January 15, 2026
League football in Albania resumed this week after a short winter break and the start of the second half of the season, with Round 19 of the 2025/26 Kategoria Superiore, which for sponsorship reasons is known as Abissnet Superiore, but more commonly as the Superliga.
These diaries had once previously reported on the Albanian top division, with a review of Round 19 of the 2022/23 season.
That day, Partizani drew 1-1 at home with Egnatia to remain in 2nd place in the table, but they went on to win the title after finishing level on points with KF Tirana but had a better head-to-head record against their rivals. This was Partizani’s 17th title.
The two most recent titles have been won by Egnatia, whose success in 2023/24 was the first in their history.
The format changed slightly in 2023/24 as in addition to the 36-game regular season, the top four now play a semi-final and a final to determine the final places. This additional round is called the Final Four.
Today was a meeting of 6th vs 7th.
2025/26 Season
Current champions Egnatia led the table at the winter break, sitting four points ahead of Elbasani, with Dinamo City a further point behind. Record champions KF Tirana were bottom with just one win from their 18 games.
Partizani were in a disappointing 6th place with a 6-5-7 record but their management had recently been making bullish statements about targeting a place in the Final Four. They had started the season poorly, with just two victories in their first 10 matches, but were now currently 7 points behind 4th placed Vllaznia. However, they were on a run of two consecutive losses, the most recent one being a 1-3 reverse at home to Dinamo City.
Newly promoted Vora were in 7th place with a 5-4-9 record, one point ahead of Bylis Ballsh in the relegation play-off position. Last time out they were victorious 4-1 at home against Bylis Ballsh, which brought to an end of three consecutive defeats and took them above their opposition, and out of the relegation zone.
The previous two meetings this season between Partizani and Vora had resulted in an opening day 1-0 home win for Partizani, and a 0-0 draw in November in the return fixture.
Futball Klub Partizani
Partizani were founded in 1946 and are one of the most successful sides in Albania after FK Tirana and FK Dinamo Tirana ( now Dinamo City ).
Home is the 4,500 capacity Arena e Demave ( Bulls Arena ) which opened in 2022, and their nickname is The Red Bulls as their usual colours are all red.
Last season Partizani finished in third place after winning the third/fourth place play-off in the Final Four Round. This gave them a place in this season’s Europa Conference League, where they were eliminated in the First Round by Estonian side Nomme Kalju, 2-1 on aggregate.
Partizani’s average attendance this season was 1,638, boosted by the 7,156 who attended the derby against KF Tirana, which was played at the larger Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana.
Partizani had three players on three goals for the season, Azeri striker Vusal Isgandarli ( 1 cap ), Under 21 International forward Rrok Toma, and Colombian Diego Contreras. Captain Xhuliano Skuka ( 4 caps ), who had played for Metz, Slovenian side Maribor and Romanian side Politehnica Iasi, had two goals to his name. The €1.4M Metz paid for Skuka in 2023 is reported as the highest transfer fee ever received by Partizani.
Partizani had four Kosovans in their squad. Centre-back Andi Janjeva was born in London and had played for Dover, Altin Bytuci was a former Under 19 international, former Under 21 international midfielder Redon Ismaili, and defensive midfielder Adnard Mehmeti
North Macedonian left-back and captain David Atanaskoski was in his second spell with the club, and had also played for Kazakh side Shakhter Karagandy and Poiltehnica Iasi.
Midfielder Kamar Qaka ( 4 caps ) signed for Partizani this week from North Macedonian side Shkendija and had previously played for several clubs in Norway as well as Politehnica Iasi, FCSB and Universitatea Craiova in Romania, and Hungarian club Mezokovesd but was not in the squad for today’s game.
Defender Saliou Sembene was from Senegal and right-back Carlos Martinez ( 11 caps ) was from Costa Rica. Midfielder Archange Bintsouka had won 5 caps for the Republic of Congo.
South African midfielder Rowan Human ( 8 caps ) was Partizani’s most valuable player at €500K according to Transfermrkt
Vora Futball Klub
Vore is a town in the County of Tirana with an estimated population of 22,000. Its most famous feature is probably Tirana International Airport !
Vore’s football side were founded in 2009 and won last season’s second tier Kategoria e Pare to achieve promotion to the top tier Kategoria Superiore for the first time ever.
Home is the Vora Stadium, which has just been renovated to a UEFA Category 2 stadium with a new central stand, upgraded dressing rooms and other facilities. Today’s match was the first match to be played in the new stadium, which now has an official capacity of 2,200 and has an artificial surface.
