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Liechtenstein national football team

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This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Liechtenstein women's national football team.

Liechtenstein
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Blue-Reds
AssociationLiechtenstein Football Association
(Liechtensteiner Fussballverband)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachKonrad Fünfstück
CaptainNicolas Hasler
Most capsPeter Jehle (132)
Top scorerMario Frick (16)
Home stadiumRheinpark Stadion
FIFA codeLIE
First colours
Second colours
Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current 204 Decrease 4 (28 November 2024)[1]
Highest118 (January 2008, July 2011, September 2011)
Lowest204 (June 2023, November 2024)
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)
Websitelfv.li

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.

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 twice in the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League.[3] 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.[4]

History

[edit]

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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7] They produced a shock 2–0 win at home against Lithuania; their goals were scored by Philippe Erne and Michele Polverino.[7] In the following qualifying game, they managed a scoreless draw away to Lithuania.[7]

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).[8] The team loses many of its qualifying matches[9] and earns its only two points in draws against Latvia[10] and Slovakia.[11] 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,[12] an away win against Moldova, one goal to nil, thanks to Franz Burgmeier's ninth goal[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[3] Following this, Liechtenstein proceeded to draw Gibraltar twice (2–2 away and 0–0 at home with a decisive penalty missed in the stoppage time during the return match against Gibraltar) before losing to San Marino again, this time 1–3 in Vaduz, finishing bottom of Group D1 on 2 points.[16] Between the two draws with Gibraltar, Liechtenstein ended a 41-game winless streak with a 1–0 victory over Hong Kong.[17]

Results and fixtures

[edit]
Main article: Liechtenstein national football team results (2020–present)

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

2024

[edit]
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 (2024-09-05) 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 (2024-09-08) 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 (2024-10-13) 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 (2024-11-14) Friendly Malta  2–0  Liechtenstein Ta' Qali, Malta
19:00 UTC+1
UEFA Soccerway Stadium: National Stadium
Referee: Gustavo Correia (Portugal)
18 November 2024 (2024-11-18) 2024–25 UEFA Nations League Liechtenstein  1–3  San Marino Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 UTC+1
Report
Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion
Attendance: 1,157
Referee: Jérémie Pignard (France)

2025

[edit]
TBA 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Liechtenstein  v  Wales Liechtenstein
TBA 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Wales  v  Liechtenstein Wales
TBA 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Liechtenstein  v  North Macedonia Liechtenstein
TBA 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification North Macedonia  v  Liechtenstein North Macedonia
TBA 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Liechtenstein  v  Kazakhstan Liechtenstein
TBA 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Kazakhstan  v  Liechtenstein Kazakhstan
TBA 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Belgium  v  Liechtenstein Belgium
TBA 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Liechtenstein  v  Belgium Liechtenstein

Manager history

[edit]
Martin Stocklasa, the team manager from 2020 to 2023.

Players

[edit]

Current squad

[edit]

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.[18]

