Latvia national football team

Early years

Latvia played their first match in 1922, a game against Estonia, which finished in a 1–1 draw. Latvia have won the Baltic Cup 12 times, and played 99 official games during its pre-war period from 1922 to 1940.^[4][5]

In 1937, the Latvian team participated in the first qualification tournament for the 1938 World Cup. Latvia were placed in Group 8, alongside Austria and Lithuania.^[6] Latvia beat Lithuania 4–2 in Riga, after a Fricis Kaņeps hat-trick and an Iļja Vestermans goal.^[6] In Kaunas, they won 5–1, after two goals each from Kaņeps, Vaclavs Borduško, and Vestermans,^[6] but lost 1–2 in the decisive away match against Austria, despite an early goal from Vestermans.^[6] In April 1938, the Austrian Anschluss made the Austrian team unable to participate, however, despite being the group's runner-up, Latvia was not invited to the tournament by FIFA to replace Austria.^[7]

In 1940, Latvia was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1991 and played their first match against Estonia on 16 November of that year in the Baltic Cup, and their first FIFA-recognized match against Romania on 8 April 1992 in Bucharest, a match, which Latvia lost 2–0.^[8]

In September 2003, Latvia surprisingly finished second, ahead of Poland, in their qualifying group for Euro 2004.^[9] This meant they qualified for the play-offs, where they were drawn against Turkey. Latvia won the first leg 1–0, through top goalscorer, Māris Verpakovskis.^[10] The second leg finished in a 2–2 draw, with Latvia winning 3–2 on aggregate, thus qualifying for the tournament.^[11][12] This resulted in Latvia being the first and only Baltic team, as well as being the second former-Soviet state in Europe at the time (after Russia) to qualify for a European Championship.^[11][12] At Euro 2004, Latvia were drawn in Group D, alongside Germany, Czech Republic, and Netherlands.^[13] Latvia faced Czech Republic in their opening match on 15 June 2004, with Verpakovskis scoring before half-time.^[14] However, the Czechs would later come back to win the game 2–1.^[14] Four days later, Latvia earned a respectable 0–0 draw against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament.^[15] They lost their final match with 3–0 against Netherlands,^[16] and were eliminated, finishing fourth, with one point from their draw and two losses.^[17]

Latvia have since failed to qualify for another major tournament, although they came close to qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. After eight qualifying matches, Latvia were level on points with their next opponent, second-placed Greece, but a 5–2 defeat virtually ended all hopes of qualification and Latvia finished third in UEFA Group 2. Recent years have seen a sharp decline with many losses. In the EURO 2020 qualifiers, Latvia lost 9 out of 10 games, including a woeful 0-5 home loss to Slovenia.

Kits

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Latvia national football team kits.

Latvia's kit is traditionally a carmine red jersey with white trim, carmine red shorts and socks, whilst their current away kit is all predominantly white. Latvia's kits have been produced by various manufacturers.

Crest

Until July 2018, the team crest consisted of the Latvian Football Federation logo, when it was switched to a shield with a football in the colors of the Latvian flag and 'LATVIJA' written above. A similar crest with a head of a howling wolf was also unveiled as a secondary logo for use in souvenirs etc as part of the #11vilki (#11wolves) brand.^[18]

Kit suppliers

Kit supplier	Period
Umbro	1992-1994
Adidas	1994-1996
Tro	1996-1998
Puma	1998-2000
Tramondi	2000-2002
Adidas	2002–present

All Latvian matches are currently broadcast with full commentary on the Go3 web streaming service, owned by TV3 Group. Since the 1990s, LTV7 (initially LTV2) was the broadcaster of all of the team games, before the All Media Baltics conglomerate took over broadcasting rights in September 2018. ^[19] Games were broadcast on the group's TV6 channel and the TVPlay and Viaplay streaming platforms. All Media Baltics later became TV3 Group.

