Latvia national football team

Latvia

Nickname(s)	Sarkanbaltsarkanie (Red-white-red in English)
Association	Latvian Football Federation
Confederation	UEFA
Head coach	Aleksandrs Starkovs
Captain	Kaspars Gorkšs
Most caps	Vitālijs Astafjevs (167)
Top scorer	Māris Verpakovskis (28)
Home stadium	Skonto stadions
FIFA code	LVA
FIFA ranking	78
Highest FIFA ranking	45 (November 2009)
Lowest FIFA ranking	111 (July 2007)
Elo ranking	88
Highest Elo ranking	39 (September 1922)
Lowest Elo ranking	124 (April 1995)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Latvia 1 – 1 Estonia (Riga, Latvia; 24 September 1922) Romania 2 - 0 Latvia (Bucharest, Romania; 8 April 1992)
Biggest win
Latvia 9 – 0 Estonia (Tallinn, Estonia; 18 August 1942)
Biggest defeat
Sweden 12 – 0 Latvia (Stockholm, Sweden; 29 May 1927)
European Championship
Appearances	1 (First in 2004)
Best result	Round 1, 2004

The Latvia national football team (Latvian: Valstsvienība) is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia and represents the country in international football competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships. So far, they have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, but have qualified for one European Championship, in 2004. The current head coach is Aleksandrs Starkovs. The team plays its home matches at the Skonto Stadium in Riga.

History

Latvia played their first match in 1922, a game against Estonia; the result was a 1–1 draw. Latvia are the only Baltic team that has qualified for a European Championship and have won the Baltic Cup 10 times. Latvia in its pre-war period from 1922 to 1940 played 99 official games.

In 1937, the Latvian team participated in the first qualification tournament for the 1938 FIFA World Cup. Latvia were seeded in Group 8 with Austria and Lithuania. Latvia beat Lithuania 4–2 in Riga (Goals: Fricis Kaņeps 9', 52', 83'; Iļja Vestermans 50' – Gudelis 79', Pavilionis 90') and then won 5–1 in Kaunas (Kaņeps 4', 45' (penalty); Vaclavs Borduško 11', 30'; Vestermans 67' – Pavilionis 72'), but lost 1–2 in the decisive match with Austria. Goals by Iļja Vestermans at the 6th minute for Latvia, and by Binders at 33' and Jerusalem at 15'. In April 1938 the Austrian Anschluss relegated the Austrian team, but the team of Latvia was not invited by FIFA as the group's runner-up.

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 16 of that year in the Baltic Cup, and their first FIFA-recognized match against Romania on April 8, 1992, a 0–2 loss in Bucharest.

Latvia were surprise qualifiers for the 2004 European Football Championship. After coming second in their qualifying group (ahead of Poland) they defeated 2002 World Cup semi-finalists Turkey in a playoff to reach the final tournament. They were drawn into group D with Germany, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. On June 15, 2004, Latvia played the Czech Republic and took a half-time 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 no score draw against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament. Latvia later lost to the Netherlands 3–0 and were eliminated with one point from their draw and two losses.

Vitālijs Astafjevs has played for Latvia more times than anyone else, with 167 caps from 1992 to 2010. He also holds the European record for the most played matches in the national team. Astafjevs has netted 16 times. Andrejs Rubins is the most capped active player for Latvia with 114 appearances, as of March, 2011. Māris Verpakovskis is the nation's top goal scorer with 28 goals. Other high scorers include Marians Pahars and Juris Laizāns, who both have scored 15 goals each for Latvia.

Tournament records

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 2010 – Did not qualify

European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1960 to 1992	Part of Soviet Union
1996 to 2000	Did not qualify
2004	Group Stage	14th	3	0	1	2	1	5
2008 to 2012	Did not qualify
Total	Group Stage	1/13	3	0	1	2	1	5

Results and Fixtures

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group F

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Greece 10 7 3 0 14 5 +9 24 Croatia 10 7 1 2 18 7 +11 22 Israel 10 5 1 4 13 11 +2 16 Latvia 10 3 2 5 9 12 −3 11 Georgia 10 2 4 4 7 9 −2 10 Malta 10 0 1 9 4 21 −17 1

Croatia — 2–1 0–0 3–1 2–0 3–0 Georgia 1–0 — 1–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 Greece 2–0 1–1 — 2–1 1–0 3–1 Israel 1–2 1–0 0–1 — 2–1 3–1 Latvia 0–3 1–1 1–1 1–2 — 2–0 Malta 1–3 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 —

