slovenia

Group I: Belgium v Russia, Kazakhstan v Scotland (16.00), Greek Cypriot v San Marino

Friday

Group A: England v Czech Republic, Bulgaria v Montenegro

Group B: Portugal v Ukraine, Luxembourg v Lithuania

Group H: Moldova v France, Andorra v Iceland, Albania v Turkey

Saturday

Group D: Georgia v Switzerland (15.00), Gibraltar v Republic of Ireland (18.00)

Group F: Spain v Norway, Sweden v Romania (18.00), Malta v Faroe Islands (18.00)

Group J: Italy v Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina v Armenia, Liechtenstein v Greece