The Most Controversial World Cup Goal Celebration

When Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri scored the equalising and winning goals for Switzerland against Serbia at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, both players celebrated by performing the double-handed eagle gesture, landing them a hefty fine and causing a minor diplomatic crisis.
Outside of the Balkans, however, few people paid any notice or even really understood what it meant.
So ahead of Switzerland and Serbia meeting in another decisive group stage tie, this time at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, HITC Sevens takes a look at why that celebration in Russia was so controversial, the context behind it, and the build-up to this game.

[@christophersegoviano579]

I came here right after the 2-3 Switzerland win

[@Isyoursuadiboy]

same

[@lalitthapa101]

Aflie's love for football and willingness to talk about politics is a better love story than Twilight

[@sultanahmed-vj1mj]

Not hard twilight is shit

[@nyasha_ish]

To be fair football is politically, its just we never see it (coz its run in the background) unless they is an obvious protest like Pride or BLM but in truth Football is run by far worse Politics that seek to benefit from the global attraction of the Sport. So in short Alfie dive into the politics is freaking grt

[@lalitthapa101]

@@nyasha_ish yes I agree. What I meant with my comment was that not many football content creators are comfortable with addressing the politics that's so attached with football. So seeing Alfie be willing to address It and that too on several occasions is great. We can't just ignore something that affects not only the sport but every section of the society

[@1998Cebola]

Considering the average intelligence of football youtubers I am happy they don't, it takes someone actually being able to pick apart a complex issue for it to work.

[@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716]

Batman vs Superman is a better love story than twilight

[@NickyG_vz]

Man that's why Shaquiri was on such a mission today

[@ajax5472]

He delivered.

[@christophergarbis1444]

He's a loser...

[@ajax5472]

@@christophergarbis1444 loll your team didn’t make it don’t be mad.

[@borutosdad633]

Yeah but its kinda weird how its a bit obvious that hes doing it to infuriate them and bring up politics to a friendly soccer game. I don't like the political direction soccer/football is going.

[@christophergarbis1444]

@@borutosdad633 you're 100 percent correct...then fifa wonders why the fans start saying crazy stuff or fights break out. It's funny how Serbia is always blamed for it.

[@fabianschuerch]

Hillariously, in this game at the wc 2018, not only did Xhaka and Shaqiri celebrate with this gesture, but also Stephan Lichtsteiner (the most swiss swiss person you‘ll ever likely to see) in support for the other 2 getting boo‘d through the whole game. He was the captain of the swiss nationalteam and this was almost a bigger story in the country than the other 2 doing it. Fun-Fact

[@fahim113]

As someone who studied Balkan history for years i gotta say this is fantastic stuff. Very informative and well told

[@MichaelSnyder1776]

Any good books to recommend?

[@rogyn8484]

Then you are bad student. Tell me what in this video he said was accurate? Faking information and deliberately switching facts excluding important information even non mentioning the most important moments.

[@camyd1043]

@@rogyn8484 serb moment

[@fahim113]

@@rogyn8484 Serb much? 😃

[@vsvishal8853]

@@rogyn8484 what false info did he say? Im curious to hear both sides as I dont know as much about this issue

[@dapperduck4250]

I love that Alfie isn't afraid to talk politics and sport because he also understands that sports have been intrinsically tied to politics since the founding of the Olympics in ancient Greece or the coliseums and chariot races of Rome. Are sports better without politics? Absolutely. But at least Alfie doesn't shy away from the inconvenient truth. Much respect.

[@phightinphil25]

Well, I think its pretty hard to even state that last point as almost anything can be deemed as political. It completely depends on what definition of politics you quote, and your own personal beliefs. Inherently politics doesn't have be be a negative its various humans and their actions that make other humans form opinions. We are dealing with the grayest of gray areas.

[@abhirupan7630]

Thank you. People seem to ignore politics ingrained in football until it comes to political things they don’t like And then suddenly, it becomes “keep politics out of football”

[@reintaler6355]

You cannot say "sports are better without politics" when it's impossible for you to picture that possibility. Trust me, it's impossible

[@BigPurp9]

It’s funny because I do miss the days of innocence when I blindly supported England as a kid. But now as an adult with the more I’ve learned about Nigeria and the shit I’ve experienced living here I can’t bring myself to root for England anymore.

