Liechtenstein_national_football_team

Liechtenstein national football team

Liechtenstein national football team

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The Liechtenstein national football team (German: Liechtensteinische Fussballnationalmannschaft) is the national football team of the Principality of Liechtenstein and is controlled by the Liechtenstein Football Association. The organisation is known as the Liechtensteiner Fussballverband in German. The team's first match was an unofficial match against Malta in Seoul, a 1–1 draw in 1981. Their first official match came two years later, a 0–1 defeat from Switzerland. Liechtenstein's largest win, a 4–0 win over Luxembourg in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier on 13 October 2004, was both its first ever away win and its first win in any FIFA World Cup qualifier. Conversely, Liechtenstein is the only country that lost an official match against San Marino, albeit in a friendly match. Liechtenstein suffered its biggest ever loss in 1996, during qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, losing 1–11 to Macedonia (now North Macedonia), the result also being Macedonia's largest ever win to date. The team's head coach is currently Konrad Fünfstück.[2]

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Liechtenstein women's national football team.

Quick Facts Nickname(s), Association ...

History

Liechtenstein are only a relatively recent affiliate to FIFA, and did not participate in any qualifying series until the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifiers. There they managed to surprise the Republic of Ireland by holding them to a 0–0 draw on 3 June 1995. On 14 October 1998, they managed their first victory in a qualifying campaign after winning 2–1 against Azerbaijan in a Euro 2000 qualifying match.

Since then, the presence of Liechtenstein clubs in the Swiss league system and of a handful of professional players (most notably Mario Frick) has seen the side's competitiveness improve slightly. The Euro 2004 qualifiers saw Liechtenstein improve to the extent they restricted England to 2–0 wins. Also at this time Liechtenstein lost 1–0 against San Marino, considered to be the weakest national team. As of 2023, it is San Marino's most recent (and only) victory. The 2006 World Cup qualifiers, however, brought even better results as two wins over Luxembourg and draws against both Slovakia and Portugal meant that Liechtenstein finished with 8 points.

In the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Liechtenstein beat Latvia through a solitary goal from Mario Frick. The result caused the Latvian manager to resign after the match. They repeated their heroics against Iceland managing to beat them 3–0 on 17 October 2007 for their second qualifying group win. On the 26 March 2008 Liechtenstein had an embarrassing 7–1 loss to fellow small nation in Europe, Malta. This was recorded as Malta's largest win.[3]

The Liechtensteiner Fussballverbund voted Rainer Hasler to be their "Golden Player" — their best player over the last 50 years — to mark UEFA's golden jubilee.

In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Liechtenstein secured a scoreless draw against Azerbaijan and a 1–1 draw against Finland, finishing bottom of Group 4 on two points.[4]

In the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Liechtenstein were narrowly beaten 2–1 by Scotland in Hampden Park thanks to a goal by Stephen McManus in the seventh minute of additional time.[5] They produced a shock 2–0 win at home against Lithuania; their goals were scored by Philippe Erne and Michele Polverino.[5] In the following qualifying game, they managed a scoreless draw away to Lithuania.[5]

In the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, the Blue-Reds were humiliated at home in their opening game against Bosnia-Herzegovina (1–8).[6] The team loses many of its qualifying matches[7] and earns its only two points in draws against Latvia[8] and Slovakia.[9] The team finished bottom of its group.

For the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign in France, Liechtenstein managed to finish second-bottom of the group and take five points, managing a goalless draw at home against Montenegro,[10] an away win against Moldova, one goal to nil, thanks to Franz Burgmeier's ninth goal[11] and then a 1–1 home draw in the return against the same Moldovans, the group's red lanterns with three fewer units.

During the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, The Blue-Reds lost all 10 of their matches and finished bottom of their group with no points scored and just one goal scored (away against Israel) compared to 39 conceded.

In 2018, Liechtenstein entered the first ever UEFA Nations League, in group 4 of league D.[12] Their first Nations League match saw Armenia beat them 2–1 away. Liechtenstein were able to claim their first Nations League victory, beating Gibraltar 2–0 at home.[13] Liechtenstein finished bottom of their group with just one win and a draw, also at home, against Armenia (2–2).

During the Euro 2021 qualifiers, Liechtenstein managed to pick up two points thanks to two draws, one away to Greece (1–1) and the other at home to Armenia (1–1), but finished bottom of their group with 2 goals scored and 31 conceded.

In the 2020-2021 edition of the Nations League, Liechtenstein failed to gain promotion to League C, with a single win (2–0 at San Marino), two draws (0–0 at home to San Marino and 1–1 at Gibraltar) and one defeat (0–1 at home to Gibraltar, their direct rival who eventually gained promotion). The Blue-Reds disappointed by failing to win a single match at home, once again falling behind Gibraltar in the standings as they had done in the previous edition, and being dominated overall in the goalless draw with San Marino.

The 2022 World Cup qualifiers once again saw Liechtenstein finish bottom of their group, with just one point from a 1–1 draw away to Armenia, and 9 defeats, with 2 goals scored and 34 conceded.

The 2022-2023 edition of the Nations League was also a disappointment for Liechtenstein, who finished bottom of their group with 6 defeats in as many games played and just one goal scored, away against Andorra (1–2), their worst record in this competition in 3 editions.

