The Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK) were sweating on whether Amir Rrahmani, Valon Berisha, Alban Meha, Herolind Shala, Milot Rashica and Samir Ujkani would be allowed to take to the field in the historic Group I clash in Turku.

Rashica, Shala, Rrahmani, Meha and Ujkani had all been capped before by Albania, while Berisha had previously played for Norway.

According to The Guardian, the news was greeted with scenes of joy and relief at the hotel in Turku where the Kosovan team was staying.

It constituted a bizarre scenario where six Kosovan players were sat in the hotel waiting to hear from FIFA over whether they would be eligible to take to the field later in the evening.

Berisha ended up having a key role as he converted a 60th minute penalty to earn Kosovo a 1-1 draw with Finland, who had taken the lead in the first half through Paulus Arajuuri.

The confirmation from world football’s governing body, which came just hours before the match was due to kick off, means a total of 16 players have now been given the green light to compete for Kosovo having had their change of association request granted.

Kosovo winning their long battle for FIFA membership at the organisation’s Congress in Mexico City in May paved the way for the national side to take part in international competitions, the first being qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

It prompted a number of players to submit a request to change teams, with the vast majority coming from Albania, which borders Kosovo to the west.

They all had to request the nationality switch to the Bureau of the Players’ Status Committee, reportedly made up of American Sunil Gulati, Theo van Seggelen of The Netherlands and Johan van Gaalen of South Africa.

The applications were then officially approved by its Single Judge - England’s former FIFA Executive Committee member Geoff Thompson.

Other players to have already represented other countries include Xherdan Shaqiri and Valon Behrami, both of whom play for Switzerland, as well as Finland’s Shefki Kuqi and Albania’s Lorik Cana.

Kosovo will also play Croatia, Turkey, Iceland and Ukraine in Group I of Russia 2018 qualification.

The country, which also became a full member of European governing body UEFA in May, were kept apart from Serbia, which they gained independence from in 2008.

Players cleared to represent Kosovo by FIFA after change of association requests: