UEFA Has Banned Six International Matches From Taking Place

UEFA has banned six international football matches from taking place over the years, including Gibraltar vs Spain and Russia vs Ukraine.

Unlike club football, where teams can play each other regardless of rivalry, the international game is significantly different.

Teams can be banned from playing each other due to conflict or political tension, while individual nations have been banned entirely from competing in UEFA or FIFA-sanctioned events.

One of the fixtures that remains on the football calendar despite political tensions is Serbia vs Albania – a game that will take place on Saturday as the pair go head-to-head in a World Cup qualifier.

Following decades of animosity, around 2,000 police personnel were deployed for their first Group K meeting in June.

Albania came up against Serbia back in June. Image credit: Getty

The fixture certainly has history. Back in 2014, during a game between the two sides, an Albanian nationalist flag appeared above the pitch, with Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic then attempting to bring it down.

A mass brawl ensued between the two teams, Serbian fans invaded the pitch and four Albanian players suffered minor injuries. UEFA suspended the game and eventually awarded a 3-0 walkover win to Albania.

When it comes to other rivalries, a total of six matches have been prevented from taking place by UEFA, including Ukraine vs Russia, Kosovo vs Serbia/Bosnia/Russia, Armenia vs Azerbaijan and Gibraltar vs Spain.

Since their invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia have been banned from playing in UEFA-sanctioned competitions, but the two nations were kept apart even before then.

In fact, they've only played each other on two occasions, with Russia beating Ukraine 3-2 in qualifying for Euro 2000 in September 1998, before a 1-1 draw between the sides over a year later.

The 1998 - 1999 Kosovo war, fought between Yugoslav forces, made up of a contingent of Serbians and Montenegrins and ethnic Albanian rebels seeking independence, has resulted in three football fixtures being banned from taking place – Kosovo vs Serbia/Bosnia/Russia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan do not play each other in football due to the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has led to a ban on matches between the two nations by UEFA.

And finally, Gibraltar are not able to face Spain. The island, a British overseas territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, has long been the subject of a territorial claim by Spain.

Full list of fixtures that are banned by UEFA and FIFA

• Spain v Gibraltar - Disputes over who owns Gibraltar
• Armenia v Azerbaijan - Ethical and territorial conflict
• Kosovo v Serbia - Historical and ethical conflict - Kosovo independence
• Kosovo v Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosnia support of Serbia against Kosovo
• Kosovo v Russia - Russia support of Serbia against Kosovo
• Russia v Ukraine - Ongoing conflict