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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
Association Cyprus Football Association (CFA)
Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Andreas Michaelides
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, Israel; 30 July 1949)
Official:
 Cyprus 1–1 Israel 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 13 November 1960)
Biggest win
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Limassol, Cyprus; 15 November 2000)
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 16 November 2014)
 Cyprus 5–0 San Marino 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 21 March 2019)
Biggest defeat
 West Germany 12–0 Cyprus 
(Essen, West Germany; 21 May 1969)

The Cyprus national football team (Greek: Εθνική ομάδα ποδοσφαίρου της Κύπρου) represents Cyprus in men's international football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association, the governing body for football in Cyprus. Cyprus' home ground is currently the AEK Arena in Larnaca, and the current coach is Temur Ketsbaia.

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 have also improved considerably in recent times. 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.

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. 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, Cyprus, managed by Pambos Christodoulou, 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.

In the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Cyprus beat San Marino 5–0 but they lost to Belgium and Scotland. Even though they beat Kazakhstan 1–2 away from home, 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 was a big disappointment for Cyprus. They lost their first three games against Montenegro 0–2, Azerbaijan 0–1 and Luxembourg 2–0 and drew with Azerbaijan 0–0 in the fourth game. Even though they beat Luxembourg 2–1 at home, they were crushed 4–0 by Montenegro in their last game and finished last in their group. This meant that they had to face Estonia in the relegation play-offs. They defeated Estonia 2–0 on aggregate, with goals from Marinos Tzionis and Pieros Sotiriou.

The 2022–2023 Nations League ended in another big disappointment for Cyprus. In their opening game, Cyprus lost 2–0 to Kosovo with Kosovo scoring two late second half goals then after a quite good performance failed to score against Northern Ireland with the game ending in a scoreless draw 0-0. In the next game, Cyprus got crushed by Greece 3-0. Cyprus got a 0–2 lead against Northern Ireland with Andronikos Kakoullis scoring twice but Cyprus could not hold the lead as Northern Ireland equalised with a 94th minute goal by Jonny Evans, with Cyprus failing to win for the 4th time in the UEFA Nations League. In spite of all odds being stacked against them, Cyprus pulled off a miracle win against top of the group Greece which had won all their games in the group at Larnaca with an early first half goal from Marinos Tzionis. In the final game of the group, Cyprus was defeated by Kosovo 5-1, finishing in the last place of their group.

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. Then, Adidas 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

2023

2024

Coaching staff

Manager Georgia (country) Temur Ketsbaia
Assistant Manager Georgia (country) Mamuka Chakvetadze
Assistant Manager Georgia (country) Aleksandre Chanturishvili
Goalkeeping Coach Georgia (country) Irakli Kuchava
Physical Trainer Georgia (country) Giorgi Papunashvili
Match Analyst Georgia (country) Davit Arveladze

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–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against  Spain and friendly game against  Lithuania on 16 and 19 November 2023, respectively.

Caps and goals updated as of 19 November 2023, after the match against  Lithuania.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Constantinos Panagi (1994-10-08) 8 October 1994 (age 30) 28 0 Cyprus Omonia
13 1GK Demetris Demetriou (1999-01-15) 15 January 1999 (age 25) 9 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
22 1GK Joël Mall (1991-04-05) 5 April 1991 (age 33) 6 0 Switzerland Servette
2 2DF Andreas Karo (1996-09-09) 9 September 1996 (age 28) 20 1 Greece OFI
4 2DF Nicholas Ioannou (1995-11-10) 10 November 1995 (age 29) 46 2 Italy Como
7 2DF Anderson Correia (1991-05-06) 6 May 1991 (age 33) 5 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
14 2DF Kostas Pileas (1998-12-11) 11 December 1998 (age 25) 4 1 Greece Panserraikos
16 2DF Stelios Andreou (2002-07-24) 24 July 2002 (age 22) 15 0 Belgium Charleroi
18 2DF Nikolas Panayiotou (2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 24) 11 0 Cyprus Omonia
19 2DF Konstantinos Laifis (1993-05-19) 19 May 1993 (age 31) 55 3 Belgium Standard Liège
3 3MF Hector Kyprianou (2001-05-27) 27 May 2001 (age 23) 4 0 England Peterborough United
5 3MF Charalampos Charalampous (2002-04-04) 4 April 2002 (age 22) 12 1 Cyprus Omonia
6 3MF Alex Gogić (1994-04-13) 13 April 1994 (age 30) 26 0 Scotland St Mirren
8 3MF Ioannis Kousoulos (1996-06-14) 14 June 1996 (age 28) 38 4 Cyprus Omonia
12 3MF Charalambos Kyriakou (1995-02-09) 9 February 1995 (age 29) 54 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
15 3MF Danilo Špoljarić (1999-07-14) 14 July 1999 (age 25) 10 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
20 3MF Grigoris Kastanos (1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 (age 26) 51 4 Italy Salernitana
9 4FW Ioannis Pittas (1996-07-10) 10 July 1996 (age 28) 36 4 Sweden AIK
10 4FW Loizos Loizou (2003-07-18) 18 July 2003 (age 21) 27 1 Netherlands Heerenveen
11 4FW Andronikos Kakoullis (2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 23) 19 3 Cyprus Omonia
21 4FW Stavros Gavriel (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 (age 22) 1 0 Cyprus APOEL
23 4FW Constantinos Elia (2000-10-25) 25 October 2000 (age 24) 0 0 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna

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 Neofytos Michael (1993-12-16) 16 December 1993 (age 30) 15 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF Andreas Panayiotou Filiotis (1995-05-31) 31 May 1995 (age 29) 7 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol v.  Spain, 16 November 2023
DF Marios Antoniades (1990-05-14) 14 May 1990 (age 34) 25 0 Cyprus Doxa Katokopias v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF Minas Antoniou (1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 (age 30) 20 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF Pavlos Correa (1998-07-14) 14 July 1998 (age 26) 4 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF Valentin Roberge (1987-06-09) 9 June 1987 (age 37) 5 1 Cyprus AEK Larnaca v.  Spain, 12 September 2023
DF Constantinos Sergiou (2000-10-02) 2 October 2000 (age 24) 0 0 Cyprus Nea Salamis Famagusta v.  Norway, 20 June 2023
MF Michalis Ioannou (2000-06-30) 30 June 2000 (age 24) 7 1 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Spain, 12 September 2023
MF Giannis Satsias (2002-12-28) 28 December 2002 (age 21) 2 0 Cyprus APOEL v.  Norway, 20 June 2023
FW Marios Elia (1996-05-19) 19 May 1996 (age 28) 13 1 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna v.  Spain, 16 November 2023
FW Demetris Christofi (1988-09-28) 28 September 1988 (age 36) 71 9 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
FW Marinos Tzionis (2001-07-16) 16 July 2001 (age 23) 24 2 United States Sporting Kansas City v.  Spain, 12 September 2023
FW Pieros Sotiriou (1993-01-13) 13 January 1993 (age 31) 59 12 Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima v.  Spain, 12 September 2023
  • 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 133 37 33 63 140 200
UEFA Nations League 20 4 6 10 13 31
Total 399 76 69 255 345 867

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 25 March 2024.

      Positive record       Neutral record       Negative record

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