Latvia national football team

The Latvian national football team (Izlase in Latvian) is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia, and represents the country in international football competitions, such as World Cup and the European Championships.

History

Latvia played its first match in 1922, a game against Estonia; the result was a 1-1 draw. Latvia are arguably the most successful of the Baltic states, as well as being only team qualified to final stage of European Championship, they won the Baltic Cup 19 times.

In 1940, Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1991 and played their first match as a new nation against Estonia on November 16th of that year in the Baltic Cup, and their first FIFA-recognized match against Romania on April 8th, 1992, a 0-2 loss at Bucharest.

Latvia was a surprise qualifier for the 2004 European Football Championship, after defeating Turkey in a playoff to reach the final tournament. In Euro 2004, Latvia was drawn into group D with Germany, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. On June 15, 2004, Latvia played Czech Republic and managed to take a late first half lead with a goal from Māris Verpakovskis. The Czechs would later come back to win the game 2-1. Four days later Latvia earned a respectable draw 0-0 against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament. Latvia later lost to the Netherlands 3-0, and was eliminated with one point from their draw and two losses.

In the qualifying for World Cup 2006, Latvia was in group 3 with Portugal, Slovakia, Russia, Estonia, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg. Latvia was considered as a small threat for the playoff spot. However, Latvia failed to show any surprises as they did in Euro 2004 and failed to qualify for World Cup 2006 finishing fifth with 15 points from four wins, three draws and five losses.

Vitālijs Astafjevs has played for Latvia more times than anyone else, with 112 caps currently. Eriks Pētersons is the nation's top goal scorer with 24, while modern-day star Māris Verpakovskis is second with 18.

World Cup record

1930 to 1934 - Did not enter
1938 - Did not qualify
1950 to 1990 - Did not enter, was part of USSR
1994 to 2006 - Did not qualify

European Championship record

1960 to 1992 - Did not enter, was part of USSR
1996 - Did not qualify
2000 - Did not qualify
2004 - Round 1

Famous players

Before 1940:

After 1991:

Top Latvia goalscorers

Player	Latvia career	Goals (Caps)
Eriks Pētersons	1929-1939	24 (63)
Māris Verpakovskis	1999-present	18 (53)
Marian Pahars	1996-present	15 (63)
Alberts Šeibelis	1925-1939	14 (54)
Ilja Vestermans	1935-1938	13 (23)
Mihails Zemļinskis	1992-2005	12 (105)
Vitālijs Astafjevs	1992-present	12 (125)
Juris Laizāns	1998-present	11 (74)
Arnolds Tauriņš	1925-1935	10 (39)

Latvia coaches

Coach	Latvia career
Jānis Gilis	1992-1997
Revaz Dzodzuashvili	1998-1999
Gary Johnson	1999-2001
Aleksandrs Starkovs	2001-2004
Jurijs Andrejevs	2004-

Current roster

See the EURO 2004 squad.

External links

European national football teams | Football in Latvia

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