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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.
Nickname(s) | The Blue-Reds | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Association | Liechtenstein Football Association (Liechtensteiner Fussballverband) | |||
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | |||
Head coach | Konrad Fünfstück | |||
Captain | Nicolas Hasler | |||
Most caps | Peter Jehle (132) | |||
Top scorer | Mario Frick (16) | |||
Home stadium | Rheinpark Stadion | |||
FIFA code | LIE | |||
| ||||
FIFA ranking | ||||
Current | 200 3 (24 October 2024)[1] | |||
Highest | 118 (January 2008, July 2011, September 2011) | |||
Lowest | 204 (June 2023) | |||
First international | ||||
Liechtenstein 1–1 Malta (Daejeon, South Korea; 14 June 1981) | ||||
Biggest win | ||||
Luxembourg 0–4 Liechtenstein (Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 13 October 2004) | ||||
Biggest defeat | ||||
Liechtenstein 1–11 Macedonia (Eschen, Liechtenstein; 9 November 1996) | ||||
Website | lfv.li |
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 away win and its first win in any FIFA World Cup qualifier.
Conversely, Liechtenstein is the only country that has lost official matches against San Marino – one in a 2004 friendly, and again in the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League.[2] Liechtenstein suffered its biggest ever loss in 1996, during 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 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.[3]
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 UEFA 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. The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers 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 UEFA 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 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.[4]
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 FIFA 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.[5]
In the UEFA 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.[6] They produced a shock 2–0 win at home against Lithuania; their goals were scored by Philippe Erne and Michele Polverino.[6] In the following qualifying game, they managed a scoreless draw away to Lithuania.[6]
In the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Blue-Reds were humiliated at home in their opening game against Bosnia-Herzegovina (1–8).[7] The team loses many of its qualifying matches[8] and earns its only two points in draws against Latvia[9] and Slovakia.[10] The team finished bottom of its group.
For the UEFA 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,[11] an away win against Moldova, one goal to nil, thanks to Franz Burgmeier's ninth goal[12] 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 FIFA 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.[13] 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.[14] Liechtenstein finished bottom of their group with just one win and a draw, also at home, against Armenia (2–2).
During the UEFA Euro 2020 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 2020–21 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 FIFA 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 2022–23 edition of the UEFA 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.
Liechtenstein began 2024 with four friendly matches, losing two and drawing two. One of the draws came away from home against Romania a few days prior to UEFA Euro 2024, a tournament which Romania had qualified for undefeated.
Liechtenstein began their 2024–25 Nations League campaign with a 0-1 loss away to San Marino after a Liechtenstein goal was denied through offside, handing the Sammarinese their first competitive victory.[2]
Following this, on 10 October 2024, Liechtenstein proceeded to get their first win for 41 matches against Hong Kong by a 1-0 scoreline.
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
16 November 2023 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 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying | Liechtenstein | 0–1 | Luxembourg | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
20:45 | Report |
|
Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 2,241 Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France) |
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) |
3 June 2024 Friendly | Albania | 3–0 | Liechtenstein | Szombathely, Hungary |
20:00 | Report | Stadium: Haladás Sportkomplexum Attendance: 200 Referee: Bence Csonka (Hungary) |
8 June 2024 Friendly | Romania | 0–0 | Liechtenstein | Bucharest, Romania |
21:00 | Report | Stadium: Stadionul Steaua Attendance: 25,097 Referee: Menelaos Antoniou (Cyprus) |
5 September 2024 2024–25 UEFA Nations League | San Marino | 1–0 | Liechtenstein | Serravalle, San Marino |
20:45 |
|
Report | Stadium: Olympic Stadium of Serravalle Attendance: 914 Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia) |
8 September 2024 2024–25 UEFA Nations League | Gibraltar | 2–2 | Liechtenstein | Europa Point, Gibraltar |
18:00 | Report | Stadium: Europa Sports Park Attendance: 681 Referee: Kristo Tohver (Estonia) |
10 October 2024 Friendly | Liechtenstein | 1–0 | Hong Kong | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
19:30 UTC+2 |
|
Report | Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 1,332 Referee: Désirée Grundbacher (Switzerland) |
13 October 2024 2024–25 UEFA Nations League | Liechtenstein | 0–0 | Gibraltar | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
18:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 1,510 Referee: Horațiu Feșnic (Romania) |
14 November 2024 Friendly | Malta | v | Liechtenstein | Ta' Qali, Malta |
19:00 UTC+1 | Report | Stadium: National Stadium |
18 November 2024 2024–25 UEFA Nations League | Liechtenstein | v | San Marino | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
20:45 UTC+1 | Report | Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion |
The following players were called up for the friendly against Malta and the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League match against San Marino on 14 and 18 November 2024 respectively.[15]
Caps and goals are current as of 13 October 2024, after the match against Gibraltar.
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK | Benjamin Büchel (vice-captain) | 4 July 1989 | 68 | 0 | Vaduz | |
GK | Gabriel Foser | 2 September 2002 | 0 | 0 | Eschen/Mauren | |
GK | Lorenzo Lo Russo | 8 July 1993 | 0 | 0 | Balzers | |
DF | Maximilian Göppel | 31 August 1997 | 67 | 2 | YF Juventus | |
DF | Sandro Wieser | 3 February 1993 | 64 | 2 | Vaduz | |
DF | Andreas Malin | 31 January 1994 | 49 | 0 | Rot-Weiß Rankweil | |
DF | Niklas Beck | 25 March 2001 | 23 | 0 | Balzers | |
DF | Lars Traber | 12 June 2000 | 16 | 0 | Vaduz | |
DF | Martin Marxer | 4 October 1999 | 14 | 0 | Düdingen | |
DF | Lukas Graber | 3 May 2001 | 7 | 0 | Eschen/Mauren | |
DF | Felix Oberwaditzer | 14 March 2006 | 3 | 0 | SCR Altach | |
MF | Nicolas Hasler (captain) | 4 May 1991 | 98 | 7 | Vaduz | |
MF | Sandro Wolfinger | 24 August 1991 | 68 | 3 | Balzers | |
MF | Aron Sele | 2 September 1996 | 61 | 0 | YF Juventus | |
MF | Livio Meier | 10 January 1998 | 47 | 1 | Eschen/Mauren | |
MF | Fabio Wolfinger | 5 November 1996 | 31 | 1 | Balzers | |
MF | Marcel Büchel | 18 March 1991 | 27 | 1 | SPAL | |
MF | Simon Lüchinger | 28 November 2002 | 25 | 0 | Vaduz | |
MF | Kenny Kindle | 29 November 2003 | 7 | 0 | Vaduz | |
MF | Liam Kranz | 17 July 2003 | 7 | 0 | Schaan | |
MF | Severin Schlegel | 24 July 2004 | 5 | 0 | Vaduz | |
MF | Alessio Hasler | 7 July 2005 | 2 | 0 | Vaduz | |
MF | Emanuel Zünd | 29 December 2004 | 2 | 0 | Veyrier | |
FW | Dennis Salanović | 26 February 1996 | 61 | 4 | York United | |
FW | Philipp Ospelt | 7 October 1992 | 22 | 0 | Ruggell | |
FW | Andrin Netzer | 11 January 2002 | 18 | 0 | Balzers | |
FW | Ferhat Saglam | 10 October 2001 | 12 | 1 | Brühl | |
FW | Fabio Luque Notaro | 31 August 2005 | 9 | 0 | Vaduz | |
FW | Jonas Beck | 19 May 2003 | 4 | 0 | Schaan |
The following players were called up in the last 12 months and are still eligible to represent.
Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK | Justin Ospelt | 7 September 1999 | 5 | 0 | FSV Frankfurt | v. Romania, 8 June 2024 |
GK | Thomas Hobi | 20 June 1993 | 5 | 0 | Balzers | v. Latvia, 26 March 2024 |
DF | Noah Graber | 3 May 2001 | 1 | 0 | Altstätten | v. Albania, 3 June 2024 PRE |
MF | Marco Marxer | 2 June 1999 | 4 | 0 | Balzers | v. Gibraltar, 13 October 2024 |
MF | David Jäger | 4 July 2004 | 1 | 0 | Vaduz | v. Romania, 8 June 2024 |
MF | Jonas Weissenhofer | 25 July 2006 | 0 | 0 | Vaduz | v. Romania, 8 June 2024 |
Notes:
Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Career |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Jehle | 132 | 0 | 1998–2018 |
2 | Mario Frick | 125 | 16 | 1993–2015 |
3 | Martin Stocklasa | 113 | 5 | 1996–2014 |
4 | Franz Burgmeier | 112 | 9 | 2001–2018 |
5 | Nicolas Hasler | 98 | 7 | 2010–present |
6 | Thomas Beck | 92 | 5 | 1998–2013 |
7 | Martin Büchel | 91 | 2 | 2004–2021 |
8 | Michele Polverino | 79 | 6 | 2007–2019 |
9 | Daniel Hasler | 78 | 1 | 1993–2007 |
10 | Martin Telser | 73 | 1 | 1996–2007 |
Rank | Player | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mario Frick | 16 | 125 | 0.13 | 1993–2015 |
2 | Franz Burgmeier | 9 | 112 | 0.08 | 2001–2018 |
3 | Nicolas Hasler | 7 | 98 | 0.07 | 2010–present |
4 | Michele Polverino | 6 | 79 | 0.08 | 2007–2019 |
5 | Thomas Beck | 5 | 92 | 0.05 | 1998–2013 |
Martin Stocklasa | 5 | 113 | 0.04 | 1996–2014 | |
7 | Dennis Salanović | 4 | 61 | 0.07 | 2014–present |
8 | Yanik Frick | 3 | 30 | 0.1 | 2016–2022 |
Sandro Wolfinger | 3 | 68 | 0.04 | 2013–present | |
10 | |||||
Noah Frick | 2 | 20 | 0.1 | 2019–present | |
Benjamin Fischer | 2 | 23 | 0.09 | 2005–2011 | |
Mathias Christen | 2 | 36 | 0.06 | 2008–2014 | |
Fabio D'Elia | 2 | 50 | 0.04 | 2001–2010 | |
Sandro Wieser | 2 | 64 | 0.03 | 2008–present | |
Maximilian Göppel | 2 | 67 | 0.03 | 2016–present | |
Michael Stocklasa | 2 | 71 | 0.03 | 1998–2012 | |
Martin Büchel | 2 | 91 | 0.02 | 2004–2021 | |
FIFA World Cup record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
1930 to 1974 | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | |||||||||||||
1978 to 1994 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
1998 | Did not qualify | 6/6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 52 | |||||||
2002 | 5/5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 23 | ||||||||
2006 | 6/7 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 23 | ||||||||
2010 | 6/6 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 23 | ||||||||
2014 | 6/6 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 25 | ||||||||
2018 | 6/6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 39 | ||||||||
2022 | 6/6 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 34 | ||||||||
2026 | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
2030 | |||||||||||||||
2034 | |||||||||||||||
Total | 0/12 | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | 70 | 2 | 7 | 61 | 25 | 219 |
UEFA European Championship record | Qualifying record | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
