# 2023–24 Kategoria Superiore

The 2023–24 Kategoria Superiore was the 85th official season, or 88th season of top-tier football in Albania (including three unofficial championships during World War II) and the 24th season under the name Kategoria Superiore. The season began on 26 August 2023 and ended on 26 May 2024. Egnatia won the league title on 26 May 2024, beating Partizani in the final match.
The winners of this season's Kategoria Superiore earned a place in the first qualifying round of the 2024–25 Champions League, with the second and third placed clubs earning a place in the first qualifying round of the 2024–25 Conference League.

## Teams

Two clubs have earned promotion from the Kategoria e Parë, Dinamo City and Skënderbeu (both promoted after a one-year absence). Bylis (relegated after only one year in the top flight) and Kastrioti (relegated after three years in the top flight) were relegated to Kategoria e Parë at the conclusion of last season.

### Locations

| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity | 2022–23 season |
| Dinamo City | Tirana | Various | | Runner-up (Kategoria e Parë) |
| Egnatia | Rrogozhinë | Egnatia Arena | 4,000 | 3rd |
| Erzeni | Shijak | Egnatia Arena | 4,000 | 8th |
| Kukësi | Kukës | Kukës Arena | 6,322 | 7th |
| Laçi | Laç | Laçi Stadium | 8,000 | 5th |
| Partizani | Tirana | Arena e Demave | 4,500 | Champion |
| Skënderbeu | Korçë | Skënderbeu Stadium | 12,343 | Champion (Kategoria e Parë) |
| Teuta | Durrës | Niko Dovana Stadium | 12,040 | 6th |
| Tirana | Tirana | Various | | 2nd |
| Vllaznia | Shkodër | Loro Boriçi Stadium | 16,000 | 4th |

