The 50-year-old manager’s team Albania face a tough group that also contains Croatia, Spain and Italy in their second ever appearance in the competition and though they will be playing against some of the sides tipped to win the tournament, the Brazilian isn’t writing off his players.

He told World Soccer magazine: “Anything can happen in an extraordinary tournament like this and of such a short duration.

“It will be an intense month when all teams will put all their energy into achieving their goals on the pitch…

“Our group is really strong but, I think that once in the competition, playing against teams that are favourites for the title isn’t bad.

“Anything can happen in football…

“We will need to sacrifice a lot but I trust our players.”

In March, Albania lost against Sweden and Chile in two friendlies, but Sylvinho insisted the results didn’t matter too much as the experience was important.

Asked if the defeats were a reality check, he said: “No, those were two friendlies that brought us opponents with a different style of play that we hadn’t encountered in qualifying.

“Being able to evaluate the team and test players was indeed the biggest objective.”