UEFA Playoff Final Path C – Kosovo vs. Türkiye | OneFootball

Türkiye and Kosovo had very different one-goal wins to book their place in the Path C Final for a bid to the 2026 World Cup. Türkiye is just 90 minutes from a World Cup return while Kosovo is the same 90 minutes from their grand debut.

Kosovo 4-3 Slovakia

Kosovo was able to sneak past Slovakia 4-3 in their semi-final in Bratislava. The Slovakian crowd erupted in the 6th minute when Martin Valjent, who was making a valiant return to the national team dating back to 2022, headed in the opener from a set-piece. After that, it looked like the home side was going to take control. That wasn’t to be though, as Kosovo found the first equalizer through Veldin Hodža in the 21st minute on a one-time effort from the top of the box, delivered by Mërgim Vojvoda.

Slovakia took back the lead right before halftime thanks to a curling free-kick from Lukáš Haraslín that beat the Kosovo keeper Arijanet Muric to his far post. Yet again, the guests didn’t have to wait too long after halftime for their second equalizer. Star forward Fisnik Asllani flicked on a header in the 47th minute to put Kosovo back level at 2-2.

Despite a stoppage time goal from David Strelec to bring Slovakia back within one, Kosovo had a date with destiny. Florent Muslija, who plays his football with 2. Bundesliga club Fortuna Düsseldorf on loan from SC Freiburg, curled in a free kick of his own in the 60th minute to give the visitors their first lead. 12 minutes later, the eventual game-winner was scored by an unlikely candidate, centre-back Kreshnik Hajrizi.

The Swiss-born defender has been a regular for FC Sion in the Swiss Super League, and he’s even contributed two goals this season, but he’d never scored for his national team.

That changed in the 72nd minute off a corner, with Kosovo winning the first and second balls before Hajrizi pounced on the rebound and left no doubt with an all-power, no finesse shot from close range.

Türkiye 1-0 Romania

Türkiye versus Romania had a lot less goal-scoring drama but with the same amount of tension. On paper, the Istanbul crowd would have expected that a team starting Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Arda Güler, and Kenan Yıldız would have the firepower to dispatch the Tricolorii quite easily. That was not the case, with both teams delivering body blows in the first half but neither finding a way through. The best chance in the first 45 minutes for either side came on a free kick from Çalhanoğlu in the 17th minute, but even that wasn’t on target.

With everything left to play for, Türkiye kept their calm and found the breakthrough in the 53rd minute. Romania had done well to keep their 4-5-1 shape, but Güler dropped deeper and perfectly delivered a ball into the path of the left-back Ferdi Kadıoğlu to slice open the stout Romanian defense. Kadıoğlu handled the bouncing ball and slipped it past the keeper on the doorstep and gave Türkiye the only lead they needed. The home side were closer throughout the second half to their second more than Romania was to their first.

History on the Line

For the Path C final, Türkiye will have many of the bigger names, but they won’t have the home support this time. English referee Michael Oliver, who has refereed high profile matches such as the 2021 FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium and the 2022 UEFA Super Cup between Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Madrid in Helsinki, will need to keep order early with the stakes so high. The two countries are around 830 kilometers apart (about 516 miles), so while they may not be neighbors, there are still some connections. Three of Kosovo’s players, including right-back Florent Hadergjonaj, who was used as a substitute to put away Slovakia, ply their club football in Türkiye.

The Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Pristina has a capacity of 13,980 people and a record attendance of 16,000, and it is without hyperbole that this could be the most significance match in the stadium’s history. The other major events were a concert held in 2007 by rapper 50 Cent and the first friendly match after the Kosovo War held in 2002, with neighbors Albania winning 1-0 amid a ton of geopolitical tension.

For Türkiye, they are looking to get back to the grandest stage of international football for the first time since 2002, where they finished third. Aside from a few veterans of football who might remember the team’s appearance in 1954, this would be just the second time for most to watch the Crescent-Stars at the World Cup.