Football in Luxembourg

Football in Luxembourg is governed by the Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF), which is a member of FIFA and UEFA.^[1] The FLF organises the men's, women's and futsal national teams, in addition to the main domestic competitions, the National Division and the Luxembourg Cup.

Football in Luxembourg
Country	Luxembourg
Governing body	Luxembourg Football Federation
National team(s)	Men, U21, U19, U17 Women
National competitions
Luxembourg Cup Coupe FLF
Club competitions
Luxembourg National Division
International competitions
Champions League Europa League Europa Conference League Super Cup FIFA Club World Cup FIFA World Cup (National Team) European Championship (National Team) UEFA Nations League (National Team)

Despite football being so popular, Luxembourg has rarely had a club pass the second round of qualifying for the Champions League. However, in the 2018-19 Europa League, F91 Dudelange became the first team from Luxembourg to qualify to the group stage of a major European Competition when they beat CFR Cluj of Romania in the Play-Offs 5-2 on aggregate.

The first match of the national team was played on 29 October 1911 (defeat 1–4 against France ^[2]), while the first women's game was a 0–4 defeat to Slovakia on 18 November 2006.^[3]

History

The oldest football club in Luxembourg is Fola Esch, founded as the "Football and Lawntennis Club" on 9 December 1906 by English language teacher Jean Roeder.^[4] Being the oldest club in the country, they are also part of the Club of Pioneers, a group set up by Sheffield FC to join together the oldest clubs in each country.

It wasn't until 1908 that enough clubs had been created to form the Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF).^[5] The following year, in 1909, the FLF organised the first National Division league, which would be won by Racing Club Luxembourg.^[6] Racing were also the first team to win the inaugural Luxembourg Cup 12 years later.^[7] The women's league started in the 1971–73 season and was won by the Atert Bissen women's team.^[8] A women's cup competition started in 2001–02, where the Progrès Niederkorn women's team won the trophy.^[9]

Luxembourg, as a nation, was affiliated with FIFA in 1910, and then with UEFA in 1954. The first match of the national team was a 1–4 defeat at home to France on 29 October 1910.^[10] It was only in 2006 that the national women's team played their first game, a 0–4 defeat to Slovakia at home in the 2009 UEFA Euro Qualifying stage.^[11] The country hosted their first, and so far only, national tournament in 2006 when they hosted the Euro Under-17 Euro tournament,^[12] where they failed to progress beyond the group stage. Until 2017, Luxembourg were consistently ranked outside the top 100 teams by FIFA,^[13] but after some good results, namely in the UEFA Nations League, they are now ranked 84th.

The national stadium, the Stade de Luxembourg was opened in September 2021, replacing the outdated Stade Josy Barthel, first inaugurated in 1931, as the home of the country's national team.^[14]

Since the turn of the century, the domestic league has been dominated by F91 Dudelange, having won 14 league titles as well as 7 Luxembourg Cup titles. This is still some way behind the most successful team in the country, Jeunesse Esch, with 28 league titles, however Dudelange was only founded as recently as 1991. They added to this success by becoming the first Luxembourgish team to qualify for the group stage of the Europa League in 2018–19, after dropping out of the Champions League Qualification Stage.^[15]

Rankings

FIFA Ranking

FIFA World Rankings as of 24 October 2024.^[16]

Rank	Change	Team	Points
87	3	Uganda	1269.79
88	6	Equatorial Guinea	1266.68
89	2	Luxembourg	1262.08
90	2	Curaçao	1260.87
91	4	New Zealand	1258.11

UEFA Coefficient

UEFA Coefficient Rankings as of 23 October 2018.^[17]

Rank	Change	Team	Points
41	2	Lithuania	6.75
42	2	Latvia	5.625
43	5	Luxembourg	5.25
44	2	Armenia	5.25
45	2	Malta	5.125

League system

Main article: Luxembourg football league system

Level	League		Promotion/Relegation
1	National Division 16 clubs		2–4 clubs
2	Division of Honour 16 clubs		2-4 clubs 2–4 clubs
3	1. Division Serie 1 16 clubs	1. Division Serie 2 16 clubs	2-4 clubs 4–8 clubs
4	2. Division Serie 1 14 clubs	2. Division Serie 2 14 clubs	4-8 clubs 2–4 clubs
5	3. Division Serie 2 10 clubs		2–4 clubs

Source: ^[18]

Seasons in Luxembourg Football

The National Division started with the 1909–10 season, which was won by Racing Club Luxembourg. The Luxembourg Cup was started twelve seasons later, with the 1921–22 edition being won by Racing Club Luxembourg. During the 1912–13 and 1940–41 to 1943–44 there were no competitive competitions held in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg National Division Seasons 1900s 1909–10 1910s 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920s 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930s 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940s 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950s 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960s 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970s 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980s 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990s 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000s 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010s 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020s 2020–21 2021–22

Luxembourg Cup Seasons 1900s 1910s 1920s 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930s 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940s 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950s 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960s 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970s 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980s 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990s 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000s 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010s 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020s 2020–21 2021–22 2022-23

Luxembourg Clubs in European Competitions

Main article: Luxembourgian football clubs in European competitions

Luxembourg football clubs have participated in European football competitions since Spora Luxembourg first took part in the 1956–57 European Cup. In total, 23 different clubs have since represented Luxembourg in European competition. Of these, 14 are still in existence while the remaining 9 were merged into a new or existing team.

In the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, F91 Dudelange became the first Luxembourgish club to compete in the group stage of a modern European competition.

National team

Main article: Luxembourg national football team

See also: Luxembourg national football team results

The national team has had limited international success and has never qualified for a European Championship or World Cup. ^[19][20][21] According to the FIFA World Ranking, the national team is currently ranked 83rd (December 2023).^[22]

References

1. "Luxembourg's emphatic rise has created an unforeseen problem". www.irishtimes.com.
2. "Live Scores - Luxembourg - Matches". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
3. "Live Scores - Luxembourg - Women's - Matches". FIFA. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
4. "CS Fola Esch - Historique" [CS Fola Esch - History] (in French). CS Fola Esch. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
5. "Luxembourg - Association Information". FIFA. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
6. Schöggl, Hans. "Luxembourg 1909/10". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
7. Stokkermans, Karel. "Luxembourg - List of Cup Finals". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
8. Garin, Erik. "Luxembourg - List of Women Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
9. Schöggl, Hans. "Luxembourg - List of Women Cup Winners". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
10. "Live Scores - Luxembourg - Matches". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
11. "Live Scores - Luxembourg - Women's - Matches". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
12. "Under-17 - Russian determination wins out". UEFA.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
13. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
14. Jacquemot, Patrick (16 August 2021). "Le Stade de Luxembourg va sonner creux". Luxemburger Wort - Edition francophone (in French).
15. Colin, Jean-François. "Revue de presse: entre extase et incrédulité" [Press review: between ecstasy and disbelief] (in French). Wort.lu. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
16. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
17. "Member Associations-UEFA Coefficients". UEFA. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
18. "Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football". FLF. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
19. "How Luxembourg went from whipping boys to genuine contenders to reach Euro 2024". 21 March 2024.
20. Ames, Nick (10 September 2018). "Luxembourg thrive among their peers and can dream of Euro 2020 place - Nick Ames". the Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
21. "When Saturday Comes - Life of Luxe". Wsc.co.uk. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
22. FIFA.com. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - Associations - Luxembourg - Men's". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 13 February 2024.

External links

• (in French) flf.lu - Luxembourg football federation
• (in French) worldfootball.net - Luxembourg