1960 to 1972 | Not a UEFA member | Not a UEFA member | |||||||||||||
1976 to 1992 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
1996 | Did not qualify | 6/6 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 40 | |||||||
2000 | 6/6 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 39 | ||||||||
2004 | 5/5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 22 | ||||||||
2008 | 7/7 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 32 | ||||||||
2012 | 5/5 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 17 | ||||||||
2016 | 5/6 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 26 | ||||||||
2020 | 6/6 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 31 | ||||||||
2024 | 6/6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 28 | ||||||||
2028 | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
2032 | |||||||||||||||
Total | 0/13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | 78 | 5 | 9 | 64 | 22 | 235 |
Against | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albania | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | −9 |
Andorra | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | -3 |
Armenia | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -5 |
Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 |
Austria | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 36 | −35 |
Azerbaijan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 |
Belarus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | −4 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 35 | −32 |
Cape Verde | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | -6 |
China | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 |
Croatia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 |
Czech Republic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 |
Denmark | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | −13 |
England | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 |
Estonia | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 10 | −8 |
Faroe Islands | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 21 | −17 |
Finland | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 |
Georgia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
Germany | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 38 | −35 |
Gibraltar | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 8 | -2 |
Greece | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | −7 |
Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
Hungary | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | −10 |
Iceland | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 35 | −29 |
Indonesia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 |
Israel | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | −7 |
Italy | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 20 | −20 |
Latvia | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 19 | −14 |
Lithuania | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | −5 |
Luxembourg | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 |
Malaysia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
Malta | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 14 | −11 |
Moldova | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -4 |
Montenegro | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
Netherlands | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 |
North Macedonia | 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 42 | −37 |
Northern Ireland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 17 | −11 |
Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
Portugal | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 41 | −38 |
Qatar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 |
Republic of Ireland | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 14 | −14 |
Romania | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 30 | −29 |
Russia | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 15 | −14 |
San Marino | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 |
Saudi Arabia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
Scotland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 |
Slovakia | 11 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 30 | −29 |
Spain | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 39 | −39 |
Sweden | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 | −9 |
Switzerland | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 28 | −27 |
Thailand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
Togo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 |
Turkey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | −8 |
United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 |
Wales | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | −8 |
Total | 238 | 19 | 31 | 191 | 95 | 665 | −570 |
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.[17]
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