[@dapperduck4250]

@@reintaler6355 that's a totally fair point!

[@lemigod4475]

Thank you Alfie for educating us on this big story that many of us were unaware of,so when ever we seen tension between Serbia and Switzerland we will know why.I love this channel due to its many Geopolitical documentaries.

[@gent9896]

I really hope one day people will understand how evil serbia is as a country. It's a russian supporter after all, i don't wanna promote hate and YES i am from Kosovo but just know this. After WW2 Germany moved on and at least apologized the people on this earth of what they caused, serbia on the other side let alone milion and bilion of crimes they commited through the history but the ugly truth is that they haven't been punished yet, justice is not done here and they didn't even apologize for killing milions of unarmed civilians. To anybody who reads this, serbia and its people are mental i've met serbian people and no matter the age they have this kind of mentality to hate and kill. But as you saw today ... it only takes 2 Albanians from Kosovo to shut their mouths promoting racism and violence.

[@mislavivkovic9996]

I am Croatian I want new Yugoslavia when Croats and Albanians have a full control over military and police and secret service

[@nonamedbuc]

@@mislavivkovic9996 ajde mali mani se, nisio ni dozivio rata

[@mislavivkovic9996]

@@nonamedbuc 1 nisam Mali 2 bio Sam 40 mjeseci

[@tijnjansen858]

You type like a chatbot AI

[@bobanbobanic919]

As someone who went through the the war after the collapse of Yugoslavia i have to say that everything you said here is true, and am surprised that you are so well informed about this. And even though i am not Albanian, while watching the game and how players from Kosovo were booed throughout the entire game, i was so glad that both of them scored, and not just that but that Shaqiri scored the second goal on such a way and in 90th minute. Also something interesting to add. While Serbian team was prepairing for a trip to Russia, Serbian president said to the team that he wishes them luck and good result, and especially that they have to beat Switzerland. Obviously you know why he said that, because of Albanians in their team.

[@VishTheF1Guy]

Fantastic video Alfie, love how you can seemlessly mix history politics and football together, please keep making more of these videos

[@gerjerry99]

As a History undergraduate who keenly observes political affairs, and is also a lifelong football fan, this combination is truly a dream

[@dankeman5266]

I‘m from Switzerland and - as you can imagine - many swiss conservatives critisized and vilifyied Xhaka and Shaqiri for their celebration, questioning their alliance to Switzerland. I find conservatives getting triggered quite funny, even though especially Xhaka again had to face a lot of backlash and hate, wich was sad to see. Personally I believe it‘s perfectly fine to have one heart for two countries. Serbians really trashed and disrespected our Swiss-Albanian boys through media prior to the game, so I was happy to see them getting redemption. Also very good banter.

[@almamater489]

If they wanna represent like that, they should probably play for Albania?

[@matthieudufourcq7873]

⁠@@almamater489if you wanted them to represent Kosovo, your Srpska daddies shouldn’t have committed war crimes forcing them into exile. You lack the ability to use contextual thinking, and it shows

[@smelly1060]

Not only that but all the passion in the world for Switzerland will not make that situation any less sweeter, I'm sure they did that for their grandparents and relatives rather than themselves ​@@matthieudufourcq7873

[@Vickzq]

It has nothing to do with _evil conservatives._ If you were honest, even the manager told them to stop crap like that.

[@mrmorrison5142]

As usual, Alfie has done it again. I don’t know how he has the time to do these in-depth researchers. I do fully respect that he takes the time out to do this though. Thank you very much Alfie. We look forward to every post from you and in the future, we look forward to seeing the channel keep growing the controversy aside.

[@gothicgolem2947]

It’d his job i think so I’m sure that helps as he can do it durning a work day

[@danbambatten]

Absolutely needed this video, and didn't know til I had watched it. Thanks as always, Alfie!

[@rishabh3150]

This channel has given me more insight about historical and political conflicts than other sources... keep it up..

