Liechtenstein

Nickname(s)	The Blues-Reds
Association	Liechtenstein Football Association (Liechtensteiner Fussballverband)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Helgi Kolviðsson
Captain	Martin Büchel
Most caps	Peter Jehle (132)
Top scorer	Mario Frick (16)
Home stadium	Rheinpark Stadion
FIFA code	LIE
FIFA ranking
Current	180 (20 February 2020)[1]
Highest	118 (January 2008, July 2011, September 2011)
Lowest	191 (July 2017)
Elo ranking
Current	175 3 (25 March 2020)[2]
Highest	145 (June 1984)
Lowest	183 (June 2005)
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
Finland	5	0	2	3	3	9	-6
Faroe Islands	5	0	0	5	3	11	-8
Georgia	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2
Germany	4	0	0	4	3	27	-24
Gibraltar	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1
Greece	5	0	1	4	1	8	-7
Hungary	3	0	1	2	0	10	-10
Republic of Ireland	4	0	1	3	0	14	-14
Iceland	7	1	2	4	5	16	-11
Israel	4	0	0	4	1	8	-7
Italy	4	0	0	4	0	20	-20
Lithuania	6	1	1	4	3	8	-5
Luxembourg	3	2	1	0	10	3	+7
Latvia	9	1	1	7	4	15	-11
North Macedonia	9	0	1	8	5	33	-28
Malta	3	0	1	2	3	10	-7
Moldova	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Montenegro	2	0	1	1	0	2	-2
Netherlands	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3
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
Romania	4	0	0	4	1	26	-25
Russia	5	0	0	5	1	15	-14
San Marino	4	2	1	1	4	3	+1
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Scotland	2	0	0	2	1	3	-2
Spain	8	0	0	8	0	39	-39
Slovakia	9	0	2	7	1	26	-25
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

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2019

Liechtenstein  v  Greece

23 March 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Liechtenstein	0-2	Greece	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	Fortounis  45+1 Donis  80	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Alexandre Boucaut (Belgium)

Italy  v  Liechtenstein

26 March 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Italy	6-0	Liechtenstein	Parma, Italy
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Sensi  17 Verratti  32 Quagliarella  35 (pen.), 45+3 (pen.) Kean  70 Pavoletti  76	Report		Stadium: Stadio Ennio Tardini Referee: Kirill Levnikov (Russia)

Armenia  v  Liechtenstein

8 June 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Armenia	3-0	Liechtenstein	Yerevan, Armenia
18:00	Ghazaryan  2 Karapetian  18 Barseghyan  90+1	Report		Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium Referee: Nikola Popov (Bulgaria)

Liechtenstein  v  Finland

11 June 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Liechtenstein	0-2	Finland	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	Pukki  37 Källman  57	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Jens Maae (Denmark)

Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Liechtenstein

5 September 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Bosnia and Herzegovina	5-0	Liechtenstein	Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
20:45	Gojak  11, 89 Malin  80 (o.g.) D?eko  85 Via  88	Report		Stadium: Bilino Polje Stadium Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)

Greece  v  Liechtenstein

8 September 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Greece	1-1	Liechtenstein	Heraklion, Greece
20:45	Masouras  33	Report	Salanovi?  85	Stadium: Pankritio Stadium Referee: Alexander Harkam (Austria)

Liechtenstein  v  Armenia

12 October 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Liechtenstein	1-1	Armenia	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45	Y. Frick  72	Report	Barseghyan  19	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

Liechtenstein  v  Italy

15 October 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Liechtenstein	0-5	Italy	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)		Report	Bernardeschi  2 Belotti  70, 90+2 Romagnoli  77 El Shaarawy  82	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)

Finland  v  Liechtenstein

15 November 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Finland	3-0	Liechtenstein	Helsinki, Finland
18:00	Tuominen  21 Pukki  64 (pen.), 75	Report		Stadium: Telia 5G Areena Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)

Liechtenstein  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina

18 November 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	Liechtenstein	0-3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)		Report	?ivi?  57 Hod?i?  64, 72	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Halis Özkahya (Turkey)

2020

Switzerland   v  Liechtenstein

4 June 2020 International friendly	Switzerland	v	Liechtenstein	TBD, Switzerland
CET (UTC+01:00)		Report		Stadium: TBD

San Marino  v  Liechtenstein

8 September 2020 2020-21 UEFA Nations League	San Marino	v	Liechtenstein	Serravalle, San Marino
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)				Stadium: San Marino Stadium

Liechtenstein  v  Gibraltar

5 October 2020 2020-21 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	v	Gibraltar	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)				Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Liechtenstein  v  San Marino

11 October 2020 2020-21 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	v	San Marino	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)				Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Gibraltar  v  Liechtenstein

16 November 2020 2020-21 UEFA Nations League	Gibraltar	v	Liechtenstein	Gibraltar
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)				Stadium: Victoria Stadium

2020 UEFA European Championship qualification

Pos	Team [ v t e ]	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			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

Helgi Kolviðsson, the team manager since 2018.