Caps and goals are current as of 18 November 2024, after the match against San Marino.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Benjamin Büchel (vice-captain) (1989-07-04) 4 July 1989 (age 35) 70 0 Liechtenstein Vaduz
1GK Gabriel Foser (2002-09-02) 2 September 2002 (age 22) 0 0 Liechtenstein Eschen/Mauren
1GK Lorenzo Lo Russo (1993-07-08) 8 July 1993 (age 31) 0 0 Liechtenstein Balzers
2DF Maximilian Göppel (1997-08-31) 31 August 1997 (age 27) 69 2 Switzerland YF Juventus
2DF Sandro Wieser (1993-02-03) 3 February 1993 (age 31) 66 2 Liechtenstein Vaduz
2DF Niklas Beck (2001-03-25) 25 March 2001 (age 23) 24 0 Liechtenstein Balzers
2DF Lars Traber (2000-06-12) 12 June 2000 (age 24) 18 0 Liechtenstein Vaduz
2DF Martin Marxer (1999-10-04) 4 October 1999 (age 25) 16 0 Switzerland Düdingen
2DF Lukas Graber (2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 23) 7 0 Liechtenstein Eschen/Mauren
2DF Felix Oberwaditzer (2006-03-14) 14 March 2006 (age 18) 3 0 Austria SCR Altach
3MF Nicolas Hasler (captain) (1991-05-04) 4 May 1991 (age 33) 99 7 Liechtenstein Vaduz
3MF Sandro Wolfinger (1991-08-24) 24 August 1991 (age 33) 70 3 Liechtenstein Balzers
3MF Aron Sele (1996-09-02) 2 September 1996 (age 28) 63 1 Switzerland YF Juventus
3MF Livio Meier (1998-01-10) 10 January 1998 (age 26) 49 1 Liechtenstein Eschen/Mauren
3MF Fabio Wolfinger (1996-11-05) 5 November 1996 (age 28) 32 1 Liechtenstein Balzers
3MF Marcel Büchel (1991-03-18) 18 March 1991 (age 33) 29 1 Italy SPAL
3MF Simon Lüchinger (2002-11-28) 28 November 2002 (age 22) 26 0 Liechtenstein Vaduz
3MF Kenny Kindle (2003-11-29) 29 November 2003 (age 21) 9 0 Liechtenstein Vaduz
3MF Liam Kranz (2003-07-17) 17 July 2003 (age 21) 8 0 Liechtenstein Schaan
3MF Severin Schlegel (2004-07-24) 24 July 2004 (age 20) 6 0 Liechtenstein Vaduz
3MF Emanuel Zünd (2004-12-29) 29 December 2004 (age 19) 3 0 Switzerland Veyrier
3MF Alessio Hasler (2005-07-07) 7 July 2005 (age 19) 2 0 Liechtenstein Vaduz
4FW Dennis Salanović (1996-02-26) 26 February 1996 (age 28) 62 4 Canada York United
4FW Philipp Ospelt (1992-10-07) 7 October 1992 (age 32) 23 0 Liechtenstein Ruggell
4FW Andrin Netzer (2002-01-11) 11 January 2002 (age 22) 18 0 Liechtenstein Balzers
4FW Ferhat Saglam (2001-10-10) 10 October 2001 (age 23) 14 1 Switzerland Brühl
4FW Fabio Luque Notaro (2005-08-31) 31 August 2005 (age 19) 11 0 Liechtenstein Vaduz
4FW Jonas Beck (2003-05-19) 19 May 2003 (age 21) 4 0 Liechtenstein Schaan

Recent call-ups

[edit]

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 (1999-09-07) 7 September 1999 (age 25) 5 0 Germany FSV Frankfurt v.  Romania, 8 June 2024
GK Thomas Hobi (1993-06-20) 20 June 1993 (age 31) 5 0 Liechtenstein Balzers v.  Latvia, 26 March 2024
DF Andreas Malin (1994-01-31) 31 January 1994 (age 30) 49 0 Austria Rot-Weiß Rankweil v.  Malta, 14 November 2024PRE
DF Noah Graber (2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 23) 1 0 Switzerland Altstätten v.  Albania, 3 June 2024PRE
MF Marco Marxer (1999-06-02) 2 June 1999 (age 25) 4 0 Liechtenstein Balzers v.  Gibraltar, 13 October 2024
MF David Jäger (2004-07-04) 4 July 2004 (age 20) 1 0 Liechtenstein Vaduz v.  Romania, 8 June 2024
MF Jonas Weissenhofer (2006-07-25) 25 July 2006 (age 18) 0 0 Liechtenstein Vaduz v.  Romania, 8 June 2024

Notes:

  • PRE = Preliminary squad
  • INJ = Injured
  • SUS = Suspended for a match

Player records

[edit]
As of 18 November 2024[19]
Players in bold are still active with Liechtenstein.

