The Football Federation of Kosovo has seen its application to join UEFA approved by the European football governing body.
Kosovo is recognised by more than 100 countries but is not a UN member, and its national football team has only played in non-FIFA or non-UEFA competitions.
This has meant a number of footballers of Kosovar extraction, such as Belgium’s Adnan Januzaj and Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri, have opted to play international football for other countries.
The last new UEFA member, Gibraltar, has just embarked on its first European Championships qualification campaign.
Kosovo have played friendlies against recognised international teams, most recently a 2-2 draw with Albania during which Manchester City youngster Bersant Celina was on the scoresheet, and will hope to be involved in qualification for Euro 2020.
