The Latvian national football team (Izlase in Latvian) is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia and represents the country in international football competitions, such as World Cup and the European Championships.
History
Latvia played their first match in 1922, a game against Estonia; the result was a 1-1 draw. Latvia are the only Baltic team that has qualified for a European Championship and have won the Baltic Cup 19 times. Latvia in its pre-war period from 1922 to 1940 played 99 official games.
In 1937, the Latvian team participated in the first qualification tournament for the 1938 FIFA World Cup. Latvia was seeded in Group 8 with Austria and Lithuania. Latvia won Lithuania 4-2 in Riga (Goals: Fricis Kaņeps 9', 52', 83'; Iļja Vestermans 50' - Gudelis 79', Pavilionis 90') and than later 5-1 in Kaunas (Kaņeps 4', 45' (penalty); Vaclavs Borduško 11', 30'; Vestermans 67' - Pavilionis 72'), but lost 1-2 in the decisive match with Austria. Goals by Iļja Vestermans at the 6th minute for Latvia, and by Binder at 33' and Jerusalem at 15'. In April 1938 the Austrian Anschluss relegated the Austrian team, but the team of Latvia was not invited by FIFA as the group's runner-up.
In 1940, Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1991 and played their first match as a new nation against Estonia on November 16 of that year in the Baltic Cup, and their first FIFA-recognized match against Romania on April 8, 1992, a 0-2 loss at Bucharest.
Latvia were surprise qualifiers for the 2004 European Football Championship. After coming second in their qualifying group (ahead of Poland they defeated 2002 World Cup semi-finalists Turkey in a playoff to reach the final tournament. They were drawn into group D with Germany, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. On June 15, 2004, Latvia played Czech Republic and took half-time lead with a goal from Māris Verpakovskis. The Czechs would later come back to win the game 2-1. Four days later Latvia earned a respectable draw 0-0 against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament. Latvia later lost to the Netherlands 3-0 and were eliminated with one point from their draw and two losses.
In the qualifying for World Cup 2006, Latvia were in group 3 with Portugal, Slovakia, Russia, Estonia, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg. Latvia were considered as a small threat for the playoff spot. However, they failed to show any surprises as they did in Euro 2004 and failed to qualify for World Cup 2006 finishing fifth with 15 points from four wins, three draws and five losses.
Vitālijs Astafjevs has played for Latvia more times than anyone else, with 158 caps currently. Māris Verpakovskis is the nation's top goal scorer with 26. Astafjevs has netted 16 times and Marians Pahars has 15 goals.
World Cup record
European Championship record
|
|
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
 Switzerland |
10 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
18 |
8 |
+10 |
21 |
 Greece |
10 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
20 |
10 |
+10 |
20 |
 Latvia |
10 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
18 |
15 |
+3 |
17 |
 Israel |
10 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
20 |
10 |
+10 |
16 |
 Luxembourg |
10 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
4 |
25 |
−21 |
5 |
 Moldova |
10 |
0 |
3 |
7 |
6 |
18 |
−12 |
3 |
|
|
Results and fixtures
Recent results
| Date |
Tournament |
Location |
Opponent |
Result |
Scorers |
| 14 November, 2009 |
Friendly |
 Tegucigalpa |
Honduras |
2:1 |
Vladimirs Koļesņičenko |
| 14 October, 2009 |
World Cup 2010 |
Riga |
Moldova |
3:2 |
Andrejs Rubins, Kristaps Grebis |
|
| 10 October, 2009 |
World Cup 2010 |
Athens |
Greece |
2:5 |
Māris Verpakovskis |
| 9 September, 2009 |
World Cup 2010 |
Riga |
Switzerland |
2:2 |
Aleksandrs Cauņa, Vitālijs Astafjevs |
| 5 September, 2009 |
World Cup 2010 |
Ramat Gan |
Israel |
1:0 |
Kaspars Gorkšs |
| 1 April, 2009 |
World Cup 2010 |
Riga |
Luxembourg |
2:0 |
Jurijs Žigajevs, Māris Verpakovskis |
| 28 March, 2009 |
World Cup 2010 |
Luxembourg City |
Luxembourg |
4:0 |
Ģirts Karlsons, Aleksandrs Cauņa, Aleksejs Višņakovs, Andrejs Perepļotkins |
| 11 February, 2009 |
Friendly |
 Limassol |
 Armenia |
0:0 |
|
| 12 November, 2008 |
Friendly |
 Tallinn |
Estonia |
1:1 |
Kristaps Grebis |
| 15 October, 2008 |
World Cup 2010 |
Riga |
Israel |
1:1 |
Vladimirs Koļesņičenko |
| 11 October, 2008 |
World Cup 2010 |
St. Gallen |
Switzerland |
1:2 |
Deniss Ivanovs |
| 10 September, 2008 |
World Cup 2010 |
Riga |
Greece |
0:2 |
|
| 6 September, 2008 |
World Cup 2010 |
Tiraspol |
Moldova |
2:1 |
Ģirts Karlsons, Vitālijs Astafjevs |
| 20 August, 2008 |
Friendly |
 Urziceni |
Romania |
0:1 |
|
| 1 June, 2008 |
Baltic Cup 2008 |
Riga |
 Lithuania |
2:1 |
Andrejs Perepļotkins, Vidas Alunderis (o.g.) |
| 30 May, 2008 |
Baltic Cup 2008 |
Riga |
Estonia |
1:0 |
Juris Laizāns |
Top Latvia goalscorers
Latvia coaches
Current squad
The following players were called up for the Friendly match vs Honduras on 14 November.
Caps and goals are correct as of November 13, 2009.
Goalkeepers
Defenders
Midfielders
Forwards
Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Latvia squad within the last 12 months.
| Name |
DOB |
Club |
Caps (goals) |
Debut |
Most recent callup |
| Goalkeepers |
| Deniss Romanovs |
2 November 1978 (1978-11-02) (age 31) |
 Slavia Prague |
2 (0) |
v Mexico, 3 December 2004 |
v Moldova, October 14, 2009 |
| Defenders |
| Kaspars Gorkšs |
6 November 1981 (1981-11-06) (age 28) |
 Queens Park Rangers |
28 (2) |
v Thailand, 24 December 2005 |
v Moldova, October 14, 2009 |
| Midfielders |
| Aleksandrs Cauņa |
19 January 1988 (1988-01-19) (age 21) |
Skonto |
16 (2) |
v Liechtenstein, 28 March 2007 |
v Moldova, October 14, 2009 |
| Strikers |
| Māris Verpakovskis |
15 October 1979 (1979-10-15) (age 30) |
Ergotelis |
80 (26) |
v Greece, 9 Juny 1999 |
v Moldova, October 14, 2009 |
External links
Sweden 5 - 1 Latvia 
/
2000 - Did not qualify
2004 - Round 1
/
Revaz Dzodzuashvili