### Stadiums

| Dinamo City | Egnatia | Erzeni | Kukësi | Laçi |
| Various | Egnatia Arena | Egnatia Arena | Kukës Arena UEFA stadium category | Laçi Stadium |
| | Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 6,322 | Capacity: 8,000 |
| Partizani | Skënderbeu | Teuta | Tirana | Vllaznia |
| Arena e Demave | Skënderbeu Stadium | Niko Dovana Stadium | Various | Loro Boriçi Stadium UEFA stadium category |
| Capacity: 4,500 | Capacity: 12,343 | Capacity: 12,040 | | Capacity: 16,000 |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | President | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Dinamo City | Ardian Bardhi | Dritan Mehmeti | Rustem Hoxha | Macron | Durrës Yachts & Marina |
| Egnatia | Agim Demrozi | Edlir Tetova | Renato Malota | Joma | Spitali Amavita |
| Erzeni | Elton Arbana | Alfred Deliallisi | Nehar Sadiki | Macron | Sinani |
| Kukësi | Safet Gjici | Bledar Devolli | Angelo Tafa | Suzmar | Kevin Construction |
| Laçi | Pashk Laska | Armando Cungu | Ajdi Dajko | Uhlsport | |
| Partizani | Gazmend Demi | Orges Shehi | Alban Hoxha | Macron | |
| Skënderbeu | Ardjan Takaj | Ivan Gvozdenović | Dean Liço | Uhlsport | Caffè Quaranta |
| Teuta | Edmond Hasanbelliu | Edi Martini | Blerim Kotobelli | Macron | Klinika 4-D |
| Tirana | Refik Halili | Bledi Shkëmbi | Filip Najdovski | Joma | |
| Vllaznia | Alban Xhaferi | Thomas Brdarić | Bekim Balaj | Suzmar | Sigal |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Vllaznia | Goce Sedloski | End of contract | 31 May 2023 | Pre-season | Migen Memelli | 6 June 2023 |
| Teuta | Edi Martini | Mutual consent | 3 June 2023 | Pre-season | Diego Longo | 16 June 2023 |
| Partizani | Giovanni Colella | Resigned | 7 June 2023 | Pre-season | Zoran Zekić | 12 June 2023 |
| Dinamo City | Dritan Mehmeti | Mutual consent | 1 August 2023 | Pre-season | Luigi Di Biagio | 1 August 2023 |
| Laçi | Stavri Nica | Sacked | 29 August 2023 | 5th | Skerdi Bejzade | 31 August 2023 |
| Kukësi | Rrahman Hallaçi | Sacked | 4 September 2023 | 10th | Stavri Nica | 4 September 2023 |
| Teuta | Diego Longo | Mutual consent | 24 September 2023 | 8th | Edi Martini | 25 September 2023 |
| Laçi | Skerdi Bejzade | Mutual consent | 29 September 2023 | 7th | Mirel Josa | 30 September 2023 |
| Tirana | Orges Shehi | Sacked | 5 October 2023 | 4th | Julian Ahmataj | 5 October 2023 |
| Partizani | Zoran Zekić | Signed by Osijek | 10 October 2023 | 5th | Arbër Abilaliaj | 10 October 2023 |
| Dinamo City | Luigi Di Biagio | Resigned | 22 October 2023 | 10th | Dritan Mehmeti | 25 October 2023 |
| Vllaznia | Migen Memelli | Mutual consent | 29 October 2023 | 7th | Qatip Osmani | 30 October 2023 |
| Partizani | Arbër Abilaliaj | End of caretaker spell | 26 December 2023 | 2nd | Orges Shehi | 26 December 2023 |
| Kukësi | Stavri Nica | Resigned | 31 January 2024 | 9th | Emiliano Çela | 31 January 2024 |
| Erzeni | Alfred Deliallisi | Mutual consent | 8 February 2024 | 8th | Skerdi Bejzade | 8 February 2024 |
| Kukësi | Emiliano Çela | Resigned | 17 February 2024 | 10th | Bledar Devolli | 17 February 2024 |
| Tirana | Julian Ahmataj | Sacked | 20 February 2024 | 4th | Erbim Fagu | 20 February 2024 |
| Laçi | Mirel Josa | Mutual consent | 3 March 2024 | 7th | Armando Cungu | 3 March 2024 |
| Erzeni | Skerdi Bejzade | Mutual consent | 4 March 2024 | 9th | Alfred Deliallisi | 4 March 2024 |
| Vllaznia | Qatip Osmani | Mutual consent | 25 April 2024 | 2nd | Thomas Brdarić | 26 April 2024 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Egnatia (C) | 36 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 51 | 38 | +13 | 63 | Qualification for the Final four round |
| 2 | Partizani | 36 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 51 | 29 | +22 | 63 | Qualification for the Final four round |
| 3 | Vllaznia | 36 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 41 | 34 | +7 | 59 | Qualification for the Final four round |
| 4 | Skënderbeu | 36 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 51 | Qualification for the Final four round |
| 5 | Tirana | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 56 | 49 | +7 | 50 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
| 6 | Teuta | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 50 | |
| 7 | Dinamo City | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 47 | |
| 8 | Laçi (O) | 36 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 37 | 31 | +6 | 46 | Qualification for the relegation play-off |
| 9 | Erzeni (R) | 36 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 57 | −28 | 32 | Relegation to the 2024–25 Kategoria e Parë |
| 10 | Kukësi (R) | 36 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 31 | 56 | −25 | 27 | Relegation to the 2024–25 Kategoria e Parë |
* 1 2 Ranked on head-to-head points: Egnatia 6, Partizani 3.
* 1 2 Ranked on head-to-head points (goal difference): Tirana 5 (+1), Teuta 5 (–1)
* ↑ Egnatia, the winners of the 2023–24 Albanian Cup, finished in the top four while Skënderbeu, the fourth-placed team is banned from UEFA competitions. Therefore, the final Conference League berth was transferred from the fourth-placed team to the fifth-placed team.

## Results

Clubs will play each other four times for a total of 36 matches each.

## Final four round

A draw was conducted in order to decide the semi-finals. Seeding of teams was based on their league ranking, with two seeded teams and two unseeded. In the semi-finals, in case of a tie after 90 minutes, the team with the higher league ranking will qualify to the final.