Vora’s average attendance this season was 817, with the highest being 1,500 for their game against FK Tirana, their first home match in the top level, which was played in Laci. Most of Vora’s other home matches this season had been played at the Kompleski International in Tirana.
Vora’s nickname is Voraket, which according to Google Translate means The Holes.
Vora’s top scorers so far this season were winger Bernard Karrica, who had played in Croatia for Rijeka and Gorica in Slovenia, and attacking midfielder Irgi Kasalla, both of whom had found the net four times.
Vora’s foreign players included ex-Rot-Weiss Oberhausen Lithuanian forward Manfredas Ruzgis ( 3 caps ), ex-Wisla Krakow, Shkendija and Zilina North Macedonian midfielder Enis Fazlagic ( 1 cap ) and Nigerian centre-back Chibuike Ohaegbulam.
There were also three journeymen Brazilians, forward Luis Felipe, midfielder Wallace and defender Vinicius Caesar. English midfielder Kevin Dalipi played for West Ham Under 18s, before moving on to Harlow, Cheshunt, Beaconsfield Town and Waltham Abbey, whilst Dario Daka held dual Italian and Albanian Citizenship, and after starting his career at Leece was now on loan from Serie C side Trapani, and was a current Under 21 Albanian International.
Keeper Romeo Harizaj had been called up to the National side when a Dinamo Tirana player but was yet to make his international debut, right-back Henri Zuna was previously with Partizani, whilst captain Xhuljo Tabaku was a former Under 21 International and had played for Wuppertal.
Matchday Information
Although this match was a home game for Partizani, it was being played at Vora’s stadium, which is 24km away by road, and according to AA Route Planner, the journey should normally take 26 minutes. About 75 Partizani ultras were packed into small corner of the ground with a Guerrils banner, which is presumably Albanian for Guerrillas……
Tickets for the match ranged between 500-1,000 Lek ( £4.50 to £9 ), with VIP tickets at 2,000 Lek ( £18 ). Entrance was free for women and under 12s, and during breaks in play the TV cameraman was partial to showing pictures of young women who had turned up to watch the game !
The weather at the 13.30 local time kick-off ( 12.30 UK time ) was dry with sunny intervals and a temperature of 12 degrees.
The match was live streamed on FIFA+ with a commentary in Albanian !
Strangely Bet365 offered no odds for this game but Bet Fred made Partizani evens favourites, with Vora at 11/4 and the draw 2/1.
Partizani made four changes from their last match, bringing in Martinez, Human, Mehmeti and Bintsouka with Janjeva, Contreras, Paulo Buxhelaj and Marjus Kola taking their places amongst the substitutes.
Vora made three changes, selecting defender Dejan Shehi, and midfielders Patrik Bardhi and Dalipi. Ohaegbulam, Fazlagic and Daka dropped to the bench
Partizani were playing in all red, whilst Vora were in all blue
Match Report
After an opening three minutes of next to nothing happening, the game nearly had a dramatic start when Bardhi’s long range dipping shot could only be parried by Partizani keeper Pano Qirko and Kasalla was bundled over by Martinez as he followed up on the rebound. It looked like a clear penalty but there didn’t even appear to be a VAR check.
Two minutes later Partizani were awarded a free-kick close to the right-hand touchline midway inside the Vora half but Atanaskoksi’s left-footed in-swinging delivery bounced harmlessly through to keeper Harizaj.
After this initial burst of action, the game developed into a pattern of both sides probing and passing nicely until the final third, where the final pass was either poor or well defended. Both defences were on top, and goalmouth action was few and far between.
In the 14th minute a loose Vora pass was intercepted near the half-way line and Mehmeti ran deep into the Vora half. He then played a reverse pass to Isgandarli but after cutting back onto his right foot the finish went high over the bar. In any case, the TV replay showed Isgandarli was offside.
At the other end, a quick throw-in by Segerso Geci put Dalipi in space inside the Partizani area but his left footed shot from angle of 6-yard box was at the keeper, who held on to the ball.
Vora showed some imagination from a free-kick 25 yards out. Geci shaped to go for goal but then played a pass wide of the defensive wall for Bardhi to run onto, but the pass was overhit and Bardhi was unable to keep it in play.
In the 25th minute Vora broke quickly and Mario Barjamai released Geci on the left, but his pull back went behind his forwards and Partizani cleared.
A minute later a long ball enabled Ruzgis to run into Partizani area but his touch was heavy, forcing him into a very tight angle and the eventual shot was poor and went high and wide.
On the half-hour mark, Partizani won a free-kick wide on their right after Atanaskoski was fouled by Jurgen Vrapi. Atanaskoksi’s in-swinging kick was headed away by Kasalla for a corner before Mehmeti or Toma could head home.