• 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-)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Finland and Bosnia and Herzegovina on 15 and 18 November 2019 respectively.^[8]
Caps and goals are current as of 18 November 2019 after the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Benjamin Büchel	(1989-07-04) 4 July 1989 (age 30)	29	0	Vaduz
21	1GK	Lorenzo Lo Russo	(1993-07-08) 8 July 1993 (age 26)	0	0	Linth 04
12	1GK	Justin Ospelt	(1999-09-07) 7 September 1999 (age 20)	0	0	Vaduz
22	2DF	Martin Rechsteiner RET	(1989-02-15) 15 February 1989 (age 31)	47	0	Retired
15	2DF	Seyhan Yildiz	(1989-04-30) 30 April 1989 (age 30)	37	1	Balzers
20	2DF	Sandro Wolfinger	(1991-08-24) 24 August 1991 (age 28)	33	2	Eschen/Mauren
3	2DF	Maximilian Göppel	(1997-08-31) 31 August 1997 (age 22)	30	1	Vaduz
2	2DF	Daniel Brändle	(1992-01-23) 23 January 1992 (age 28)	27	0	Pullach
6	2DF	Andreas Malin	(1994-01-31) 31 January 1994 (age 26)	19	0	Dornbirn
	2DF	Jens Hofer	(1997-10-01) 1 October 1997 (age 22)	6	0	Vaduz
13	3MF	Martin Büchel (Captain)	(1987-02-19) 19 February 1987 (age 33)	82	2	Red Star Zürich
23	3MF	Michele Polverino RET	(1984-09-26) 26 September 1984 (age 35)	79	6	Balzers
17	3MF	Robin Gubser	(1991-04-17) 17 April 1991 (age 28)	38	1	Eschen/Mauren
8	3MF	Aron Sele	(1996-09-02) 2 September 1996 (age 23)	19	0	Vaduz
14	3MF	Livio Meier	(1998-01-10) 10 January 1998 (age 22)	12	0	Eschen/Mauren
19	3MF	Philipp Ospelt	(1992-10-07) 7 October 1992 (age 27)	4	0	Eschen/Mauren
7	3MF	Ridvan Kardesoglu	(1996-10-12) 12 October 1996 (age 23)	1	0	Chur 97
16	3MF	Fabio Wolfinger	(1996-11-05) 5 November 1996 (age 23)	1	0	Eschen/Mauren
5	3MF	Noah Frommelt	(2000-12-18) 18 December 2000 (age 19)	1	0	Balzers
4	3MF	Marco Wolfinger	(1989-04-18) 18 April 1989 (age 30)	0	0	Balzers
18	4FW	Nicolas Hasler	(1991-05-04) 4 May 1991 (age 28)	67	3	Thun
11	4FW	Dennis Salanovi?	(1996-02-26) 26 February 1996 (age 24)	41	4	Thun
9	4FW	Yanik Frick	(1998-05-27) 27 May 1998 (age 21)	11	1	Rapperswil-Jona
10	4FW	Noah Frick	(2001-10-16) 16 October 2001 (age 18)	2	0	Vaduz

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	Claudio Majer	(1996-03-23) 23 March 1996 (age 24)	0	0	Eschen/Mauren	v.  Italy, 15 October 2019
GK	Thomas Hobi	(1993-06-20) 20 June 1993 (age 26)	2	0	VfB Hohenems	v.  Finland, 11 June 2019
GK	Armando Majer	(1999-05-12) 12 May 1999 (age 20)	0	0	Eschen/Mauren	v.  Finland, 11 June 2019
DF	Daniel Kaufmann	(1990-12-22) 22 December 1990 (age 29)	57	1	Balzers	v.  Italy, 15 October 2019
DF	Fabian Eberle	(1992-07-27) 27 July 1992 (age 27)	7	0	Konolfingen	v.  Italy, 15 October 2019
DF	Alexander Marxer	(1994-04-04) 4 April 1994 (age 25)	0	0	Ruggell	v.  Armenia, 8 June 2019
MF	Sandro Wieser	(1993-02-03) 3 February 1993 (age 27)	53	2	Vaduz	v.  Greece, 8 September 2019
MF	Simon Kühne	(1994-04-30) April 30, 1994 (age 25)	22	0	Eschen/Mauren	v.  Greece, 8 September 2019
FW	Marcel Büchel	(1991-03-18) 18 March 1991 (age 29)	16	1	Juve Stabia	v.  Finland, 11 June 2019

Notes:

• PRE = Preliminary squad
• INJ = Injured
• RET = Player retired from the national team.

Player history

As of 18 November 2019

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.^[9]

References

External links

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