From the 2022 season until the 2028 season, Latvia's home and away qualifiers, and friendlies both home and away were broadcast live exclusively by Swedish Viaplay Group on their web streaming service. On 20 July 2023, Viaplay announced that it will leave the market of the Baltic states.^[20][21] Upon exiting, all sports licences owned by Viasat - including the Baltic broadcasting rights for the Baltic Cup, UEFA Champions League, Premier League, Formula 1 and the NHL - were acquired by TV3 Group.^[22]

The current home matches take place at the Skonto Stadium. This stadium between 2000 and 2018 was the main base for the national team. In 2017 Daugava Stadium (Riga) reconstruction started with the first stage completed a year later. But due to the bad pitch quality which was not included in the reconstruction phase, national team all the matches played in the Skonto Stadium. There is no clarity, which stadium will be the main stadium in the future after the Daugava Stadium (Riga) pitch replacement.

Home venues record

The following table provides a summary of Latvia's results at home venues since 1992.

As of 14 June 2023.

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

2023

Wales  v  Latvia

28 March 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Wales	1–0	Latvia	Cardiff, Wales
19:45 UTC+1	Moore 41'	Report		Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium Attendance: 32,80 Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)

Latvia  v  Turkey

16 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Latvia	2–3	Turkey	Riga, Latvia
21:45 UTC+3	Emsis 51' Tobers 90+4'	Report	Bardakci 23' Ünder 61' Kahveci 90+5'	Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 6,287 Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)

Armenia  v  Latvia

19 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Armenia	2–1	Latvia	Yerevan, Armenia
20:00 UTC+4	Tiknizyan 35' Barseghyan 90+1' (pen.)	Report	Mkrtchyan 67' (o.g.)	Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium Attendance: 13,450 Referee: Peter Kralović (Slovakia)

Croatia  v  Latvia

8 September 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Croatia	5–0	Latvia	Rijeka, Croatia
20:45 UTC+2	Petković 3', 44' Ivanušec 13' Kramarić 68' Pašalić 78'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Rujevica Attendance: 8,152 Referee: Philip Farrugia (Malta)

Latvia  v  Wales

11 September 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Latvia	0–2	Wales	Riga, Latvia
20:45 UTC+3		Report	Ramsey 29' (pen.) Brooks 90+6'	Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 6,464 Referee: Michal Ocenáš (Slovakia)

Latvia  v  Armenia

12 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Latvia	2–0	Armenia	Riga, Latvia
19:00 UTC+3	Ikaunieks 39' Balodis 68'	Report		Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 5,128 Referee: Rade Obrenovič (Slovenia)

Turkey  v  Latvia

15 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Turkey	4–0	Latvia	Konya, Turkey
21:45 UTC+3	Akgün 58' Tosun 84', 90+2' Aktürkoğlu 88'	Report		Stadium: Konya Metropolitan Municipality Stadium Attendance: 35,925 Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania)

Latvia  v  Croatia

18 November 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Latvia	0–2	Croatia	Riga, Latvia
19:00 UTC+2		Report	Majer 7' Kramarić 16'	Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 6,747 Referee: Urs Schnyder (Switzerland)

Poland  v  Latvia

21 November 2023 Friendly	Poland	2–0	Latvia	Warsaw, Poland
21:45 UTC+1	Frankowski 7' Lewandowski 49'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Narodowy Attendance: 31,000 Referee: Ondrej Berka (Czech Republic)

2024

Cyprus  v  Latvia

21 March 2024 Friendly	Cyprus	1–1	Latvia	Larnaca, Cyprus
20:00 UTC+2	Pittas 34'	Report	Cigaņiks 85'	Stadium: AEK Arena Referee: Lukas Fähndrich (Switzerland)

Latvia  v  Liechtenstein

26 March 2024 Friendly	Latvia	1–1	Liechtenstein	Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2	Krollis 11'	Report	Ošs 1' (o.g.)	Stadium: Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium Referee: Manfredas Lukjančukas (Lithuania)

Latvia  v  Lithuania

8 June 2024 2024 Baltic Cup	Latvia	v	Lithuania	TBD
--:-- UTC+3				Stadium: TBD

Latvia  v  Estonia/  Faroe Islands

11 June 2024 2024 Baltic Cup	Latvia	v	Estonia/  Faroe Islands	TBD
(UTC+3)				Stadium: TBD

Armenia  v  Latvia

7 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Armenia	v	Latvia	Yerevan, Armenia
20:00 UTC+4				Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium

Latvia  v  Faroe Islands

10 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Latvia	v	Faroe Islands	Latvia
21:45 UTC+3				Stadium: TBD

Latvia  v  North Macedonia

10 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Latvia	v	North Macedonia	Latvia
21:45 UTC+3				Stadium: TBD

Faroe Islands  v  Latvia

13 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Faroe Islands	v	Latvia	Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
19:45 UTC+1				Stadium: Tórsvøllur

North Macedonia  v  Latvia

14 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League	North Macedonia	v	Latvia	North Macedonia
20:45 UTC+1				Stadium: TBD

Latvia  v  Armenia

17 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Latvia	v	Armenia	Latvia
16:00 UTC+2				Stadium: TBD

As of 5 March 2024.

Position	Name
Head coach	Paolo Nicolato[23]
Assistant coach	Massimo Paganin
	Aleksandrs Cauņa
Video Analyst	Leonardo Carletti
Video Analyst	Iļja Ščaņicins
Fitness coach	Māris Smirnovs
Fitness coach	Vincenzo Pincolini
Goalkeeping coach	Andris Vaņins
Physiotherapist	Artūrs Ivuškāns
	Jurijs Ksenzovs
	Dmitrijs Jefremenkovs
Masseur	Sergejs Avakovs
Doctor	Boriss Novikovs
Manager	Roberts Mežeckis
Kitman	Jānis Zeltiņš
Media officer	Iļja Poļakovs

Manager statistics

Coaching history

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Cyprus and Liechtenstein on 21 and 26 March 2024, respectively.^[24]

Caps and goals as of 26 March 2024, after the match against Liechtenstein.^[25]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Pāvels Šteinbors	(1985-09-22) 22 September 1985 (age 38)	31	0	RFS
	1GK	Roberts Ozols	(1995-09-10) 10 September 1995 (age 28)	19	0	Qizilqum
	1GK	Rihards Matrevics	(1999-03-18) 18 March 1999 (age 25)	4	0	Riga
	2DF	Kaspars Dubra	(1990-12-20) 20 December 1990 (age 33)	63	3	Panevėžys
	2DF	Roberts Savaļnieks	(1993-02-04) 4 February 1993 (age 31)	58	2	RFS
	2DF	Vitālijs Maksimenko	(1990-12-08) 8 December 1990 (age 33)	54	1	Aiolikos
	2DF	Andrejs Cigaņiks	(1997-04-12) 12 April 1997 (age 27)	51	3	Widzew Łódź
	2DF	Raivis Jurkovskis	(1996-12-07) 7 December 1996 (age 27)	41	0	Riga
	2DF	Vitālijs Jagodinskis	(1992-02-28) 28 February 1992 (age 32)	32	0	Pirin
	2DF	Mārcis Ošs	(1991-07-25) 25 July 1991 (age 32)	27	1	RFS
	2DF	Vladislavs Sorokins	(1997-05-10) 10 May 1997 (age 26)	10	0	Kyzylzhar
	2DF	Daniels Balodis	(1998-06-10) 10 June 1998 (age 25)	10	1	Valmiera
	2DF	Maksims Toņiševs	(2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 23)	2	0	Valmiera
	3MF	Artūrs Zjuzins	(1991-06-18) 18 June 1991 (age 32)	62	9	Liepāja
	3MF	Alvis Jaunzems	(1999-06-16) 16 June 1999 (age 24)	36	0	Stal Mielec
	3MF	Eduards Emsis	(1996-02-23) 23 February 1996 (age 28)	33	2	Raufoss
	3MF	Kristers Tobers (captain)	(2000-12-13) 13 December 2000 (age 23)	29	1	Grasshopper
	3MF	Aleksejs Saveļjevs	(1999-01-30) 30 January 1999 (age 25)	18	1	Auda
	3MF	Renārs Varslavāns	(2001-08-23) 23 August 2001 (age 22)	6	0	Valmiera
	3MF	Dmitrijs Zelenkovs	(2000-05-15) 15 May 2000 (age 23)	4	0	RFS
	4FW	Jānis Ikaunieks	(1995-02-16) 16 February 1995 (age 29)	58	12	RFS
	4FW	Roberts Uldriķis	(1998-04-03) 3 April 1998 (age 26)	49	7	Cambuur
	4FW	Vladislavs Gutkovskis	(1995-04-02) 2 April 1995 (age 29)	45	11	Daejeon Hana Citizen
	4FW	Raimonds Krollis	(2001-10-28) 28 October 2001 (age 22)	37	4	MFK Vyškov
	4FW	Eduards Dašķevičs	(2002-07-12) 12 July 2002 (age 21)	10	0	Riga
	4FW	Marko Regža	(1999-01-20) 20 January 1999 (age 25)	8	0	Riga

