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Cyprus national football team facts for kids

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This page is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Cyprus women's national football team.
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Cyprus
Shirt badge/Association crest
Association Cyprus Football Association (CFA)
Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου
Kıbrıs Futbol Federasyonu
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Sofronis Avgousti
Captain Kostakis Artymatas
Most caps Ioannis Okkas (103)
Top scorer Michalis Konstantinou (32)
Home stadium AEK Arena
FIFA code CYP
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 87 Decrease 1 (7 February 2019)
Highest 43 (September 2010)
Lowest 142 (June 2014)
Elo ranking
Current 102 Increase 2 (3 March 2019)
Highest 69 (22 March 2000)
Lowest 141 (March 1992)
First international
Unofficial:
 Israel 3–1 Cyprus 
(Tel Aviv; 30 July 1949)
Official:
 Cyprus 1–1 Israel 
(Nicosia; 13 November 1960)
Biggest win
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Limassol; 15 November 2000)
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Nicosia; 16 November 2014)
 Cyprus 5–0 San Marino 
(Nicosia; 21 March 2019)
Biggest defeat
 West Germany 12–0 Cyprus 
(Essen; 21 May 1969)

The Cyprus national football team (Greek: Εθνική ομάδα ποδοσφαίρου της Κύπρου, Turkish: Kıbrıs Futbol Federasyonu) represents Cyprus in men's international football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. The team's home ground is the AEK Arena in Larnaca.

History

Early history

The team's first match took place on 23 July 1949, one year after becoming a member of the world governing body FIFA: a friendly against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, ending in a 3–3 draw. Seven days later, the team had its first international game: a 3–1 defeat by Israel in the same city.

In November 1960, following independence from British rule, Cyprus drew its first post-independence official match 1–1 against Israel, as part of the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament. Cyprus' first international victory was a 3–1 win over Greece on 27 November 1963 in a friendly. On 17 February 1968, Cyprus recorded their first competitive win, beating Switzerland 2–1 in a European Championship qualifying match in Old GSP Stadium in Nicosia.

In 1974, the national team enjoyed one of their most famous victories when they beat Northern Ireland 1–0 in Nicosia. On 12 February 1983, as part of the Euro 1984 qualifiers, Cyprus held world champions Italy to a 1–1 draw in Tsirio Stadium in Limassol, followed a month later by the same result against Czechoslovakia. Four years later, in the Euro 1988 qualification, Cyprus recorded their first ever point achieved in an away match, against Poland. In 1989 they drew 1–1 with France in the World Cup qualifying match. Despite a number of triumphs on home soil, Cyprus had to wait until 1992 to record their first away win: a 2–0 victory against the Faroe Islands.

Results in qualifying tournaments had improved considerably in the following years; In the qualifying stages for the 1996 UEFA European Championship, Cyprus drew 1–1 with holders Denmark. Four years later, they missed out on a place in the UEFA Euro 2000 despite 3–2 victories against both Spain and Israel and a 4–0 win over San Marino.

2000s

Cyprus national football team 2012
Cyprus national team against Bulgaria in 2012.

On 15 November 2000, Cyprus scored their biggest win in history by beating Andorra in Limassol 5–0 in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 7 October 2006, as part of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Cyprus caused a major upset by beating the Republic of Ireland 5–2 at GSP Stadium in Nicosia, with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambidis each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis finishing off the match. Just one month later, on 15 November 2006, they caused another surprise by holding the previous World Cup's hosts Germany to a 1–1 draw at home. On 13 October 2007, they beat Wales 3–1 in Nicosia. On 17 October 2007, Cyprus came close to a historic away victory in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland, but the hosts equalised in the last minute of the game and the match ended 1–1.

2010s

On 3 September 2010, as part of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Cyprus claimed a historic 4–4 draw against Portugal in Guimarães.

During the Euro 2016 qualification phase, managed by Pambos Christodoulou, Cyprus claimed one of their most historic victories by defeating 2014 World Cup participant Bosnia 2–1 in Zenica. In the last group match, the team faced Bosnia, needing a victory to finish 3rd and rely on Belgium to beat Israel in Brussels. As fate would have it, the Bosnians won the reverse leg 3–2 and qualified to the play-offs at the expense of the home team, who at one point took a 2–1 lead during the first half and for a number of minutes held onto 3rd place and a berth in the play-offs for the first time in history, as Belgium, a soon to be world number 1 side, were comfortably beating Israel at home.

Cyprus would finish behind Estonia and ahead of Gibraltar to place 5th of 6 teams in Group H in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Their qualification run would include an impressive 3–2 home victory over Bosnia.