[@n1kola9]

It's false though

[@cronutism]

@@n1kola9 How so?

[@n1kola9]

@@cronutism It's heavily glorifying one side and demonizing the other. You can support whichever side you want, but please, don't based your opinion on one-sided video. It is much more complicated than that, and I do think that he even maybe took the wrong side here.

[@ilovemymommysponies]

@@n1kola9 could you explain how it’s false

[@n1kola9]

@@ilovemymommysponies I expressed myself incorrectly. It would be too long for me to explain it, it is much more complicated than this. It could legit take hours. But yeah, I think that he didn't mention a lot of stuff, it's missing a lot, and it's so one-sided. He did say a lot of things that are true, but his conclusion are based on his opinions, which are incorrect. If you actually want to get into this (I don't recommend it, it's horrible), you would really have to read/watch a lot.

[@myevokebab]

Yet another well researched and informative video from you. Always look forward to your content

[@mattthompson9395]

Incredibly well researched and presented video on a fascinating and complicated subject. Great job HITC

[@maladvojka8376]

xd 'incredibly well researched'

[@reverse5163]

All i saw was sad Albanian story....You KNOW there are always 2 sides of the medal?

[@jovancvetojevic3980]

This probably is his worst researched video ever.

[@deusvult8808]

@@reverse5163 Usually there is 2 sides of medal. But when it comes to Serbia vs anyone, that Serbia side disappear magically.

[@EnjaeGreg]

Great video Alfie. Been meaning to learn about the conflicts in this region and what this celebration meant. Thanks for this. Gonna go down a rabbit hole now.

[@lkrnpk]

Many people also forget that after the the Croat win over Russia Domagoj Vida who played club football in Ukraine said “Slava Ukraine” who pissed off a lot of Russians back then too

[@splicoo1950]

🇭🇷🇺🇦❤✌

[@bombkart5114]

Yeah,nazis stick together

[@marcmonnerat4850]

The Nati captain, Lichtsteiner also did the eagle-gesture.

[@sietsedegroot5198]

Incredibly well done, once again, thanks Alfie

[@joshvasquez1193]

Alfie, I know many people do not like to mix politics & sport but most of the time it is inevitable. Every time i watch one of your videos i genuinely learn something new & it’s refreshing. You tackle these controversial topics head on while others tend to shy away & i applaud you for that. Keep up the good work & cheers from the states!

[@vl6619]

This is going to be a fierce game tonight

[@jasperlawrence5361]

more excellent video action!!!! thank you, you deserve a larger audience.

[@mizzyys262]

Some of the best content on KZbin, thank you so much for your videos 👏🏻

[@MrShakeyBlake]

Yours is the type of thought provoking and informative content we desperately need more of in the football space. Thanks for sharing these stories stories with us.

[@daveboon5992]

This will go on for Generation after Generation 😢😢😢😢

[@archstanton6102]

Love the hypocrisy of FIFA for investigating and potentially fining Mexico crowd for homophobic chants in WC, yet holding the tournament in Qatar.

[@TheAlien101]

Serbian fans have been chatting "Kill the Albanians" in 2018 and again in 2022 yet what did FIFA do ...

[@bjehulk]

Facts. They should let Mexico continue their chant

[@archstanton6102]

@@bjehulk They got knocked put of the WC. Try and keep up.

[@bjehulk]

@@archstanton6102 They do the chant at every game, not just the World Cup. Just admit you don’t watch football pal

[@archstanton6102]

@@bjehulk Not your pal - wouldn't piss on you, if you were on fire. Where did I state they don't chant this at every game? The charge was from fifa focusing on the WC . Why not get an adult to help you with comprehension and understanding difficult and grown-up topics?

[@whatdidido3838]

Serbians just lost again And never messed up with the ALBOSS ALBANIANS ARE ALWAYS THE WINNERS THESE MILLENIUM ❤️🇦🇱❤️🇽🇰❤️🇦🇱❤️

[@rogyn8484]

Whenever Serbia plays against Albania you lost match in any sport. Last time I remember we beat you in the middle of Tirana, that was Albania - Serbia match. This is not Albania but Swiss if they are so great Albanian patriots why they not leave Swiss team and join Albanian squad? Last match was female Basketball Serbia - Albania 139:34, do you wish to check any other sport?

