Albania has scored the fastest goal in European Championship history.
Nedim Bajrami of Albania scored in the twenty-second minutes of their group stage match against Italy, shattering the record for the fastest goal in the history of the European Championship.
The Azzurri were much favoured for Saturday night’s game at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund. They were the current champions going into Euro 2024.
However, they suffered a severe blow when they faced Albania, who were playing in only their second big tournament and who took an unexpected lead virtually right away.
Federico Dimarco, a left-back, mishandled a throw-in that led to the goal. He tried to find Alessandro Bastoni, the center-back, who was caught off guard and outmuscled by Bajrami. After taking a single touch to position himself, he struck hard past Gianluigi Donnarumma at the near post.
The majority of the 80,000 spectators at the Westfalenstadion were Albanian, and when their nation scored only their second-ever Euro goal—a record-breaking one—the stadium erupted in celebration.
Unfortunately, Albania’s happiness was short-lived because Italy tied the score ten minutes later. With a brilliant header from a cross by Lorenzo Pellegrini, Bastoni made up for his earlier mistake and levelled the score for his team.
After such a bright start, Albania’s mission became a difficult uphill battle until Italy’s Nicolo Barella took the lead shortly after.
Following the match on Sunday, Albania will play again on Wednesday in Hamburg against Croatia, while Italy will play again the following day in Gelsenkirchen against Spain, another formidable team.