2020s

In the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Cyprus beat San Marino 5–0 but lost to Belgium and Scotland. Despite a 2–1 away win against Kazakhstan, they lost their last three games and finished 4th out of 6 teams in the group, just ahead of Kazakhstan and San Marino.

The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League ended a big disappointment for Cyprus. They lost their first three games against Montenegro, Azerbaijan, and Luxembourg, before drawing 0–0 with Azerbaijan in the fourth game. Even though they beat Luxembourg 2–1 at home, they were crushed 4–0 by Montenegro in the last game and finished last in their group. This meant that they had to face Estonia in the relegation play-offs, whom they defeated 2–0 on aggregate, with goals from Marinos Tzionis and Pieros Sotiriou. Results hardly improved in the next edition of the competition, as Cyprus finished last in their group with Greece, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland, earning five points (through a win against Greece and two draws against Northern Ireland).

Cyprus lost all eight of their games in the 2024 Euro qualifiers, finishing last in their group and marking their worst ever Euro qualification campaign in terms of points per game and goal difference.

Kit

On 7 October 2006, Diadora unveiled Cyprus' new kit. It outlines a map of Cyprus in amber from the shoulder to the sleeve, with a green line running down the middle to indicate the division of the island. This controversial kit was used for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying phase. Adidas then made Cyprus' kits for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification phases. In 2018, Macron replaced Adidas as part of UEFA's Kit Assistance Scheme.

Kit provider Period
Italy Lotto 0000–2000
Italy Errea 2000–2002
England Umbro 2002–2006
Italy Diadora 2006–2008
Germany Adidas 2008–2018
Italy Macron 2018–2022
Italy Errea 2022–present

Home stadium

Since late 2021, Cyprus have played their home matches at the Georgios Karapatakis AEK Arena in Larnaca.

Home matches had previously been staged at different stadiums all around the country. Until 1974, Cyprus used either the old GSP Stadium in central Nicosia or the GSE Stadium in Famagusta. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, some matches were played at the Tsirion Stadium in Limassol and the Makario Stadium in Nicosia. In 1999, the building of the New GSP Stadium in Nicosia provided a new home for the national team but in 2008, a change of sponsorship forced home fixtures of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification phase to be played at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca. However, Cyprus returned to the GSP Stadium for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase however have not played there since September 2021.

Results and fixtures

Main article: Cyprus 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

Coaching staff

Manager Cyprus Sofronis Avgousti
Assistant Manager Cyprus Christos Panteli
Assistant Manager Cyprus Panayiotis Engomitis
Goalkeeping Coach Cyprus Nicos Constantinidis
Physical Trainer Cyprus Panicos Sakki
Physical Trainer Cyprus Ioakim Ioakim
Match Analyst Cyprus Giorgos Christodoulou

Coaching history

.

  • Greece Argyrios Gavalas (1960–1967)
  • Cyprus Pambos Avraamidis (1968–1969)
  • England Ray Wood (1970–1971)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sima Milovanov (1972)
  • Cyprus Pambos Avraamidis (1972–1974)
  • Cyprus Panikos Iakovou (1974)
  • Cyprus Pambos Avraamidis (1975)
  • Cyprus Kostas Talianos (1976)
  • Cyprus Panikos Krystallis (1976–1977)
  • Cyprus Andreas Lazarides (1977)
  • Cyprus Kostas Talianos (1978–1982)
  • Bulgaria Vasil Spasov (1982–1984)
  • Cyprus Panikos Iakovou (1984–1987)
  • Cyprus Takis Charalambous (1987)
  • Cyprus Panikos Iakovou (1988–1991)
  • Cyprus Andreas Michaelides (1991–1996)
  • Cyprus Stavros Papadopoulos (1997)
  • Cyprus Panikos Georgiou (1997–1999)
  • Cyprus Stavros Papadopoulos (1999–2001)
  • Cyprus Takis Charalambous (2001)
  • Serbia and Montenegro Momčilo Vukotić (2001–2004)
  • Greece Angelos Anastasiadis (2005–2011)
  • Greece Nikos Nioplias (2011–2013)
  • Cyprus Pambos Christodoulou (2014–2015)
  • Cyprus Christakis Christoforou (2015–2017)
  • Israel Ran Ben Shimon (2017–2020)
  • Belgium Johan Walem (2020–2021)
  • Greece Nikos Kostenoglou (2021–2022)
  • Georgia (country) Temur Ketsbaia (2022–2024)
  • Cyprus Sofronis Avgousti (2024–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League matches against  Romania and  Kosovo on 12 and 15 October 2024, respectively.