[@whatdidido3838]

@@rogyn8484 🤡👺

[@alyjam]

@@rogyn8484 We Swiss are proud to have players with albanian roots that help us kick serbia out of the world cup....again! :D

[@rogyn8484]

@@alyjam Sure, that is why half of the Swiss news are asking are they representing Albania or Swiss and requesting punishment for their behaviors. When they play for Albania and give up of their passports we can talk further, last time Serbia had match against Albania in any sport we devastate them including football in the middle of Tirana.

[@nonamedbuc]

As a ethnic bosnian Serb,you are totally right,dont fret about the delusional serbs who will be flooding your comment section.Kosovo has the right to independence,like it or not.As a war child,I can relate more to the displaced Kosovars than to the power-hungry serbian aggresors.The serbian people unfortunately are brainwashed by the state-issued nationalistic propagnda and are incapable of hearing any different opionion.As i said,touchy subject,you did really well documenting it and i respect you for choosing to cover it.

[@shufflinkat6085]

Well said 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@kevincika]

The best comment we needed to read

[@patinho5589]

Every single human has right to independence. We should have 8 billion nation states.. one for each person. Or one big world of peace and love.

[@Srbenda126]

@@patinho5589 What about Donbass?

[@patinho5589]

@@Srbenda126 who or what is Donbass?

[@criscurtean]

Great video Alfie! Growing up in the United States with a lot of ethnic Serbs and Albanians in my community, this video gave me a better perspective on how the conflict came to be. Keep up the great content

[@Iamneverright]

Thanks again for a great upload Alfie, and thumbs up for so many intelligent comments I have read about it!!

[@abasudoh7459]

I remember that game, and looking forward to this one too. It's about to get heated.

[@maksneto]

Very excited to see the level-headed comments from the residents of the Balkan region.

[@billmiller2368]

Or unflinching gaslighting!

[@baronmemez]

Great video. Can you make a video on "The problem with the German National Football Team"

[@adrianzinizin9027]

All in all a Perfect Video mate, thank you !

[@joshquinn4964]

What a video this is, Alfie. I'm doing a 6000 word essay soon and I'm choosing the Yugoslav Wars to write about. This video is a great help to my research and also, its a HITC sevens video so it's very pleasantly easy to take in.

[@milostanaskovic9172]

It was not a Kosovo flag that was displayed at 2014 euro game, it was an Greater Albania flag, maybe that doesnt seem significant but there is a big diference.

[@leo130202]

Exactly, it’s a very important detail which Alfie fails to mention…🤔

[@MrNeko92]

​@@leo130202 He unfortunately forgots to mention a lot of other details too, antagonizing one side and glorifying the other, making a good excuse and story for the match, but disregarding the history.

[@1998Cebola]

@@MrNeko92 yeah, why didn't he mention the massive genocide kosovo perpetrated against serbs while denying then independence that has displaced serbs from their home lands, oh right, yeah, because there is one aggresive, imperialist force in the conflict.

[@vladislavbg9307]

@Nejtack Albanians burned churches and killed Serbs. KLA is a terrorist organization and Usa admitted it. Nato terror campaign in Jugoslavija is the same as the current russian bombings of Ukraine infrastructure

[@jovansesum7955]

The same greater Albania flag is known as a symbol of hate speech not just for Serbians but for most of the Balkans and is basically the fascist nationalistic flag of Albania

[@TripleRMovers]

Great video. I'm from Hessle, Hull living in the Gold Coast, Australia. You do all Hullensians proud. Keep up the good work. I sincerely think you're the best football journalist / football short documentary producer out there.

[@sherifdarrag9464]

I was kinda disappointed Shaqiri didn't do the eagle celebration when he scored against the serbs again in 2022. I find it very empowering when him and xhaka do that! His family and countrymen have been through so much and that's a great way to shed light on the horrors that occurred among their people. Serbia needs a chill pill

[@danny9114]

And those scummy kosovars never did anything to deserve this, right? They didn't attack, kill, kidnap any Serb, right? What have they been through that's so tragic?

