Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's premier football competition. It is contested by 10 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Kategoria e Parë. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 36 matches each (playing each team in the league four times, twice at home and twice away). The competition was founded in 1930 as the Albanian National Championship during the reign of King Zog, shortly after the creation of the Albanian Football Association. Since 1930, 45 clubs have competed in recognised competitions, while only ten clubs have won the title:

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

(26), Dinamo Tirana (18), Partizani (17), Vllaznia (9), Skënderbeu (8), Elbasani (2),

Teuta Teuta ( Illyrian: ''*Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; ; ) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death of her spouse Agron in 231 BC, she assumed ...

(2), Egnatia (2), Flamurtari (1) and Kukësi (1). The current champions are Egnatia, who won their 2nd title in 2024–25.

History

Early years

Football was first introduced to Albania by an English-Maltese priest named Gut Ruter, who visited the Saverian college in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

in 1908. The first football club in Albania was Indipendenca, founded in Shkodër in 1912 by Palokë Nika. The first 90-minute game with two 45-minute halves was played in October 1913 between Indipendenca Shkodër and the occupying Austro-Hungarian Imperial Navy. The game is considered to be the first international game to be played in Albania, and it ended in a 2–1 loss for Indipendenca, with the captain and founder of the club Palokë Nika scoring the only goal for the Albanians.

World War II championships

Albania was invaded by Italy in April 1939 and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

soon broke out, meaning the Albanian Football Association, much like the other organisations in the country, ceased operating. Despite the war, three championships were held between 1939 and 1942, with

winning the championships in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

and

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

and Shkodra winning in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

. Despite calls to recognise these championships, the Albanian Football Association maintains the position that the championships were not organised by them and cannot be formally recognised.

Names

Records

Most points in a season 84 points. KF Tirana (2004–05) Most points without winning the league title 79 points. KF Elbasani (2004–05) First Albanian team to qualify for a European competition proper stage. KF Skenderbeu (2017–18) Europa League

Competition format

Since the 2023-24 season, the league consists of 10 clubs, who face each other four times in a season for a total of 36 matches. At the end of the season, the two lowest-placed teams are

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

to the Kategoria e Parë, while two highest-placed teams of the Kategoria e Parë are promoted in their place. The 8th ranked team qualifies to the play-off round, which they play against the Kategoria e Parë play-off winner. The 4 highest place teams at the end of the season play a knockout tournament with a semi-final and a final. If in the semi-final and the end of 90 minutes the game is tied the winner will be decided by the regular season finish in the table.

Clubs (2025–26)

Current members

The following teams are competing in the Kategoria Superiore during the 2025–26 season.

List of champions

Since 1930, the competition has not been played a total of 9 times: 1935, 1938–44, 1949, 1962. Furthermore, the champion award was not given during the 1968–69 season.

Performance by club

* Tirana and Vllaznia would have accordingly 28 and 10 titles, if the three seasons played during WW2 are officially recognised from AFA.

All time table

The all-time table of football clubs that have participated in the Kategoria Superiore, prior to the 2024–2025 season. The ranking is based on the total accumulated points by each club. Teams in bold are part of the 2024–25 season.Shifrat e 79 Kampionateve
In the all-time table are not included the results in the final four round, introduced by 2024-25 season. Teams in bold are part of 2025–2026 season.

UEFA rankings

Current rankings (2024–25)

UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2024–25 European football season (Previous year rank in italics). * 45

(''46'')

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as 360Sports Malta Premier for sponsorship reasons with 360Sports (colloquialism, colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Foot ...

* 46

(''47'')

Erovnuli Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა; ) is the top Division (sport), division of professional top tier Association football, football in Georgia (Country), Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional ...

* 47

(''45'')

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded i ...

* 48

(''52'') Besta deild karla * 49 RedDownArrow

(''43'') Kategoria Superiore * 50 Neutral icon C

(''50'')

Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

* 51

(''51'') Gibraltar Football League * 52 RedDownArrow

(''48'')

Macedonian First Football League The Macedonian First Football League (), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competition in Macedonia. It is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of ...

* 53

(''54'') Primera Divisió

Notes and references

;Notes ;References {{UEFA leagues 1

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...