Liechtenstein national football team

Liechtenstein

Nickname(s)	The Blues-Reds
Association	Liechtenstein Football Association (Liechtensteiner Fussballverband)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Martin Stocklasa
Captain	Martin Büchel
Most caps	Peter Jehle (132)
Top scorer	Mario Frick (16)
Home stadium	Rheinpark Stadion
FIFA code	LIE
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	181 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest	118 (January 2008, July 2011, September 2011)
Lowest	191 (July 2017)
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)

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 ever away win and its first win in any FIFA World Cup qualifier. Conversely, Liechtenstein is the only country that lost an official match against San Marino. Liechtenstein suffered its biggest ever loss in 1996, during qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, losing 1–11 to Macedonia, the result also being Macedonia's largest ever win to date.

History

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 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. The 2006 World Cup qualifiers, however, 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 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 the 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.^[3]

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 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.^[4]

In the 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.^[5] They produced a shock 2–0 win at home against Lithuania; their goals were scored by Philippe Erne and Michele Polverino.^[5] In the following qualifying game, they managed a scoreless draw away to Lithuania.^[5]

In 2018, Liechtenstein entered the first ever UEFA Nations League, in group 4 of league D.^[6] Their first Nations League match saw Armenia beat them 2–0 away. Liechtenstein were able to claim their first Nations League victory, beating Gibraltar 2–0.^[7]

Liechtenstein all-time record against all nations

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Albania	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6
Andorra	2	1	0	1	1	1	0
Armenia	4	0	2	2	4	8	-4
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	8	0	1	7	2	31	−29
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	5	0	0	5	3	11	−8
Finland	5	0	2	3	3	9	−6
Georgia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Germany	4	0	0	4	3	27	−24
Gibraltar	4	1	1	2	3	3	0
Greece	5	0	1	4	1	8	−7
Hungary	3	0	1	2	0	10	−10
Iceland	7	1	2	4	5	16	−11
Israel	4	0	0	4	1	8	−7
Italy	4	0	0	4	0	20	−20
Latvia	9	1	1	7	4	15	−11
Lithuania	6	1	1	4	3	8	−5
Luxembourg	4	3	1	0	12	4	+8
Malta	4	0	0	4	2	13	−11
Moldova	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Montenegro	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2
Netherlands	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
North Macedonia	9	0	1	8	5	33	−28
Northern Ireland	4	0	0	4	6	17	−11
Poland	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Portugal	7	0	1	6	3	35	−32
Qatar	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Republic of Ireland	4	0	1	3	0	14	−14
Romania	4	0	0	4	1	26	−25
Russia	5	0	0	5	1	15	−14
San Marino	6	3	2	1	6	3	+3
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Scotland	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2
Slovakia	9	0	2	7	1	26	−25
Spain	8	0	0	8	0	39	−39
Sweden	4	0	0	4	1	10	−9
Switzerland	8	0	0	8	1	21	−20
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	194	13	24	157	81	560	−474

Competitive record

World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1994	Did not enter
1998	Did not qualify	6th, last (qualifying)	0	0	10	3	52
2002		5th, last (qualifying)	0	0	8	0	23
2006		6th out of 7 (qualifying)	2	2	8	13	23
2010		6th, last (qualifying)	0	2	8	2	23
2014		6th, last (qualifying)	0	2	8	4	25
2018		6th, last (qualifying)	0	0	10	1	39
2022	To be determined	To be determined	–	–	–	–	–
2026	To be determined	To be determined	–	–	–	–	–
Total		0/21	2	6	52	23	185

European Championship record

Year	Round	Position	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960 to 1992	Did not enter
1996	Did not qualify	6th, last (qualifying)	0	1	9	1	40
2000		6th, last (qualifying)	1	1	8	2	39
2004		5th, last (qualifying)	0	1	7	2	22
2008		7th, last (qualifying)	2	1	9	9	32
2012		5th, last (qualifying)	1	1	6	3	17
2016		5th out of 6 (qualifying)	1	2	7	2	26
2020		6th, last (qualifying)	0	2	8	2	31
Total		0/16	5	9	54	20	190

Nations League record

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		52nd
2020–21	D	2	4	1	2	1	3	2		51st
2022–23	D	TBA	To be determined
Total			10	2	3	5	10	14	51st

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2020

8 September 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League	San Marino	0–2	Liechtenstein	Rimini, Italy
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)		Report	Hasler 3' (pen.) Y. Frick 14'	Stadium: Stadio Romeo Neri Attendance: 0 Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania)

7 October 2020 Friendly	Luxembourg	1–2	Liechtenstein	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
20:15	Rodrigues 72' (pen.)	Report	F. Wolfinger 23' Hasler 62' (pen.)	Stadium: Stade Josy Barthel Attendance: 0 Referee: Alexandre Boucaut (Belgium)

10 October 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	0–1	Gibraltar	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)		Report	De Barr 10'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Kirill Levnikov (Russia)

13 October 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	0–0	San Marino	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)		Report		Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Jørgen Daugbjberg Burchardt (Denmark)