[@alyjam]

@@danny9114 The serbs have lost any sympathy at this point. Denying genocide doesn't look good on you.

[@deusvult8808]

@@alyjam What "genocide". The west accused us of so many "genocides" that at this point I don't know are you talking about Bosnia "genocide", or Srebrenica "genocide" or kosovo "genocide"? Please next time say what exact "genocide" are you talking about. Ty in advance 🤗🤗 -Fellow bosnian "genocidal" Serb

[@ErblinZharku]

@@deusvult8808 NPC🤡

[@corenko]

No one likes us and that's why we don't like anyone @@alyjam

[@juelasejdo1706]

Very informative video. Thank you! Well done!

[@Mathoose]

Thanks so much for such an in depth description of the conflict. Always a great watch

[@TPO7.]

Nobody does a thing when Serbia does 3 fingers lmao

[@vrocco1395]

3 finger salute is done to show pride, Xhaka and Shaqiri did the eagle to provoke, they knew they were playing against Serbia and are well aware of what they did

[@shhshdjsbsihdjdjejs1288]

Fr

[@TPO7.]

@@vrocco1395 No it doesn’t represent pride, its the opposite, the pride you mention is by representing 3 autonomous provinces with the 3 fingers, serbia, Vojvodina, and kosovo, thats nationalism. That’s also why you have Albanians who do two fingers back, representing Albania and Kosovo. Don’t lie.

[@vrocco1395]

@@TPO7. the 3 fingers is an originally orthodox salute, representing the trinity, father, son and holy spirit. nothing to do with serbia vojvodina and kosovo, maybe these lies are what Kurti tells you on the news

[@kevincika]

@@vrocco1395 wowowowowo. Pride of raping children. If yes, idk what to say. And calling an eagle symbol as provokation pfff

[@historian3290]

Shaqiri did it again 🦅 💪🏽

[@kreshnikberisha9499]

Very good video Alfie.

[@TheW00dcut]

Incredible video, well researched and super informative. I love that you included Christopher Hitchens in this, a true beacon of reason.

[@leylamohamed7950]

One of the most entertaining group stages in the world ever.... No one on earth predicted Japan topping a group with Germany and Spain and Morocco topping a group with Belgium and Croatia, this World Cup is one for the history books man...😭😭🤣🤣

[@bababababababa6124]

I’m so happy European teams are getting humbled, if only Costa Rica won that game against Germany then Spain would also be going home 😂

[@JoeCool90]

Beligum and Croatia are ancient I expected that - i do admit i was a little surprised by Japan though

[@oliverleonard7730]

So far this is shaping up to be one of the best World Cups of all time.

[@oliverleonard7730]

@@bababababababa6124 Or if Australia had held on against France.

[@bababababababa6124]

@@oliverleonard7730 hopefully Serbia or Switzerland go home tonight too 😂

[@francolive5718]

Alfie thoughts on the 3 team groups at the next World Cup? Surely cannot be allowed to happen!

[@Ese96Agoaye]

A repeat of the scenario involving Austria and West Germany at the 1982 tournament could happen.

[@nettlecider]

That would be such a shit show, I hate the idea to the point I'm shaking

[@francolive5718]

Imagine being a South American or Asian team going through 3 years of qualifying about 20 games then potentially going home after 2 games and half the squad not even getting on the pitch.

[@atom0507]

Whats going on

[@badjujuforever]

very good video video dude

[@plankton6157]

so if they are punished for showing their eagle, they can punish us for showing three fingers too, right?

[@thedarkside13]

3:57 wrong. There were 5 Albanian players. Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka, Valon Behrami (11), Blerim Dzemaili (15) and Admir Mehmedi (18).

[@petesmart1983]

Mehmedi and dzemaili are Macedonian

[@thedarkside13]

@@petesmart1983 they're Albanians from North Macedonia. Get your facts straight.