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 17 May | 17 May |
| Partizani | 1 |
| Partizani | 1 | 26 May | 26 May |
| Skënderbeu | 0 | 26 May | 26 May |
| Skënderbeu | 0 | Partizani | 0 |
| 19 May | 19 May | | Partizani | 0 |
| 19 May | 19 May | Egnatia | 1 |
| Egnatia (b.p.) | 0 | Egnatia | 1 |
| Vllaznia | 0 | | |
| Vllaznia | 0 | Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| | | 24 May | 24 May |
| | | Skënderbeu | 3 |
| | | Vllaznia | 2 |

### Semi-finals

Egnatia qualified to the final as the team with the higher ranking in the regular season.

### Final
## Relegation play-off
## Season statistics
### Scoring
#### Top scorers

    As of 24 May 2024
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Bekim Balaj | Vllaznia | 18 |
| 2 | Kristal Abazaj | Tirana | 11 |
| 3 | Archange Bintsouka | Partizani | 10 |
| 3 | Florent Hasani | Tirana | 10 |
| 5 | Klejdi Daci | Teuta | 9 |
| 5 | Luis Kaçorri | Dinamo City | 9 |
| 5 | Nnamdi Ahanonu | Skënderbeu | 9 |
| 5 | Raphael Dwamena | Egnatia | 9 |
| 5 | Ronald Sobowale | Laçi | 9 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Club | Against | Result | Date |
| Raphael Dwamena | Egnatia | Erzeni | 4–3 (H) | 13 September 2023 |
| Archange Bintsouka | Partizani | Kukësi | 4–3 (H) | 8 October 2023 |
| Ildi Gruda | Vllaznia | Skënderbeu | 5–0 (H) | 22 December 2023 |

#### Notes

(H) – Home team (A) – Away team

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 12
** Albano Aleksi (Egnatia)
** Ardit Krymi (Vllaznia)
** Artan Jazxhi (Teuta)
** Blerim Kotobelli (Teuta)
** Geralb Smajli (Vllaznia)
* Most red cards: 2
** Albano Aleksi (Egnatia)
** Bakary Goudiaby (Dinamo City)

## Awards
### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Club |
| Manager of the Season | Edlir Tetova | Egnatia |
| Player of the Season | Bekim Balaj | Vllaznia |
| Young Player of the Season | Ermir Rashica | Skënderbeu |
Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) | Alen Sherri (Egnatia) |
| Defenders | Arsid Kruja (Teuta) | Arsid Kruja (Teuta) | Arsid Kruja (Teuta) | Renato Malota (Egnatia) | Renato Malota (Egnatia) | Renato Malota (Egnatia) | Arbenit Xhemajli (Egnatia) | Arbenit Xhemajli (Egnatia) | Arbenit Xhemajli (Egnatia) | Edison Ndreca (Egnatia) | Edison Ndreca (Egnatia) | Edison Ndreca (Egnatia) |
| Midfielders | Arbin Zejnullai (Egnatia) | Arbin Zejnullai (Egnatia) | Arbin Zejnullai (Egnatia) | Arbin Zejnullai (Egnatia) | Albano Aleksi (Egnatia) | Albano Aleksi (Egnatia) | Albano Aleksi (Egnatia) | Albano Aleksi (Egnatia) | Arinaldo Rrapaj (Partizani) | Arinaldo Rrapaj (Partizani) | Arinaldo Rrapaj (Partizani) | Arinaldo Rrapaj (Partizani) |
| Forwards | Baton Zabërgja (Dinamo City) | Baton Zabërgja (Dinamo City) | Baton Zabërgja (Dinamo City) | Baton Zabërgja (Dinamo City) | Bekim Balaj (Vllaznia) | Bekim Balaj (Vllaznia) | Bekim Balaj (Vllaznia) | Bekim Balaj (Vllaznia) | Ermir Rashica (Skënderbeu) | Ermir Rashica (Skënderbeu) | Ermir Rashica (Skënderbeu) | Ermir Rashica (Skënderbeu) |
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