Caps and goals updated as of 8 October 2024.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
22 1GK Joël Mall (1991-04-05) 5 April 1991 (age 33) 13 0 Switzerland Servette
22 1GK Neofytos Michail (1993-12-16) 16 December 1993 (age 31) 15 0 Cyprus Pafos
13 1GK Demetris Demetriou (1999-01-15) 15 January 1999 (age 25) 9 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
2 2DF Andreas Karo (1996-09-09) 9 September 1996 (age 28) 25 1 Israel Maccabi Petah Tikva
4 2DF Nicholas Ioannou (1995-11-10) 10 November 1995 (age 29) 48 2 Italy Como
14 2DF Kostas Pileas (1998-12-11) 11 December 1998 (age 26) 8 1 Cyprus Pafos FC
16 2DF Stelios Andreou (2002-07-24) 24 July 2002 (age 22) 21 0 Belgium Charleroi
18 2DF Nikolas Panayiotou (2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 24) 13 0 Cyprus Omonia
19 2DF Konstantinos Laifis (1993-05-19) 19 May 1993 (age 31) 60 3 Cyprus APOEL FC
18 2DF Minas Antoniou (1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 (age 30) 20 0 Cyprus Karmiotissa FC
7 2DF Marios Stylianou (1993-09-23) 23 September 1993 (age 31) 6 0 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna FC
5 3MF Charalampos Charalampous (2002-04-04) 4 April 2002 (age 22) 15 1 Cyprus Omonia
6 3MF Alex Gogić (1994-04-13) 13 April 1994 (age 30) 33 0 Scotland St Mirren
8 3MF Ioannis Kousoulos (1996-06-14) 14 June 1996 (age 28) 41 4 Cyprus Omonia
20 3MF Grigoris Kastanos (1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 (age 26) 64 6 Italy Hellas Verona
18 3MF Kostakis Artymatas (1993-04-15) 15 April 1993 (age 31) 71 1 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta FC
18 3MF Rafail Mamas (2001-03-04) 4 March 2001 (age 23) 2 0 Cyprus AEL Limassol
12 3MF Andreas Chrysostomou (2001-01-14) 14 January 2001 (age 23) 4 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta FC
9 4FW Ioannis Pittas (1996-07-10) 10 July 1996 (age 28) 43 7 Sweden AIK
10 4FW Loizos Loizou (2003-07-18) 18 July 2003 (age 21) 32 1 Cyprus Omonia
11 4FW Andronikos Kakoullis (2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 23) 22 4 Cyprus Omonia
21 4FW Stavros Gavriel (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 (age 22) 3 0 Belgium S.V. Zulte Waregem
23 4FW Marios Ilia (1996-05-19) 19 May 1996 (age 28) 14 1 Cyprus Pafos FC
10 4FW Pieros Sotiriou (1993-01-13) 13 January 1993 (age 31) 60 12 Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
21 4FW Marinos Tzionis (2001-07-16) 16 July 2001 (age 23) 27 2 Serbia Čukarički

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Cyprus squad within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.


Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Konstantinos Panagi (1994-10-08) 8 October 1994 (age 30) 28 0 Cyprus AC Omonia v.  San Marino, 11 June 2024
DF Andreas Panayiotou Filiotis (1995-05-31) 31 May 1995 (age 29) 7 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol v.  Moldova, 8 June 2024
DF Marios Antoniades (1990-05-14) 14 May 1990 (age 34) 25 0 Cyprus Doxa Katokopias v.  Serbia, 25 March 2024
DF Pavlos Korrea (1998-07-14) 14 July 1998 (age 26) 4 0 Greece Volos v.  San Marino, 11 June 2024
DF Giorgos Malekkidis (1997-07-14) 14 July 1997 (age 27) 4 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol FC v.  Kosovo, 9 September 2024
DF Anderson Correia (1991-05-06) 6 May 1991 (age 33) 11 0 Cyprus Aris Limassol FC v.  Kosovo, 9 September 2024
MF Hector Kyprianou (2001-05-27) 27 May 2001 (age 23) 10 0 England Peterborough United F.C. v.  Kosovo, 9 September 2024
MF Danilo Špoljarić (1999-07-14) 14 July 1999 (age 25) 16 1 Cyprus Apollon Limassol FC v.  Kosovo, 9 September 2024
FW Andreas Katsantonis (2000-02-16) 16 February 2000 (age 24) 1 0 Poland Piast Gliwice v.  Kosovo, 9 September 2024
FW Ruel Sotiriou (2000-08-24) 24 August 2000 (age 24) 1 0 England Bristol Rovers F.C. v.  Serbia, 25 March 2024
  • INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
  • PRE Preliminary squad.
  • RET Retired from international football.
  • SUS Suspended

Player records

Players in bold are still active with Cyprus.