Most appearances

[edit]
Peter Jehle is Liechtenstein's most capped player at 132 capps.
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 99 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

Top goalscorers

[edit]
Mario Frick is Liechtenstein's all-time record goalscorer at 16 goals.
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 99 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 62 0.06 2014–present
8 Yanik Frick 3 30 0.1 2016–2022
Sandro Wolfinger 3 70 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 66 0.03 2008–present
Maximilian Göppel 2 69 0.03 2016–present
Michael Stocklasa 2 71 0.03 1998–2012
Martin Büchel 2 91 0.02 2004–2021

Competitive record

[edit]

FIFA World Cup

[edit]
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
France 1998 Did not qualify 6/6 10 0 0 10 3 52
South Korea Japan 2002 5/5 8 0 0 8 0 23
Germany 2006 6/7 12 2 2 8 13 23
South Africa 2010 6/6 10 0 2 8 2 23
Brazil 2014 6/6 10 0 2 8 4 25
Russia 2018 6/6 10 0 0 10 1 39
Qatar 2022 6/6 10 0 1 9 2 34
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/12 – – – – – – — 70 2 7 61 25 219
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA European Championship

[edit]
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
England 1996 Did not qualify 6/6 10 0 1 9 1 40
Belgium Netherlands 2000 6/6 10 1 1 8 2 39
Portugal 2004 5/5 8 0 1 7 2 22
Austria Switzerland 2008 7/7 12 2 1 9 9 32
Poland Ukraine 2012 5/5 8 1 1 6 3 17
France 2016 5/6 10 1 2 7 2 26
European Union 2020 6/6 10 0 2 8 2 31
Germany 2024 6/6 10 0 0 10 1 28
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 2028 To be determined To be determined
Italy Turkey 2032
Total 0/13 – – – – – – — 78 5 9 64 22 235
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA Nations League

[edit]
UEFA Nations League record
Season Division Group Pld W D L GF GA P/R RK
2018–19 D 4 6 1 1 4 7 12 Same position 52nd
2020–21 D 2 4 1 2 1 3 2 Same position 51st
2022–23 D 1 6 0 0 6 1 11 Same position 55th
2024–25 D 1 To be determined
Total 16 2 3 11 11 25 51st

Head-to-head record

[edit]
As of 18 November 2024

In literature

[edit]

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.[20]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Nach dem VAR-Entscheid eingeknickt" (in German). Liechtensteiner Vaterland. 5 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Konrad Fünfstück neuer Nationaltrainer" (in German). Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  5. ^ Ltd, Allied Newspapers. "Malta beat Liechtenstein 7-1". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Liechtenstein and Finland football teams played to a 1:1 draw, 9 September 2009". eu-football.info. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "Liechtenstein missing goal hero Philippe Erne". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 September 2011. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  8. ^ "Records fall as Bosnia put eight past Liechtenstein". uefa.com. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Statistik A-Nationalmannschaft". lfv.li (in German). Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Le Liechtenstein concède le match nul face à la Lettonie (1-1)". eurosport.fr. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  11. ^ "Le Liechtenstein tient la Slovaquie en échec". uefa.com. 7 June 2013. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  12. ^ "Foot/Euro-2016/Qualif. - Liechtenstein et Monténégro 0 à 0". lematin.ch. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  13. ^ "Euro 2016 : Le Liechtenstein s'impose face à la Moldavie 1 but à 0". athlet.org. 15 November 2014. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  14. ^ UEFA.com. "UEFA Nations League - Standings". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Liechtenstein - UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Liechtenstein 1-3 San Marino: Visitors earn promotion with first-ever away win". British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 November 2024.
  17. ^ "Hong Kong coach slams Liechtenstein for 'time wasting', behaving like they 'won World Cup'". South China Morning Post. 11 October 2024.
  18. ^ "Aufgebot Liechtensteiner Fussballverband" (PDF). lfv.li (in German). 4 November 2024.
  19. ^ Garin, Erik. "Liechtenstein - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  20. ^ Connelly, Charlie (11 June 2014). Stamping Grounds : Exploring Liechtenstein and its World Cup Dream. ISBN 9780349141121. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
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