[@defacto7101]

And erdon jashari from north macedonia

[@user-bz8pe3fg7p]

Really one sided story. Historical explanation about Kosovo has been talked about from Albanian propaganda point of view

[@petesmart1983]

You mean the whole world's point of view outside of Serbian terriosts

[@jimbob-robob]

Nice one AGAIN Alfie! 👍🖖✊️

[@VillaFanDan92]

This was really fascinating. I really appreciate how much historical context you give in these videos. Also, a suggestion for when the World Cup is over and we're looking at the FA Cup: The Aston Villa team that had to play against Liverpool when all of the first team had COVID. Where are they now three years later?

[@dantenicastro9617]

Wow 3 years already

[@dea846]

Dead

[@Elliot-T]

What a messy world we live in

[@flamurtarinegjakyt3745]

👐🏼 means Albania. That's all. It is a celebration, plenty of patriotic passion. Nothing controversial.

[@CaseyRedgrave]

I understand them hating the Serbs, however, literally the older half of the Croatian squad were also children of that war and they don't hate Serbs. Modric, best example, watched his grandfather get executed and still doesn't hate Serbia.

[@seandelap8587]

Japan topping a group with Spain and Germany in it and Germany getting eliminated at the group stage for 2 successive tournaments who would have seen that happening

[@gothestags09]

Most Alfie sentence ever - "In 1389..."

[@dinohermann1887]

Albanians existed way before that year. The principality of Arbanon for example predates the battle of Kosovo by almost 200 years (starting in 1190, to be exactly). So the idea, that the Ottomans brought us from the Caucasus region just because there was a region called "Albania" as well, which is now modern day Azerbaijan, is laughable!

[@billbill3634]

I remember Lichtsteiner also did the eagle celebration, for solidarity or for more chaos

[@thefallenvalley4340]

So Serbs got offended when an Albanian did an " I am proud to be Albanian" sign? You see the ignorance here? They don't want Albanians to exist.

[@Veniguiribici]

Outstanding content

[@balkan2pac]

As an Albanian, this is a really good video

[@doomdoomtv316]

You owe Australia an apology as do most punters 😂

[@tibu2055]

You can make a part 2 now

[@Ventius1010]

Alfie what a great video

[@rodrigofonseca6241]

Praising the terrorists from KLA (UÇK): a new low for Alfie and its HITC SEVENS.

[@thebristolbruiser]

Weird how Kosovo was given the right to self determination yet Republika Srpska has never been afforded the same right.

[@antony558]

I found that really interesting, thank you!

[@hrvojecosic8802]

Awesome job,good investigation

[@Lgx-ie4if]

Jede schwiizer erinerrt sich am moment wos passiert isch 😂 absolute ehremah

[@myrice101]

I was just thinking about this the other day for shaqiri I was curious as what the Eagle symbolizes

[@Radek494]

Wake me up when Albania actually plays against Serbia in WC. Not just Swiss team that happens to have 2 Albanians.

[@vinben13]

great video

[@kiriakoz]

This is not just a good video, this was exceptional. Thank you for educating me. I love mixing football and politics. Whenever I travel, I always want to know about the local footie club, their rivalries, why their rivals (religion, class, politics etc) and it's facinating to me.

[@maladvojka8376]

this is not a good video, its very very biased

[@kiriakoz]

@@maladvojka8376 are you sure you're not the biased one? That sounds awfully like a balkan name you have there.

[@maladvojka8376]

@@kiriakoz no im not the biased one, I didnt deny anything in the video, he just presented one side

[@WERTYUIO821]

@@kiriakoz It is a very biased and rushed video. 17:24 for example you can easily see it is not a Kosovo flag but a nationalist "Greater Albania" flag that includes land of all of their population. Alfie unfortunately rushed the video because of the Swiss vs Serbia game. Even NATO's attacks to Serbia were far from a actually helpful, coming from a person of a country that is in NATO, NATO's attacks were war crimes on their own.

[@unholyxeras8182]

@@maladvojka8376 hard to imagine what the other side of the serbian military amongst other things executing civilians, including children, in a prolonged massacre that was ultimately only stopped by NATO directly getting involved, demilitarizing the area and enforcing a peace process is, but i'lll bite. Whats the other side of the story? What justifies that?

