By Sean Walsh
Albania's Nedim Bajrami broke the record for the fastest goal in European Championship history after scoring in the 23rd second of their group stage encounter with Italy.
The Azzurri, the reigning champions heading into Euro 2024, were much-fancied for Saturday evening's match at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund.
But they were dealt one heck of a sucker-punch with Albania, competing at just their second ever major tournament, taking a shock lead almost immediately from kick-off.
The goal came from a wasteful throw-in from left-back Federico Dimarco. He attempted to find centre-back Alessandro Bastoni, who was caught by surprise and pipped to possession by Bajrami, and he took one touch to set himself before unleashing a fierce strike past Gianluigi Donnarumma at the near post.
Much of the 80,000-strong crowd at the Westfalenstadion were of an Albanian persuasion and the stadium rocked in jubilation as their country scored just their second-ever Euros goal, and one that proved to be a record-breaker.
Unfortunately for Albania, their joy was relatively short-lived as Italy equalised only ten minutes later. Bastoni atoned for his earlier error with a fine header from a Lorenzo Pellegrini cross to pull his side level.
Italy then took the lead through Nicolo Barella soon after as Albania's task turned into a mighty uphill battle following such a promising start.
After Sunday's game, Albania return to action on Wednesday against Croatia in Hamburg, while Italy play a day later against fellow heavyweights Spain in Gelsenkirchen.
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This article was originally published on 90min.com as Albania score fastest goal in European Championship history.
