Albanian fans celebrate after Nedim Bayrami scores his team’s first goal during Italy’s UEFA EURO 2024 group stage match against Albania. (Ángel Martínez – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
UEFA Euro 2024 kicked off on Friday and has already delivered one of the tournament’s most chaotic moments, with Albania scoring a surprise goal against Italy inside the first minute of the match.
Just 23 seconds into the match, Albanian midfielder Nedim Bayrami took advantage of a sloppy Italian throw-in to score the first goal of the match, giving Albania the lead and earning the title of the fastest goal scored in Euros history.
Albania’s goal was not only a record-breaker, but also a major blow to Italy, an underdog team currently ranked 9th in the FIFA rankings, while Albania is 66th.
Though the two teams aren’t technically rivals, the Euros tend to bring out the chaotic and competitive spirit in everyone. Just before the match, a video of an exchange between fans went viral in which an Albanian fan grabbed a handful of spaghetti in front of an Italian fan, prompting one of the Italians to jokingly kneel down.
Albanian fans crackle spaghetti in front of Italian fans before the two countries meet at Euro 2024. 🫣
This means war. 🇦🇱pic.twitter.com/nYzNkhVsqm
— Men In Blazers (@MenInBlazers) June 15, 2024
Symbolically, it took Albania just 23 seconds to bring Italy to their knees, but even after Albania had broken down the Italian defence, it didn’t take long for Italy to hit back.
Italy regained the lead with goals from Alessandro Bastoni in the 11th minute and Nicolo Barella in the 16th minute as the Albanian defense crumbled.
The score remained 2-1 for the remaining 90 minutes, giving Italy three points in Group B.