[@Raptorizus]

As an Albanian from Kosovo, this is truly one of the better videos I've seen regarding our conflict. Most videos made from an outsider's perspective end up falling victim to the relentless Serbian propaganda out there, but this video covered everything in detail and was 100% truth. Great job as always Alfie!

[@avepe6094]

Eh, usually it's the other way around

[@Johnthemod222]

People say keep politics out of football but yet England team and the premier league have been taken the knee now for nearly 3years and no one says anything about it haha

[@danfu_2073]

This channel has shown that football and politics are always intertwined no matter how much we want to seclude them from each other.

[@Mlchael839]

Seems like a great opportunity to do a follow-up on your video about Canada Soccer and go more in depth on what they need to do over the next four years to ensure that they improve in 2026 and beyond

[@labki69]

As a citizen of Kosovo 🇽🇰 I am Ethnic Albanian and we all support Shaqiri and Xhaka because they are our brothers in blood. You told the story so well, just as my grandparents told the story of Kosovo Albanians to me. Big respect towards you Alfie and love to all Albanians worldwide from USA to Europe down to Australia

[@Nidzadrugar]

That says a lot about objective approach from the author.

[@theheat9073]

@@Nidzadrugar Why do Serbs always hold a hostility towards Albanians? Lol

[@Nidzadrugar]

@@theheat9073 Serbs let them live in Kosovo and they returned by stealing the land. "Lol"

[@labki69]

@@Nidzadrugar negative, if you search for Ethnic Albanian Flag you can see that that flag contains Albania, Kosovo, some land in Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece and Serbia. In 1912 Albania requested to have the borders like that but the EU Conference held in London if I’m not wrong didn’t approve, ok this decision had hand, Russia ally of Serbia which didn’t approve. If you go in Nish Serbia there are a lot of Albanians even inside the border of Serbia, this is because from the early ages back in Ilyrians which are our ascendants, they had the most territory in Balkan region and then history continues.

[@labki69]

@@Nidzadrugar Also Kosovo wasn’t given to Albanians from Serbia, we fought for it.

[@discoking8930]

Alfie any chance you cud do a video on maybe the 7 best players at their peak in every position to never win a world cup.

[@Aces211ai]

Great work!

[@mr.sarcastic4679]

As someone from Serbia, i am glad to see this type of a video. Great job Alfie, another amazing HITC video

[@deusvult8808]

Nadam se da ti je komentar kao i username sarkastičan. U protivnom ili ne znaš dosta o novijoj istoriji Srba ili si zadrti malograđanski autošovinista koji uživa pljujući sve srpsko, počevši od SPC pa nadalje. Nadam se da je prvo u pitanju.

[@user-we5pg8nv9r]

17:34 *Greater Albania flag* Big difference. That was a flag of a fascist ideology, not Kosovo or "normal" Albania

[@denisdogic8342]

My father was a Bosnian man who grew up in Yugoslavia. He described it to me as the most beautiful life you could imagine. Tito kept everyone together and kept the people of Yugoslavia first on his priorities. When he died everything went to shit and started the war. My people were massacred across the country but for what reason? My father tells me that even he didn’t know what he was fighting for. I can see the similarities between what happened then and what is happening now between the people of Kosovo and Serbia. So let the Albanians support their territory as it is truly theirs. And let them celebrate how they would like.

[@joshuabean8165]

Babe wake up HITC SEVENS has posted another geo political football documentary

[@maxchan9537]

And Shaqiri scores against Serbia again

[@geeianna7708]

Fantastic historical background. I remember watching the game and seeing the unusual goal celebrations. Their celebrations should be celebrated in Kosvar history and shared with the world

[@abedsnudes3597]

Kosovar history 😂😂😂

[@deusvult8808]

@@abedsnudes3597 and other hilarious jokes you could tell yourself.

