List of Andorra international footballers

The Andorra national football team has represented Andorra in international association football since 1996. Although the nation declared constitutional independence in March 1993, the national team was forced to wait three years before making its official debut until the side were accepted as members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).[1] Andorra played their first official international fixture on 13 November 1996, suffering a 6–1 defeat to Estonia in the Andorran capital city Andorra la Vella.[2] The team is governed by the Andorran Football Federation (AFF) and compete as a member of UEFA,[1] which encompasses the countries of Europe and Israel.[3] As of March 2019, Andorra have played 158 matches, winning 6, drawing 19 and losing 133.[2] Andorra have played more matches against Estonia than any other international side, losing all 12 meetings between the teams.[2][4] In global and continental competitions, the team has competed in qualification groups for both the FIFA World Cup, since 2002, and the UEFA European Championship, since 2000, but have failed to qualify for any tournament finals.[2]

A man with short dark hair wearing a blue jersey with yellow stripes.
Ildefons Lima is the most capped player in Andorran history and is also the nation's record goalscorer.

Spanish-born defender Ildefons Lima is the nation's most capped player, accumulating 121 appearances as of March 2019,[5] having made his international debut in June 1997 against Estonia.[6] He broke the record held by Óscar Sonejee on 16 August 2017 after playing in a friendly match against Qatar.[7] Lima and Sonejee are the only players to have achieved 100 caps for the Andorran national side.[5] Despite playing as a defender, Lima is also the nation's leading goalscorer of all time, scoring eleven goals as of March 2019, and is the only player to have scored five or more goals for the side.[5][8]

The first player to reach 25 caps for Andorra was Txema Garcia, on 2 September 2000 in a 3–2 defeat to Cyprus.[9] Óscar Sonejee became the first Andorran player to accumulate 100 caps, reaching the tally on 6 June 2015 in a 1–0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea. He went on to finish his international career with 106 caps,[10] holding the caps record until 2017 when Lima overtook him.[6] Koldo is the most capped goalkeeper in Andorra's history having appeared 78 times during an eleven-year spell with the national side. He was later named as his country's "golden player" by the AFF during the UEFA Jubilee Awards in 2004 as Andorra's "single most outstanding player".[11] A year after announcing his retirement, he was appointed manager of the national side.[12]

As of March 2019, 36 players have accumulated 25 caps or more for Andorra at international level,[5] including the nation's oldest (Juli Sánchez, 40 years and 275 days)[13] and youngest internationals (Sergi Moreno, 16 years and 125 days).[14][a]

List

Appearances and goals are composed of FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship and each competition's required qualification matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches. Players are listed by number of caps. If the number of caps is equal, the players are then listed alphabetically. Statistics updated following match played on 25 March 2019.

Key
*
Still active for the national team[b]
=
Player is tied for the number of caps
GKGoalkeeper
DFDefender
MFMidfielder
FWForward
Óscar Sonejee held the all time appearance record until 2017.[7]
Koldo is the most capped goalkeeper in Andorra's history and has been manager of the side since 2010.
Andorra national team footballers with at least 25 appearances[5][19]
No.NamePositionNational team
career
CapsGoalsNotes
1Ildefons Lima*DF1997–201912111
2Óscar SonejeeMF1997–20151064
3Márcio Vieira*MF2005–2019860
4Josep Ayala*DF2002–2017841
5Marc Pujol*MF2000–2019822
6Manolo Jiménez Soria*MF1998–2012791
7 Koldo ÁlvarezGK1998–2009780Manager[c]
8Juli Sánchez*FW1996–2019722
9Txema GarciaDF1997–2009710
10Justo RuizMF1998–2008672
11Jordi EscuraMF1998–2011650
12Antoni LimaDF1997–2009641
13Sergi Moreno*MF2004–2018630
14Marc Vales*DF2008–2019590
15Josep Gómes*GK2006–2019550
16Cristian Martínez*MF2009–2019543
17Fernando SilvaFW2002–2013512
18Jordi Rubio*DF2006–2019462
19Emili García*DF2008–2018441
20Marc García*MF2010–2018420
21=Gabi Riera*FW2004–2018401
Moisés San Nicolás*DF2012–2019400
23=Genís GarcíaMF1997–2010370
Emiliano González ArquésFW1998–2002372
25Juli FernándezDF1998–2009361
26=Marc BernausDF2000–2013321
Francesc RamirezMF1997–2004321
28Sebastián Gómez*MF2008–2018310
29=Ludovic Clemente*MF2010–2019300
Roberto JonasDF1999–2005300
31Jesús Julián LucendoDF1996–2003293
32=Max Llovera*DF2015–2019280
Iván Lorenzo*MF2003–2016280
Agusti PolMF1996–2003281
35Ferran Pol*GK2010–2018260
36Xavi Andorrà*FW2006–2013250

Notes

References

External links