Kosovo players beat clock to play debut World Cup qualifier

Amid last-minute confusion about which players are eligible to play for Kosovo, soccer's newest national team started its first World Cup qualifying campaign convincingly with a 1-1 draw against Finland, which has tried to reach the finals 18 times before.

The buildup to the evening's game was wrought with confusion as FIFA kept the Kosovo team guessing about who would be allowed to represent the tiny country in its World Cup debut. Less than five hours before the 9:45 pm (1845 GMT) kickoff, FIFA finally approved six players who were already with the squad in Turku. Head coach Albert Bunjaki could sigh with relief - he had a full team to choose from.

They pressed hard from the beginning on the Finns' home turf with nifty footwork and quick passes in front of a capacity crowd in the southwestern city of Turku.