Croatia and Albania Battle To A Draw

Albania Scores Late Equalizer In Exciting Match

Albania's Late Goal Keeps World Cup Hopes Alive

WEB Albania and Croatia played to a thrilling 2-1 draw on Wednesday night, with Albania scoring a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser to deny Croatia a victory that would have boosted their hopes of reaching the 2020 UEFA European Championship. Albania, who had lost their opening two matches, came from behind to secure a point thanks to Sokol Cikalleshi's 94th-minute strike.

Croatia, the 2018 World Cup finalists, took the lead through Andrej Kramaric in the 18th minute. The home side looked set to take all three points when Nikola Vlašić doubled their advantage just after the hour mark. However, Albania refused to give up and pulled a goal back through Taulant Xhaka in the 77th minute. With the clock ticking down, Cikalleshi popped up with the equaliser to earn Albania a share of the spoils.

The result leaves Croatia in third place in Group E, three points behind leaders Slovakia. Albania, meanwhile, move up to fourth place, two points behind Croatia. With just two matches remaining, both teams will need to win their remaining games and hope for other results to go their way if they are to reach the knockout stages.

The draw was a disappointing result for Croatia, who had been hoping to bounce back from their opening defeat to Slovakia. However, they will take some solace from the fact that they remain in contention for qualification. Albania, meanwhile, will be buoyed by their late equaliser and will now believe that they can reach the knockout stages for the first time.