First Friendly documents the 2014 match between Kosovo and Haiti—the first FIFA-recognized international fixture to be played on Kosovar soil. The series captures the specific afternoon when a diplomatic abstraction transitioned into a tangible national reality.
The work investigates the intersection of sport and sovereignty, exploring how a young nation utilizes the cultural machinery of football to establish a sense of collective belonging and international legitimacy. By recording the atmosphere of the match, the project serves as a visual archive of a country’s formal debut on the global stage, where the pitch becomes a primary site for the construction of national identity.