Shortly after, Toma showed good skill to make space for a shot on edge of the Vora area but Vrapi made a good block.
Three minutes before the interval, Atanaskoski had another chance to send a free-kick into the Vora area, but it was sent too far beyond the far post where Bytyci was unable to keep his header in play.
After a pretty uneventful half, drama broke out as the game moved into added on time. Bardhi had possession inside his own penalty area but when Isgandarli nipped the ball away from the Vora midfielder, he was unnecessarily brought down when going nowhere. A clear penalty for Partizani. Toma took responsibility but could only shoot against the keeper’s right hand post, and Vora managed to scramble the ball away for a throw-in.
The referee then blew for half-time with the game still scoreless. Although Partizani had enjoyed 59% of the possession, their only real chance was the missed penalty whilst Vora had created a couple of half-chances and could have had a penalty of their own.
For most of the second half, there was even less action than the first period. Early on Kasalla won a corner which was punched away by Qirko. When Barjamai sent a teasing cross into 6-yard box it took a ricochet as players challenged for the ball, and Partizani were able to hoof clear.
Each side had a player shown a yellow card after a bout of handbags when Vora took issue with Partizani not putting the ball out of play when Kasalla stayed down after not getting a free-kick when tackled. Bytyci and Bardhi entered the referee’s note-book
A cross from Bardhi was headed out of the Partizani area by Martinez, then Shehi put the ball of play for a corner to Partizani to prevent Isgandarli getting to the byline.. After this had been cleared, Atanaskoski crossed into the 6-yard box and Harizaj claimed.
Zuna was next to see yellow after fouling Isgandarli near the left-hand touchline.
Partizani came close to opening the scoring after Mehmeti’s chip released Isgandarli near the left-hand byline and his shot hit keeper Harizaj’s leg. Vora centre-back Serjan Repaj cleared over his own bar before Contreras could tap in.
With 70 minutes played Partizani came close again. Human bust through two defenders and after the ball bounced off a defender, his volley from just inside the area produced a splendid save from Harizaj, diving to his left.
As an indication of the declining quality of the play, for Vora, Shehi shot 10 yards over the bar from long range, followed by Bintsouka shooting high and wide from 10 yards for Partizani. This chance for Partizani had come after a shot from Skuka struck the arm of a Vora defender, the free-kick from Contreras had been played in to the wall and then reworked back into the Vora area.
Human saw a long range shot blocked by Shehi on edge of the Vora area, then Vora keeper Harizaj clawed away a corner after Ismaili’s shot had deflected of Bardhi.
With two minutes of normal time remaining, Partizani appealed for another penalty when substitute Besar Gudjufi tumbled to the floor after being tackled by Vrapi when trying to shoot, but the referee was unimpressed and VAR didn’t intervene.
Out of the blue a goal was scored ! Repaj played a nice looking cross-field ball over the Partizani left-back area, where Barajamai brought the ball down beyond the far post and shot from 6 yards. Qirko saved with his legs, but the ball fell to Daka 8 yards out, whose shot on the slide went into the ground and into the roof of the net, over Bytyci’s despairing attempt to make the block. The linesman flagged for offside against Barajamai but VAR showed he was clearly onside, and the goal was given. 0-1 after 90 minutes.
It was a classic smash and grab but Vora had the lead.
Partizani searched for an equaliser and forced consecutive corners. From the second, Bytyci’s header hit teammate Sembene, then he volleyed the rebound from edge of area but Harizaj comfortably saved the bouncing ball by his right-hand post.
There was still time for Vora coach Arjan Bellaj to be shown a red card by the referee, presumably for dissent, but he needn’t have worried as his side easily held on to take the three points.
This wasn’t a great game and Partizani probably didn’t deserve to lose. However, they missed a penalty, were caught out once at the back, and despite large amounts of possession created very little. Vora were well organised, but also light up front.
Both sides remained in the same places in the table, but Vora were now just a point behind Partizani, and four points clear of the relegation/play-off place. Partizani were now 10 points away from a place in the Final Four.
FK Partizani : Qirko – Martinez, Sembene, Bytyci, Atanaskoski – Bintsouka ( Kote ), Mehmeti ( Gudjufi ), Human, Ismaili, Isgandarli ( Skuka ) – Toma ( Contreras )
Vora FK : Harizaj – Zuna, Shehi, Repaj, Vrapi – Bardhi ( Daka ), Dalapi ( Fazlagic ), Kasalla, Barjamaj, Geci ( Tabaku ) – Ruzgis ( Felipe )
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