2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lithuania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Latvia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Liechtenstein 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bosnia and Herzegovina — 22 Mar '13 11 Sep '12 11 Oct '13 16 Oct '12 6 Sep '13 Greece 12 Oct '12 — 10 Sep '13 15 Oct '13 11 Sep '12 11 Oct '13 Latvia 7 Jun '13 7 Sep '12 — 16 Oct '12 6 Sep '13 15 Oct '13 Liechtenstein 7 Sep '12 6 Sep '13 22 Mar '13 — 12 Oct '12 7 Jun '13 Lithuania 15 Oct '13 7 Jun '13 11 Oct '13 10 Sep '13 — 7 Sep '12 Slovakia 10 Sep '13 16 Oct '12 12 Oct '12 11 Sep '12 22 Mar '13 —

Recent and forthcoming matches

Date	Tournament	Location	Opponent	Result	Latvia scorers
10 August 2011	Friendly	Riga	Finland	0:2
2 September 2011	UEFA Euro 2012 qualification	Tbilisi	Georgia	1:0	Aleksandrs Cauņa
6 September 2011	UEFA Euro 2012 qualification	Riga	Greece	1:1	Aleksandrs Cauņa
7 October 2011	UEFA Euro 2012 qualification	Riga	Malta	2:0	Aleksejs Višņakovs, Artjoms Rudņevs
10 October 2011	UEFA Euro 2012 qualification	Rijeka	Croatia	0:2
29 February 2012	Friendly	Antalya	Kazakhstan	0:0
22 May 2012	Friendly	Klagenfurt	Poland
1–3 June 2012	Baltic Cup	Tallinn	Estonia Lithuania
15 August 2012	Friendly	Podgorica	Montenegro
7 September 2012	FIFA World Cup 2014 qualification	Riga	Greece
11 September 2012	FIFA World Cup 2014 qualification	Zenica	Bosnia and Herzegovina
12 October 2012	FIFA World Cup 2014 qualification	Bratislava	Slovakia
16 October 2012	FIFA World Cup 2014 qualification	Riga	Liechtenstein

Players

See also: Latvia international footballers

Current squad

Match Date: 29 February 2012
Opposition: Kazakhstan
Caps and goals correct as of: 29 February 2012

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Pāvels Doroševs October 9, 1980 (1980-10-09) 0 0 Gabala 12 GK Andris Vaņins April 30, 1980 (1980-04-30) 46 0 Sion 20 GK Germans Māliņš October 12, 1987 (1987-10-12) 0 0 Skonto Riga 3 DF Oskars Kļava August 8, 1983 (1983-08-08) 54 1 Khimki 4 DF Ritus Krjauklis April 23, 1986 (1986-04-23) 16 0 Liepājas Metalurgs 6 DF Deniss Ivanovs January 11, 1984 (1984-01-11) 49 2 Baku 13 DF Kaspars Gorkšs (captain) November 6, 1981 (1981-11-06) 43 4 Reading 15 DF Ritvars Rugins October 17, 1989 (1989-10-17) 6 0 Illichivets Mariupol 22 DF Vitālijs Smirnovs June 28, 1986 (1986-06-28) 3 0 Ventspils DF Vladimirs Bespalovs June 22, 1988 (1988-06-22) 1 0 Ventspils 5 MF Aleksandrs Fertovs June 16, 1987 (1987-06-16) 9 0 Skonto Riga 7 MF Oļegs Laizāns March 28, 1987 (1987-03-28) 6 0 ŁKS Łódź 10 MF Aleksejs Višņakovs February 3, 1984 (1984-02-03) 40 6 Cracovia 11 MF Ivans Lukjanovs January 24, 1987 (1987-01-24) 7 0 Lechia Gdańsk 18 MF Andrejs Rubins November 26, 1978 (1978-11-26) 117 10 Simurq Zaqatala MF Arturs Zjuzins June 18, 1991 (1991-06-18) 1 0 Baltika Kaliningrad MF Andrejs Kovaļovs March 23, 1989 (1989-03-23) 2 0 Daugava Daugavpils MF Alans Siņeļņikovs May 14, 1990 (1990-05-14) 0 0 Skonto Riga 14 FW Andrejs Perepļotkins December 27, 1984 (1984-12-27) 34 3 Nasaf Qarshi 16 FW Artjoms Rudņevs January 13, 1988 (1988-01-13) 17 1 Lech Poznań 17 FW Edgars Gauračs March 10, 1988 (1988-03-10) 7 0 Yenisey Krasnoyarsk

Recent callups

Players called-up within last 12 months:

Name	Date of Birth (Age)	Club	Caps	Goals
Goalkeepers
Aleksandrs Koļinko	June 18, 1975 (1975-06-18)	Baltika Kaliningrad	86	0
Deniss Romanovs	September 2, 1978 (1978-09-02)	Arema	5	0
Kaspars Ikstens	June 5, 1988 (1988-06-05)	Unattached	0	0
Defenders
Deniss Kačanovs	November 27, 1979 (1979-11-27)	Persema Malang	29	0
Kaspars Dubra	December 20, 1990 (1990-12-20)	Polonia Bytom	1	0
Dzintars Zirnis	April 25, 1977 (1977-04-25)	Liepājas Metalurgs	68	0
Igors Savčenkovs	November 3, 1982 (1982-11-03)	Ventspils	3	0
Pāvels Mihadjuks	May 27, 80 (80-05-27)	Liepājas Metalurgs	14	1
Renārs Rode	April 6, 1989 (1989-04-06)	Skonto Riga	0	0
Valērijs Redjko	March 10, 1983 (1983-03-10)	Jelgava	0	0
Midfielders
Aleksandrs Cauņa	January 19, 1988 (1988-01-19)	CSKA Moscow	29	8
Igors Tarasovs	January 16, 1988 (1988-01-16)	Simurq Zaqatala	3	0
Jurijs Žigajevs	November 14, 1985 (1985-11-14)	Widzew Łódź	26	1
Maksims Rafaļskis	May 14, 1984 (1984-05-14)	Baltika Kaliningrad	13	0
Juris Laizāns	January 6, 1979 (1979-01-06)	Fakel Voronezh	108	15
Jevgēņijs Kosmačovs	February 18, 1988 (1988-02-18)	Sevastopol	3	0
Artis Lazdiņš	May 3, 1986 (1986-05-03)	Jelgava	8	0
Genādijs Soloņicins	January 3, 1980 (1980-01-03)	Liepājas Metalurgs	44	1
Forwards
Māris Verpakovskis	October 15, 1979 (1979-10-15)	Baku	90	28
Ģirts Karlsons	June 7, 1981 (1981-06-07)	Inter Baku	49	9
Kristaps Grebis	December 13, 1980 (1980-12-13)	Unattached	13	2
Oļegs Malašenoks	April 27, 1986 (1986-04-27)	Volgar-Gazprom Astrakhan	1	0
Deniss Rakels	August 20, 1992 (1992-08-20)	Katowice	2	0
Daniils Turkovs	February 17, 1988 (1988-02-17)	Ventspils	4	0
Artūrs Karašausks	January 29, 1992 (1992-01-29)	Skonto Riga	2	0
Kristaps Blanks	January 30, 1986 (1986-01-30)	Skonto Riga	22	0
Vladislavs Kozlovs	November 30, 1987 (1987-11-30)	Jelgava	2	0

Most capped players

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1.	Vitālijs Astafjevs	1992–2010	167	16
2.	Andrejs Rubins	1998–0000	117	10
3.	Juris Laizāns	1998– 0000	108	15
4.	Imants Bleidelis	1995–2007	106	10
5.	Mihails Zemļinskis	1992–2005	105	12
6.	Igors Stepanovs	1995–2011	100	4
7.	Māris Verpakovskis	1999– 0000	90	28
8.	Aleksandrs Koļinko	1997– 0000	86	0
9.	Andrejs Štolcers	1994–2005	81	7
10.	Marian Pahars	1996–2007	75	15

Players in bold are still active.

Top goalscorers

#	Player	Career	Goals (Caps)
1.	Māris Verpakovskis	1999– 0000	28 (90)
2.	Ēriks Pētersons	1929–1939	21 (63)
3.	Vitālijs Astafjevs	1992–2010	16 (167)
4.	Marians Pahars	1996–2007	15 (75)
5.	Juris Laizāns	1998–	15 (108)
6.	Alberts Šeibelis	1925–1939	14 (54)
7.	Iļja Vestermans	1935–1938	13 (23)
8.	Mihails Zemļinskis	1992–2005	12 (105)
9.	Vīts Rimkus	1995–2008	11 (73)
10.	Arnolds Tauriņš	1925–1935	10 (39)
	Imants Bleidelis	1995–2007	10 (106)
	Andrejs Rubins	1998–	10 (117)

Players in bold are still active.

Coaches

Coach	Latvia career
Jānis Gilis	1992–1997
Revaz Dzodzuashvili	1998–1999
Gary Johnson	1999–2001
Aleksandrs Starkovs	2001–2004
Jurijs Andrejevs	2004–2007
Aleksandrs Starkovs	2007 – present

See also

• Latvia U-21
• Latvia U-19
• Latvia youth football team

External links

• Official site of national football federation
• RSSSF archive of Latvia national team results
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• UEFA.com