Results and fixtures

Main article: Liechtenstein national football team results (2020–present)

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2023

17 June 2023 (2023-06-17) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Luxembourg  2–0  Liechtenstein Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
15:00 Da. Sinani 59'
Rodrigues 89'		 Report Stadium: Stade de Luxembourg
Attendance: 6,806
Referee: Oleksii Derevinskyi (Ukraine)
20 June 2023 (2023-06-20) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Liechtenstein  0–1  Slovakia Vaduz, Liechtenstein
18:00 Report
Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion
Attendance: 2,316
Referee: Yigal Frid (Israel)
8 September 2023 (2023-09-08) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Bosnia and Herzegovina  2–1  Liechtenstein Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
20:45
Report
Stadium: Bilino Polje
Attendance: 6,189
Referee: Sayat Karabayev (Kazakhstan)
11 September 2023 (2023-09-11) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Slovakia  3–0  Liechtenstein Bratislava, Slovakia
20:45
Report Stadium: Tehelné pole
Attendance: 13,679
Referee: Sander van der Eijk (Netherlands)
13 October 2023 (2023-10-13) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Liechtenstein  0–2  Bosnia and Herzegovina Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 Report
Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion
Attendance: 5,874
Referee: Damian Sylwestrzak (Poland)
16 October 2023 (2023-10-16) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Iceland  4–0  Liechtenstein Reykjavík, Iceland
18:45
Report Stadium: Laugardalsvöllur
Attendance: 4,317
Referee: Abdulkadir Bitigen (Turkey)
16 November 2023 (2023-11-16) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Liechtenstein  0–2  Portugal Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 Report
Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion
Attendance: 5,749
Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (Sweden)
19 November 2023 (2023-11-19) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Liechtenstein  0–1  Luxembourg Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 Report
Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion
Attendance: 2,241
Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

2024

22 March 2024 Friendly Liechtenstein  0–4  Faroe Islands Marbella, Spain
18:00 UTC+1 Report
Stadium: Marbella Football Center
Attendance: 25
Referee: Jason Lee Barcelo (Gibraltar)
26 March 2024 Friendly Latvia  1–1  Liechtenstein Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2
Report
Stadium: Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium
Referee: Manfredas Lukjancukas (Lithuania)
4 June 2024 Friendly Albania  v  Liechtenstein TBD, Austria
Report
8 June 2024 Friendly Romania  v  Liechtenstein Bucharest, Romania
Stadium: Stadionul Steaua
5 September 2024 (2024-09-05) 2024–25 UEFA Nations League San Marino  v  Liechtenstein Serravalle, San Marino
20:45 Stadium: Olympic Stadium of Serravalle
8 September 2024 (2024-09-08) 2024–25 UEFA Nations League Gibraltar  v  Liechtenstein Faro/Loulé, Portugal
18:00 Stadium: Estádio Algarve
13 October 2024 (2024-10-13) 2024–25 UEFA Nations League Liechtenstein  v  Gibraltar Vaduz, Liechtenstein
18:00 Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion
18 November 2024 (2024-11-18) 2024–25 UEFA Nations League Liechtenstein  v  San Marino Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Manager history

Martin Stocklasa, the team manager from 2020 to 2023.

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendlies matches against Faroe Islands and Latvia on 22 and 26 March 2024 respectively.[14]

Caps and goals are current as of 26 March 2024, after the match against Latvia.

More information No., Pos. ...

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up in the last 12 months and are still eligible to represent.

More information Pos., Player ...

Notes:

  • PRE = Preliminary squad
  • INJ = Injured
  • SUS = Suspended for a match

Player records

As of 26 March 2024[15]
Players in bold are still active with Liechtenstein.

Most appearances

Peter Jehle is Liechtenstein's most capped player at 132 capps.
More information Rank, Player ...

Top goalscorers

Mario Frick is Liechtenstein's all-time record goalscorer at 16 goals.
More information Rank, Player ...

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

More information FIFA World Cup, Qualification ...
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA European Championship

More information UEFA European Championship record, Qualification record ...
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA Nations League

More information UEFA Nations League record, Season ...

Head-to-head record

More information Against, Played ...

In literature

Prompted by the team's poor record in competitive games, British writer Charlie Connelly followed the entire qualifying campaign for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. As recorded in the subsequent book Stamping Grounds: Liechtenstein's Quest for the World Cup, Liechtenstein lost all eight games without scoring a goal.[16]

References

  1. [1]
    "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  2. [2]
    "Konrad Fünfstück neuer Nationaltrainer" (in German). Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  3. [3]
    Ltd, Allied Newspapers. "Malta beat Liechtenstein 7-1". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  4. [4]
    "Liechtenstein and Finland football teams played to a 1:1 draw, 9 September 2009". eu-football.info. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  5. [5]
    "Liechtenstein missing goal hero Philippe Erne". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  6. [6]
    "Records fall as Bosnia put eight past Liechtenstein". uefa.com. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  7. [7]
    "Statistik A-Nationalmannschaft". lfv.li (in German). Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  8. [8]
    "Le Liechtenstein concède le match nul face à la Lettonie (1-1)". eurosport.fr. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  9. [9]
    "Le Liechtenstein tient la Slovaquie en échec". uefa.com. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  10. [10]
    "Foot/Euro-2016/Qualif. - Liechtenstein et Monténégro 0 à 0". lematin.ch. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  11. [11]
    "Euro 2016 : Le Liechtenstein s'impose face à la Moldavie 1 but à 0". athlet.org. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  12. [12]
    UEFA.com. "UEFA Nations League - Standings". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  13. [13]
    "Liechtenstein - UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  14. [14]
    "Aufgebot Liechtensteiner Fussballverband" (PDF). lfv.li (in German). Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  15. [15]
    Garin, Erik. "Liechtenstein - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  16. [16]
    Connelly, Charlie (11 June 2014). Stamping Grounds : Exploring Liechtenstein and its World Cup Dream. ISBN 9780349141121. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
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