11 November 2020 Friendly	Malta	3–0	Liechtenstein	Ta' Qali, Malta
19:45	Mifsud 5' Borg 20' Farrugia 84' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: National Stadium, Ta' Qali Attendance: 0 Referee: Manfredas Lukjančukas (Lithuania)

17 November 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League	Gibraltar	1–1	Liechtenstein	Gibraltar
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Frommelt 17' (o.g.)	Report	N. Frick 44'	Stadium: Victoria Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (Malta)

2020 UEFA European Championship qualification

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	10	10	0	0	37	4	+33	30	Qualify for final tournament		—	2–0	2–0	2–1	9–1	6–0
2	Finland	10	6	0	4	16	10	+6	18			1–2	—	1–0	2–0	3–0	3–0
3	Greece	10	4	2	4	12	14	−2	14			0–3	2–1	—	2–1	2–3	1–1
4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10	4	1	5	20	17	+3	13	Advance to play-offs via Nations League		0–3	4–1	2–2	—	2–1	5–0
5	Armenia	10	3	1	6	14	25	−11	10			1–3	0–2	0–1	4–2	—	3–0
6	Liechtenstein	10	0	2	8	2	31	−29	2			0–5	0–2	0–2	0–3	1–1	—

Manager history

Martin Stocklasa, the team manager since 2020.

• Erich Bürzle (1990)
• Dietrich Weise (1990–1996)
• Alfred Riedl (1997–1998)
• Erich Bürzle (1998)
• Ralf Loose (1998–2003)
• Walter Hörmann (2003–2004)
• Martin Andermatt (2004–2006)
• Urs Meier (2006)
• Hans-Peter Zaugg (2006–2012)
• Rene Pauritsch (2013–2018)
• Helgi Kolviðsson (2018–2020)
• Martin Stocklasa (2020–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly match against Malta on 11 November 2020 and the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League match against Gibraltar on 17 November 2020.^[8]

Caps and goals are current as of 17 November 2020 after the match against Malta.^[9]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Thomas Hobi	20 June 1993	4	0	Balzers
	GK	Lorenzo Lo Russo	8 July 1993	0	0	Linth 04
	GK	Gabriel Foser	September 2, 2002	0	0	Vaduz
	DF	Seyhan Yildiz	30 April 1989	43	1	Balzers
	DF	Sandro Wolfinger	24 August 1991	38	2	Eschen/Mauren
	DF	Maximilian Göppel	31 August 1997	36	1	Vaduz
	DF	Daniel Brändle	23 January 1992	32	0	Pullach
	DF	Andreas Malin	31 January 1994	25	0	Dornbirn
	DF	Jens Hofer	1 October 1997	10	0	Biel-Bienne
	DF	Alexander Marxer	4 April 1994	1	0	Ruggell
	MF	Martin Büchel (Captain)	19 February 1987	87	2	Red Star Zürich
	MF	Nicolas Hasler	4 May 1991	73	5	Thun
	MF	Simon Kühne	April 30, 1994	25	0	Eschen/Mauren
	MF	Aron Sele	2 September 1996	24	0	Chur 97
	MF	Fabio Wolfinger	5 November 1996	6	1	Eschen/Mauren
	MF	Noah Frommelt	18 December 2000	5	0	Eschen/Mauren
	MF	Ridvan Kardesoglu	12 October 1996	3	0	Balzers
	FW	Yanik Frick	27 May 1998	14	2	Energie Cottbus
	FW	Philipp Ospelt	7 October 1992	10	0	Eschen/Mauren
	FW	Noah Frick	16 October 2001	4	1	Neuchâtel Xamax

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Benjamin Büchel	4 July 1989	32	0	Vaduz	v. Malta, 11 November 2020
GK	Justin Ospelt	7 September 1999	1	0	Vaduz	v. Malta, 11 November 2020
DF	Daniel Kaufmann	22 December 1990	59	1	Eschen/Mauren	v. Malta, 11 November 2020
MF	Marcel Büchel	18 March 1991	17	1	Ascoli	v. Malta, 11 November 2020
MF	Nicola Kollmann	23 November 1994	1	0	Ruggell	v. Malta, 11 November 2020
MF	Noah Graber	May 3, 2001	1	0	Eschen/Mauren	v. Malta, 11 November 2020
MF	Andrin Netzer	January 11, 2002	1	0	Vaduz	v. Malta, 11 November 2020
MF	Livio Meier	10 January 1998	13	0	Eschen/Mauren	v. San Marino, 13 October 2020
MF	Fabian Eberle	27 July 1992	7	0	Konolfingen	v. San Marino, 8 September 2020
MF	Dario Kaiser	15 March 1995	0	0	Konolfingen	v. San Marino, 8 September 2020
FW	Dennis Salanović	26 February 1996	45	4	Thun	v. Malta, 11 November 2020
FW	Philippe Erne	14 December 1986	35	1	Balzers	v. San Marino, 13 October 2020

Notes:

• PRE = Preliminary squad
• INJ = Injured

Player history

As of 18 November 2020^[10]

Players in bold are still active and available for selection.

In literature

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.^[11]

References

External links

• Liechtensteiner Fussballverbund
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• Die Elf, documentary film about Liechtenstein national team