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Nils Toms Puriņš	(1998-08-01) 1 August 1998 (age 25)	3	0	Riga	v.  Poland, 21 November 2023
GK	Krišjānis Zviedris	(1997-01-25) 25 January 1997 (age 27)	0	0	Auda	v.  Wales, 11 September 2023
GK	Jānis Beks	(2002-11-01) 1 November 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Metta	v.  Armenia, 19 June 2023
DF	Antonijs Černomordijs INJ	(1996-09-27) 27 September 1996 (age 27)	31	1	Riga	v.  Cyprus, 21 March 2024
DF	Kirils Iļjins	(2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 22)	0	0	Riga	v.  Turkey, 15 October 2023
DF	Dāvis Dāvids Sprūds	(1998-12-28) 28 December 1998 (age 25)	0	0	FC Victoria Rosport	v.  Wales, 11 September 2023
DF	Elvis Stuglis	(1993-07-04) 4 July 1993 (age 30)	10	0	RFS	v.  Armenia, 19 June 2023
MF	Oskars Vientiess	(2002-10-08) 8 October 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Metta	v.  Turkey, 15 October 2023
MF	Deniss Meļņiks	(2002-09-07) 7 September 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Auda	v.  Armenia, 19 June 2023
MF	Krišs Kārkliņš	(1996-01-31) 31 January 1996 (age 28)	17	0	Auda	v.  Poland, 21 November 2023
MF	Bogdans Samoilovs	(2000-05-13) 13 May 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Tukums	v.  Poland, 21 November 2023
FW	Dāvis Ikaunieks	(1994-01-07) 7 January 1994 (age 30)	45	6	Šiauliai	v.  Poland, 21 November 2023
RET Retired from national team INJ Injured player WD Withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue

As of 21 November 2023.^[26]

Players in bold are still active with Latvia.

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Hat-tricks

Player	Competition	Against	Home/Away	Result	Date
Voldemārs Žins	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	6–3	27 July 1927
Voldemārs Plade	1929 Baltic Cup	Lithuania	Home	3–1	14 August 1929
Ēriks Pētersons	1930 Baltic Cup	Lithuania	Away	3–3	17 August 1930
Ēriks Pētersons 4	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	5–2	30 June 1931
Ēriks Pētersons	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	6–2	12 June 1933
Hugo Vītols	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	6–1	30 May 1935
Fricis Kaņeps	1938 FIFA World Cup qualification	Lithuania	Home	4–2	29 July 1937

• ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Clean sheets

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter									Declined invitation
1934										Did not enter
1938	Did not qualify									3	2	0	1	10	5
1950 to 1990	Part of the  Soviet Union									Part of the  Soviet Union
1994	Did not qualify									12	0	5	7	4	21
1998										10	3	1	6	10	14
2002										8	1	1	6	5	16
2006										12	4	3	5	18	21
2010										10	5	2	3	18	15
2014										10	2	2	6	10	20
2018										10	2	1	7	7	18
2022										10	2	3	5	11	14
2026	To be determined									To be determined
2030
2034
Total		0/11								85	21	18	46	93	144

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record											Qualifying record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960	Part of the  Soviet Union										Part of the  Soviet Union
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996	Did not qualify										10	4	0	6	11	20
2000											10	3	4	3	13	12
2004	Group stage	14th	3	0	1	2	1	5	Squad		10	6	2	2	13	8
2008	Did not qualify										12	4	0	8	15	17
2012											10	3	2	5	9	12
2016											10	0	5	5	6	19
2020											10	1	0	9	3	28
2024											8	1	0	7	5	19
2028	To be determined										To be determined
2032
Total	Group stage	1/8	3	0	1	2	1	5	—		80	22	13	45	75	135