Most appearances

Ioannis Okkas1
Ioannis Okkas is Cyprus' most capped player with 103 appearances.
Rank Name Caps Goals Career
1 Ioannis Okkas 103 27 1997–2011
2 Constantinos Charalambidis 93 12 2003–2017
3 Michalis Konstantinou 84 32 1997–2012
4 Pambos Pittas 82 7 1987–1999
5 Constantinos Makrides 77 5 2004–2016
6 Nicos Panayiotou 74 0 1994–2006
7 Demetris Christofi 72 9 2008–present
8 Elias Charalambous 69 0 2002–2017
Chrysis Michael 69 7 2000–2017
Giorgos Theodotou 69 0 1996–2008

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Michalis Konstantinou 32 86 0.37 1997–2012
2 Ioannis Okkas 27 103 0.26 1997–2011
3 Pieros Sotiriou 12 60 0.2 2012–present
Constantinos Charalambidis 12 93 0.13 2003–2017
5 Efstathios Aloneftis 10 62 0.11 2005–2017
6 Marios Agathokleous 9 38 0.24 1994–2003
Demetris Christofi 9 72 0.13 2008–present
8 Fivos Vrahimis 8 18 0.44 1977–1982
Milenko Špoljarić 8 21 0.38 1997–2001
Siniša Gogić 8 37 0.22 1994–1999
Andreas Sotiriou 8 39 0.21 1991–1999

Competitive record

All-time record

Competition Played Won Draw Lost GF GA
FIFA World Cup qualification 124 16 15 93 91 320
European Championship qualification 122 19 15 88 101 316
Friendly matches 137 38 34 65 147 206
UEFA Nations League 26 6 6 14 17 46
Total 409 79 70 261 356 888

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950 Did not enter Did not enter
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958 Withdrew Withdrew
Chile 1962 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 2 7
England 1966 4 0 0 4 0 19
Mexico 1970 6 0 0 6 2 35
West Germany 1974 6 1 0 5 1 14
Argentina 1978 6 0 0 6 3 24
Spain 1982 8 0 0 8 4 29
Mexico 1986 6 0 0 6 3 18
Italy 1990 8 0 1 7 6 20
United States 1994 10 2 1 7 8 18
France 1998 8 3 1 4 10 15
South Korea Japan 2002 10 2 2 6 13 31
Germany 2006 10 1 1 8 8 20
South Africa 2010 10 2 3 5 14 16
Brazil 2014 10 1 2 7 4 15
Russia 2018 10 3 1 6 9 18
Qatar 2022 10 1 2 7 4 21
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/19 124 16 15 93 91 320

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record Qualifying record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
France 1960 Not a UEFA member Not a UEFA member
Spain 1964 Did not enter Did not enter
Italy 1968 Did not qualify 6 1 0 5 3 25
Belgium 1972 6 0 0 6 2 26
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 6 0 0 6 0 16
Italy 1980 6 0 1 5 2 19
France 1984 8 0 2 6 4 21
West Germany 1988 8 0 1 7 3 16
Sweden 1992 8 0 0 8 2 25
England 1996 10 1 4 5 6 20
Belgium Netherlands 2000 8 4 0 4 12 21
Portugal 2004 8 2 2 4 9 18
Austria Switzerland 2008 12 4 2 6 17 24
Poland Ukraine 2012 8 0 2 6 7 20
France 2016 10 4 0 6 16 17
Europe 2020 10 3 1 6 15 20
Germany 2024 8 0 0 8 3 28
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 2028 To be determined To be determined
Italy Turkey 2032
Total 0/16 122 19 15 88 101 316

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season Division Group Pld W D L GF GA P/R Rank
2018–19 C 3 6 1 2 3 5 9 Same position 36th
2020–21 C 1 8 2 2 4 4 10 Same position 46th
2022–23 C 2 6 1 2 3 4 12 Same position 45th
2024–25 C 2 To be determined
Total 20 4 6 10 13 31 36th

Head-to-head record

As of 18 November 2024.

      Positive record       Neutral record       Negative record

Honours

Friendly

  • Cyprus International Football Tournament
    • Champions (2): 1998, 2000
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