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By:
Arsim Magjera
- 23 May 2025 18:35
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Three tiny islands, barely visible on a map, in Southeast Africa form the Union of the Comoros. This country declared independence from France in 1975, has a population of 880 and an area of 2235 square kilometers.
Comoros is one of the smallest countries in Africa. And Kosovo will play a friendly football match with this country's national team on June 9 at the "Fadil Vokrri" stadium.
The friendly looks easy on paper. Kosovo is the favorite. But Franco Foda's team is expected to be challenged.
The Football Federation of Kosovo on Friday made the friendly with Comoros official. As a former colony of France, the French influence in Comoros is very large. Even in football, among other things.
The coach of this team is Canadian Stefano Cusin. Comoros does not have any famous players, but many of the players of this team have a career in France. There are players in teams like Lyon, Troyes, Marseille, Amiens and some others. There are also players in the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and some other countries. But not in the best clubs.
In March, Comoros played two qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup. They initially lost 3:0 to Mali and then won 1:0 against Chad. This team is in the race for World Cup qualification. After six rounds, they are second in the group with 12 points, three less than Ghana. This group also includes Madagascar, Mali, the Central African Republic and Chad.
The Comoros national team is on the rise. They first played in the African Cup of Nations in 2021 and reached the round of XNUMX. They have also qualified for the African Cup of Nations since December of this year and will be held in Morocco in January of next year. They won the qualifying group that included Tunisia, Gambia and Madagascar.
A friendly match between Kosovo and Comoros was expected to be played on June 8, 2021 in Turkey. But the African team's players were unable to travel to Turkey due to the coronavirus pandemic. And Kosovo had played a friendly match with Guinea on the same date. They lost 2:1.
Comoros was also a political issue in Kosovo. This country recognized Kosovo on May 14, 2009. In 2018, there were claims from Serbia and Russia that this country had withdrawn its recognition of the state of Kosovo. This was later denied by the Kosovo state authorities.
It is likely that coach Franco Foda will give the opportunity in the match against Comoros, just like in the match against Armenia on June 6, to players who have had little space in the national team. It is expected that many new names will get the chance in these two matches. Meanwhile, some of the starters are not even expected to gather due to the long season with their teams.
In the FIFA rankings, which measure the level of national teams, Kosovo ranks slightly better than Comoros. Kosovo is 97th, while the Comoros national team holds the 105th position.
