Malta women's national football team
Association | Malta Football Association | ||
---|---|---|---|
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
Head coach | Mark Gatt | ||
Captain | Dorianne Theuma | ||
Most caps | Dorianne Theuma (64) | ||
Top scorer | Dorianne Theuma (21) | ||
Home stadium | Centenary Stadium | ||
FIFA code | MLT | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 101 6 (25 March 2016) | ||
Highest | 74 (August 2003) | ||
Lowest | 113 (December 2006) | ||
First international | |||
Romania 3–0 Malta Bucharest, August 10, 2003) | |||
Biggest win | |||
Malta 6–0 Luxembourg (Ta'Qali, April 6, 2013) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
Malta 0–13 Spain (Ta'Qali, September 9, 2009) |
The Malta women's national football team represents the Malta Football Association in international women's football matches sanctioned by UEFA.[1] As of December 2012 Malta ranks 104th in FIFA's Women's World Ranking.[2]
The team first appeared in official competitions in the 2005 European Championship's qualifying, debuting on August 10, 2003 in Bucharest with a 3–0 loss to Romania. Malta lost all eight games, with a 1–35 goal average. The team's first goal was scored by Sarah Caruana on November 20, 2003 against Croatia.[3]
After 13 losses Malta achieved its first tie on June 7, 2006 against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last match of the 2007 World Cup's qualifying. The team played for the first time against elite national teams in the 2011 World Cup's qualifying, losing all games including a record 0–13 defeat to Spain. On March 3, 2011 Malta won an official match for the first time in the 2013 European Championship qualifying's preliminary round, beating Georgia 1–0 with a goal by D'Agostino in injury time.
On April 6, 2013 Malta attained its first crushing win by beating Luxembourg 6–0 in the 2015 World Cup qualifying's preliminary round. The team also defeated Latvia and tied with Albania to top the group and make it past a preliminary round for the first time in its fourth attempt.[4]
The team has been coached since its foundation by Pierre Brincat. However, it has been taken over by Mark Gatt, ex-U19 coach, on 22 January 2015.
World Cup record
World Cup Finals | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Result | GP | W | D* | L | GF | GA | GD | |
1991 | Did Not Enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
1995 | Did Not Enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
1999 | Did Not Enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
2003 | Did Not Enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
2007 | Did Not Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
2011 | Did Not Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
2015 | Did Not Qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Total | 0/7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
Current squad
Squad for the 2015 World Cup qualification's preliminary round, 4 – 9 April 2013[5]
Player | Club | Birth |
---|---|---|
Goalkeepers | ||
Rachelle Borg | Mgarr | 1998 |
Keoney Demicoli | Paola Hibernians | 1997 |
Rosemarie Baldacchino | Pembroke | 1995 |
Janice Xuereb | Birkirkara | 1996 |
Defenders | ||
Stephania Farrugia | Birkirkara | 1991 |
Kelly Pace | Birkirkara | 1991 |
Ann-Marie Said | Gozo | |
Charlene Zammit | Paola Hibernians | 1991 |
Michelle Zuber | Gozo | |
Midfielders | ||
Brenda Borg | Mgarr United | 1997 |
Rachel Cuschieri | Birkirkara | 1992 |
Antoinette Sammut | Mgarr United | 1993 |
Dorianne Theuma | Mosta | 1984 |
Emma Xuereb | Gozo | 1992 |
Forwards | ||
Nicole Buttigieg | Mosta | 1993 |
Ylenia Carabott | Paola Hibernians | 1989 |
Jade Flask | kirkop | |
Gabriella Zahra | Birkirkara | 1991 |
Overall official record
Competition | Stage | Result | Opponent | Position | Scorers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 Euro qualifying | Regular stage (Class B) |
0–3 0–8 0–1 0–2 0–3 1–4 0–9 0–5 |
Romania Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Ireland |
5 / 5 | Caruana |
2007 World Cup qualifying | Regular stage (Class B) |
1–4 0–1 1–4 1–3 0–1 1–1 |
Croatia Slovenia Bosnia and Herzegovina |
4 / 4 | D'Agostino Theuma, Tonna Theuma |
2009 Euro qualifying | Preliminary round | 0–0 2–4 0–8 |
Lithuania Luxembourg Slovakia |
4 / 4 | Carabott 2 |
2011 World Cup qualifying | Regular stage | 0–13 0–9 0–8 0–6 0–2 0–6 0–2 1–5 |
Spain England Austria Turkey |
5 / 5 | N. Pace |
2013 Euro qualifying | Preliminary round | 1–0 0–2 1–1 |
Georgia Faroe Islands Armenia |
2 / 4 | D'Agostino Cuschieri |
2015 World Cup qualifying | Preliminary round | 1–1 6–0 2–0 |
Albania Luxembourg Latvia |
1 / 4 | Theuma Theuma 2, Buttigieg, Carabott, Cuschieri, Xuereb Cuschieri, Theuma |
Regular stage | 0–2 0–2 0–5 0–8 0–3 0–5 0–11 0–5 0–8 0–5 |
Israel Denmark Serbia Switzerland Iceland |
6 / 6 |
Most capped players
Below is a list of the 10 players with the most caps for Malta, as of 23 June 2015[update].[6] (bold denotes players still available for selection).
# | Player | Period | Caps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dorianne Theuma | 2003-present | 64 | 21 |
2 | Rebecca D'Agostino | 2003–2014 | 57 | 4 |
3 | Ylenia Carabott | 2005–present | 56 | 11 |
4 | Natasha Pace | 2003–2014 | 48 | 3 |
5 | Rachel Cucshieri | 2007–present | 42 | 6 |
6 | Charlene Zammit | 2009–present | 33 | 0 |
6 | Mandy Debono | 2006–present | 33 | 0 |
6 | Maria Azzopardi | 2003-2011 | 33 | 0 |
9 | Stefania Farrugia | 2007–present | 32 | 1 |
10 | Kathleen Saliba | 2004-2012 | 31 | 1 |
References
- ^ Profile in UEFA's website
- ^ Current ranking in FIFA's website
- ^ Statistics of the match in FIFA's website
- ^ Malta proud to make history. UEFA, 18 April 2013
- ^ Malta women's national team hosts World Cup qualifying mini-tournament. Maltafootball.com, 2 April 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Most-capped players
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).