Kosovo humiliated by Croatia with a 6-0 leaving the debuting team bottom of the Group.

Kosovofaced a humiliating 6-0 defeat against Croatia in their first competitive home match, which was played in Albania’s Loro Borici stadium in Shkodra.

Due to lack of infrastructure, Kosovo could not host the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match and instead thousands of Kosovan fans made thir way to neighboring Albania.

Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic scored a first-half hat-trick for Croatia, who are top of qualifying Group I.

Matej Mitrovic, Ivan Perisic and Nikola Kalinic scored in the second half to leave Kosovo bottom of the group.

Kosovo’s Bernard Berisha thinks Kosovo’s team will improve in future matches as ‘Kosovo has a good team’.

‘We have to think about the qualifier against Ukraine. I have faith in this group but we should be more united in the field. We have to play as a team and then everything else is possible’ said Berisha.

Ahead of the game, team coach Albert Bunjaki reportedly said that the Albanian flag would “not be allowed in the Loro Borici stadium in Shkodra”.

A similar decision, reportedly made by FIFA, applied during Kosovo’s match against Finland, when a KFF official reminded Kosovo fans by megaphone that their flag was blue, not red-and-black, the colours of Albania.

This infuriated many Kosovo fans who are almost entirely drawn from fans of the Albanian team – the loudest of whom are the “Tifozat Kuq e Zi” [“Red and Black Fans”], signifying the national colors of the Albanian nation.

UEFA and FIFA admitted Kosovo as a member in May, and in September they drew their first international official match 1-1 against Finland. The match against Croatia was historic for Kosovan fans as two former entities of ex-Yugoslavia battled against each other as separate independent countries.

Politically, both Croatia and Kosovo have been supportive of each-other’s independence and respective fans brought down any false allegations from Serbian media of possible fan clashes in Shkodra, as they celebrated in a very joyful and peaceful manner.