[@JoDyMa]

DAY 41: Hey Alfie, could you do a video on the life, career, controversies and tragedy of Justin Fashanu. It'd be your best video yet and it's a criminally underheard story. ❤️

[@jkyeah8033]

U might of already don this but can we have a video on how the World Cup was created

[@zackhebert8265]

Yugoslavia was dismantled by FIFA because it would win too many World Cups

[@kl6544]

No slavic country has ever won the world cup

[@BB-vh8cj]

@@kl6544 ussr won euro

[@kl6544]

@@BB-vh8cj did i mention the euro?

[@BB-vh8cj]

@@kl6544 fair,but they still won a important throphy

[@kavabungaman5983]

Man i usually like your videos, kinda only showed the Albanian side of things, but as always tnx for making your videos

[@snuffmeister6720]

jel kosovo srbija ili neovisna država?

[@damionlynette6512]

There are three sides to every story, this video showed two of them.

[@donvondondon5254]

He showed the serbian side too. Wearing shirts and stuff.

[@1998Cebola]

Yeah, I agree, he really should have dedicated more time to exactly how awful the genocide Serbia perpetrated was.

[@sondrejohansen48]

@@1998Cebola should also show how diabolical the football ultras from Serbia are wishing on Ukrainians and Kosovo when Russia invaded the former

[@jacob356]

How is history repeating itself so soon

[@frantiseksedlacek3858]

Not a big deal or anything, but you seem like someone who likes to get things right, so I should correct your pronunciation of the letter J in slavic languages (Czech, Slovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian etc.) - it is not the "zh" as in French, not the "g" sound as in English nor the "h" as in Spanish, but the "y" sound as in yes, yolk, yeast, yankee.. Hope you found this helpful, love your channel, keep up the good work!

[@ErmalTahiri]

hahaha I LOVE IT - The way you explained every detail was amazing

[@GreekHouseEffect]

why would he get sacked? The west is mostly pro-Kosovo

[@petarveljkovic4906]

No way!? What Serbian city are you from? Nice to see others in the comments as well

[@Kosovanmappper]

@@petarveljkovic4906 bruh shut up

[@natodefends2321]

The Albanians Granit Xhaka & Xherdan Shaqiri beat Serbia again.

[@vrocco1395]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legitimacy_of_the_NATO_bombing_of_Yugoslavia

[@mou6854]

@@vrocco1395 it was legitimate the only problem was we didn’t invade and denazify Serbia

[@vrocco1395]

@@mou6854 legitimate? unironic violation of the geneva convention but sure go off

[@mou6854]

@@vrocco1395 tell me how the serbs treated bosnian and albanian pow's again. Very anti geneca convention

[@yaldabaoth2]

That's what happens when you have foreigners play for your national team solely based on what passport they might or might not possess.

[@EuroGuy85]

that gesture was anything but spontaneous my good man. for a good student of Balkan history that you made yourself sound on this video, you sure seemed like you just googled the Balkan wars just before you made this video. that gesture was planned for years, decades, hell might as well say centuries. btw, Vojvodina is pronounced like Soy with a V, V-oy-vodeena. I'll give you a 9/10 for presenting wiki info like you actually took Balkan studies in college.

[@nuudelz3711]

Serbians always playing the victim while being the aggressors. Smh

[@accobra4272]

Why is Shakiri not playing for Albania?

[@jovansesum7955]

Shakiri has provoked the Serbian people more times thain he has been in Kosovo

[@Lgx-ie4if]

Because he is swiss and will forever be a part of our country, he makes us swiss proud and belongs here

[@FozzQuaker]

He would most likely never appear at a major tournament if he represented Albania

[@James-sh8mu]

Humans are a funny species

[@bledarlece7878]

Excellent explanation do you did a deep search

[@53rdand3rdShows]

Best football channel by miles. Keep up the good, and important work. Croatian fans jeered Serbian background Canadian keeper Borjan too on their game. Fifa is investigating currently. This Balkan nationalism stuff seems to never end sadly. No hate! Football for all!

[@dinohermann1887]

The Balkans (due to their unique geographic position) were pretty much the melting pot of different civilizations and empires (Slavs, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, Habsburgs, Napoleon, Russians and British). That explains why there's so much trouble even to this day.

[@mustimon]

Serbian nationalism