Albania and Kosovo league formats 2026/27 explained

Albania and Kosovo both run ten-club top divisions, but they no longer decide the title the same way. Albania's Kategoria Superiore switched to a new format for 2026/27: 27 regular matchdays, then every club's points are halved and the table splits into a six-team championship play-off and a four-team relegation play-out. Kosovo's Superliga is a plain league table with no title play-off; last season the bottom two went down and the eighth-placed club had to win a one-off survival match.

The two leagues side by side

Both leagues award three points for a win and one for a draw. How level teams are separated is set by each federation's regulations; the general principles are covered in our guide to league table tiebreakers.

Albania: the new Kategoria Superiore format

The 88th edition of the Albanian championship kicked off on 21 August 2026 with Vllaznia v Skënderbeu and is scheduled to finish on 9 May 2027. The ten clubs are Egnatia, AF Elbasani, Vllaznia, Dinamo City, Partizani, Tirana, Vora, Teuta, Laçi and Skënderbeu.

Regular phase

Every club plays the other nine three times, which makes 27 matchdays. When that phase ends, the table is cut in two and the points collected so far are halved before the second part of the season begins.

Championship play-off

The top six play each other home and away over ten more matchdays. The final order of this group decides the champion and places one to six. There is no final and no knockout tie: it is a mini-league, and whoever has the most points at the end takes the title.

Relegation play-out

The clubs ranked 7th to 10th meet three times each, nine matches per team.

• The club that ends up 10th is relegated directly to the Kategoria e Parë.
• The club in 9th plays a single play-off match against the loser of the second division's promotion play-off final, a play-off contested by the teams ranked 3rd to 6th there.

What changed

In 2025/26 the league had four rounds (36 matchdays) followed by a "Final 4": the top four carried halved points into three extra matches. Egnatia and AF Elbasani finished that stage level on 37 points, and Egnatia took a third consecutive title on head-to-head goal difference. The federation developed the new structure together with UEFA, aiming to leave fewer matches with nothing at stake.

One more novelty: in the league and the cup every team must start a player born in 2007 or later who holds an Albanian passport, and keep him on for at least one half.

Kosovo: the Superliga

The 2026/27 Superliga began on the weekend of 14–16 August 2026. The clubs are Drita, Ballkani, Malisheva, Prishtina, Dukagjini, Gjilani, Drenica, Llapi and the two promoted sides, Vushtrria and Feronikeli 74.

There is no play-off for the title: the club at the top of the table is champion. In 2025/26 the league ran for 36 matchdays, so every club met each opponent four times. Drita clinched the title with three rounds to spare, their fifth championship (2002/03, 2017/18, 2019/20, 2024/25, 2025/26) and second in a row, while Malisheva finished runners-up for the first time.

At the bottom, last season worked like this: the last two, Ferizaj and Prishtina e Re, were relegated directly to the Liga e Parë, and the eighth-placed team went into the barazh, a single match against the winner of the second tier's own play-off. Llapi beat Dinamo Ferizaj 2-0 on neutral ground to stay up. Vushtrria and Feronikeli 74 came up automatically as the top two of the Liga e Parë.

The road to Europe

Each country sent four clubs into UEFA qualifying for 2026/27: the champions into the Champions League first qualifying round, the cup winners and the next-best league finishers into Conference League qualifying. The draw even produced an Albania v Kosovo tie, Vllaznia against Malisheva.

Dinamo City won three ties before losing the play-off round to Pafos (1-1, 2-4 after extra time). AF Elbasani went out in the first round to BATE on penalties, Vllaznia to Malisheva (2-1, 0-5). On the Kosovan side, Drita lost in the Champions League first round, then reached the Conference League play-off round and fell to Inter Club d'Escaldes on penalties; Ballkani (Bohemians, on penalties), Malisheva (Hibernian) and cup winners Dukagjini (Lugano) all went out in the second round.

Egnatia beat Petrocub 7-2 on aggregate, lost to Celje on penalties in the second round, dropped into Europa League qualifying and lost that play-off to Lillestrøm (1-2 on aggregate). That put them in the Conference League league phase, six matches between 15 October and 17 December 2026. No Kosovan club reached a league phase this season; a year earlier Drita did, and went out to Celje in the knockout play-offs. See the Conference League format and the Champions League format for the full picture.

Cups and Supercups

The Albanian Cup (Kupa e Shqipërisë) is single-match knockout up to the last 16, then two-legged in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, with no away-goals rule. Last season's top eight join at the last-16 stage. The 2026/27 edition began on 6 October and the final is scheduled for 12 May 2027. Dinamo City are the holders after beating Egnatia 3-2 in the 2026 final at the Air Albania Stadium.

The Albanian Supercup pairs the champions with the cup winners at the champions' ground; if it is level after 90 minutes it goes straight to penalties. The next one is scheduled for 27 December 2026.

In Kosovo, Dukagjini won the Kosovo Cup for the first time in May 2026, beating Ferizaj 2-1 in the final at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium, which earned them a Conference League qualifying place. The Kosovo Supercup is champions against cup winners: Drita beat Prishtina 2-1 in January 2026.

How to follow both leagues on ScoreMondo

The Kategoria Superiore table and fixtures page shows the standings and every matchday, and the Kosovo Superliga results and table page does the same for Kosovo. On matchdays, live scores update with every goal and card, and each match page carries events, statistics and line-ups. Yesterday's results are listed by day, and Egnatia's European run sits on the Conference League page. In the apps you can add a team to your favourites and switch on goal alerts.

A short history

The Albanian federation was founded on 6 June 1930 and the first championship, with six teams, was played that same year; Albania was a founder member of UEFA in 1954. The first Conference League final was played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana on 25 May 2022 (Roma 1-0 Feyenoord).

Kosovo's independent federation dates from August 1991. It became UEFA's 55th member in May 2016 and joined FIFA on 13 May 2016. On the federation's list of champions since 1991, Prishtina lead with 11 titles.

The national teams are in the 2026/27 Nations League: Albania in League C with Finland, Belarus and San Marino, Kosovo in League B with Israel, Austria and the Republic of Ireland. Neither qualified for the 2026 World Cup; Kosovo lost their play-off path final to Türkiye.

Questions and answers

How is the Albanian champion decided in 2026/27?

After 27 matchdays points are halved and the top six play ten more matchdays, home and away. The club that finishes first in that group is champion.

Does Albania still have a Final 4?

No. The Final 4 decided the title up to 2025/26; from 2026/27 a six-team play-off replaces it.

Who is relegated from the Kategoria Superiore?

The club that finishes 10th after the play-out goes down directly. The 9th-placed club plays one play-off match against a second-division side.

What is the barazh in Kosovo?

A one-off match between the eighth-placed Superliga club and the winner of the Liga e Parë play-off. In June 2026 Llapi won it 2-0 against Dinamo Ferizaj.