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2018–19	D	1	6	0	4	2	2	6		51st
2020–21	D	1	6	1	4	1	8	4		53rd
2022–23	D	1	6	4	1	1	12	5		50th
2024–25	C	4	To be determined
Total			18	5	9	4	22	15	50th

Baltic Cup

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
1924	Second round	15th	1	0	0	1	0	7	Squad
Total	Second round	1/1	1	0	0	1	0	7	—

As of November 21 2023 after match against  Poland.^[27]

Opponent	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA	GD
Albania	5	0	5	0	6	6	0
Andorra	11	7	4	0	23	2	+21
Angola	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Armenia	4	2	1	1	5	2	+3
Austria	9	2	1	6	9	24	−15
Azerbaijan	5	1	3	1	4	5	−1
Bahrain	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
Belarus	6	1	1	4	7	13	−6
Belgium	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6
Bolivia	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	0	0	2	1	9	−8
Brazil	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Bulgaria	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6
China	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Croatia	6	0	0	6	1	17	−16
Cyprus	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3
Czech Republic	5	0	1	4	4	13	−9
Denmark	4	0	1	3	1	7	−6
Estonia	61	28	22	11	95	63	+32
Finland	17	4	3	10	18	32	−14
Faroe Islands	5	0	4	1	3	5	−2
France	1	0	0	1	0	7	−7
Georgia	10	3	2	5	10	18	−8
Germany	4	0	1	3	2	13	−11
Ghana	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Gibraltar	4	3	0	1	11	3	+8
Greece	8	1	2	5	6	13	−7
Honduras	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Hungary	7	1	0	6	7	16	−9
Iceland	7	2	3	2	12	12	0
Israel	8	1	1	6	6	18	−12
Japan	2	0	1	1	2	5	−3
Kazakhstan	7	2	4	1	7	5	+2
Kosovo	1	0	0	1	3	4	−1
Kuwait	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2
Liechtenstein	11	9	1	1	18	4	+14
Lithuania	56	29	12	15	119	77	+42
Luxembourg	7	6	1	0	20	4	+16
Malta	7	3	1	3	8	5	+3
Moldova	5	3	0	2	11	9	+2
Montenegro	4	0	2	2	2	5	−3
Netherlands	5	0	0	5	0	14	−14
North Korea	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1
North Macedonia	3	0	0	3	2	7	−5
Northern Ireland	7	2	0	5	4	8	−4
Norway	4	1	1	2	4	5	-1
Oman	2	1	0	1	4	4	0
Poland	16	2	2	12	15	42	−27
Portugal	6	0	0	6	4	18	−14
Qatar	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2
Republic of Ireland	6	0	0	6	3	17	−14
Romania	5	0	1	4	0	9	−9
Russia	4	0	1	3	2	7	−5
San Marino	5	4	1	0	9	1	+8
Saudi Arabia	1	0	0	1	0	2	–2
Scotland	4	0	0	4	1	7	−6
Slovakia	5	0	3	2	5	9	−4
Slovenia	5	1	0	4	2	9	−7
South Korea	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2
Spain	4	0	1	3	0	9	−9
Sweden	17	2	4	11	12	54	−42
Switzerland	5	0	1	4	3	9	−6
Thailand	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Tunisia	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Turkey	10	1	5	4	15	22	−7
Ukraine	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2
United States	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Uzbekistan	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Wales	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5
Total	408	116	98	194	489	678	−189

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

• King's Cup
  • Winners (1): 2005
• Baltic Cup
  • Winners (13)
  • Runners-up (14)
  • Third place (1)

• Latvia men's national under-21 football team
• Latvia men's national under-19 football team
• Latvia men's national under-17 football team
• Latvia women's national football team
• Latvia women's national under-17 football team

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Latvia national football team.

• Official website (in Latvian)
• Latvia at FIFA
• Latvia at UEFA
• Latvia at RSSSF