Watch: France play Andorra anthem before Albania match, organisers apologise to Armenia as confusion delays kick-off

Albania players looked bemused as they realized it was the wrong anthem. Camera images showed angry Albanian fans making offensive gestures in protest at the error.

An Albania fan at the European Championship qualifying match between France and Albania on Saturday (Reuters Photo)

In an embarrassing mix-up, the wrong national anthem was played for Albania before it faced France in a European Championship qualifier on Saturday.

Players looked bemused as they realized it was the wrong anthem – Andorra’s, according to UEFA’s website – with camera images showing angry Albanian fans making offensive gestures in protest at the error.

France-Albania UEFA qualifier delayed after French play Andorran national anthem instead of Albanian, enraging Albania & leading them to refuse to start the match until the proper anthem was played pic.twitter.com/Qr3oT9rSpN

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 7, 2019

France coach Didier Deschamps spoke with Albania coach Edoardo Reja as referee Jesus Gil Manzano waited several minutes for the right anthem to be played at Stade de France before starting the game – which was delayed by nearly 10 minutes.

Then, when the correct anthem was about to be played there was another embarrassing incident as the stadium announcer apologized to “Armenia’s fans” and called on fans to respect the “Armenia national anthem” before realizing his glaring mistake and saying Albania.

France’s next opponent is Andorra at home on Tuesday.