Latvia national football team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Latvia

Nickname(s)	11 vilki (11 Wolves)
Association	Latvijas Futbola federācija
Confederation	UEFA
Head coach	Dainis Kazakevičs
Captain	Antonijs Černomordijs
Most caps	Vitālijs Astafjevs (167)
Top scorer	Māris Verpakovskis (29)
Home stadium	Daugava Stadium
FIFA code	LVA
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	131 1 (7 February 2019)
Highest	45 (November 2009)
Lowest	148 (September 2017)
Elo ranking
Current	138 18 (3 March 2019)
Highest	45 (25 September 1938)
Lowest	155 (October 2019)
First international
Latvia 1–1 Estonia  (Riga, Latvia; 24 September 1922)
Biggest win
Latvia 6–1 Lithuania  (Riga, Latvia; 30 May 1935)  Latvia 5–0 Lithuania  (Võru, Estonia; 1 June 2012)  Gibraltar 0–5 Latvia  (Gibraltar; 29 March 2016)  Andorra 0–5 Latvia  (Andorra la Vella, Andorra; 17 November 2020)
Biggest defeat
Sweden 12–0 Latvia  (Stockholm, Sweden; 29 May 1927)
European Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2004)
Best result	Group stage (2004)

The Latvia national football team (Latvian: Latvijas futbola izlase) represents Latvia in international football and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, however, they have qualified for the European Championship in 2004 under head coach Aleksandrs Starkovs.

Latvia, alongside their Baltic rivals, Lithuania and Estonia, have also participated in the local sub-regional Baltic Cup tournament, which takes place every two years. Latvia has won the Baltic Cup championship a record 13 times, more than any other country in the history of the tournament, most recently in 2018.

Latvia's current home ground is the Daugava Stadium in Riga.

History

Early years

Latvia played their first match in 1922, a game against Estonia, which finished in a 1–1 draw. Latvia have won the Baltic Cup 12 times, and played 99 official games during its pre-war period from 1922 to 1940.

In 1937, the Latvian team participated in the first qualification tournament for the 1938 World Cup. Latvia were placed in Group 8, alongside Austria and Lithuania. Latvia beat Lithuania 4–2 in Riga, after a Fricis Kaņeps hat-trick and an Iļja Vestermans goal. In Kaunas, they won 5–1, after two goals each from Kaņeps, Vaclavs Borduško, and Vestermans, but lost 1–2 in the decisive away match against Austria, despite an early goal from Vestermans. In April 1938, the Austrian Anschluss made the Austrian team unable to participate, however, despite being the group's runner-up, Latvia was not invited to the tournament by FIFA to replace Austria .

In 1940, Latvia was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1991 and played their first match against Estonia on 16 November of that year in the Baltic Cup, and their first FIFA-recognized match against Romania on 8 April 1992 in Bucharest, a match, which Latvia lost 2–0.

Latvian fans at Euro 2004

In September 2003, Latvia surprisingly finished second, ahead of Poland, in their qualifying group for Euro 2004. This meant they qualified for the play-offs, where they were drawn against Turkey. Latvia won the first leg 1–0, through top goalscorer, Māris Verpakovskis. The second leg finished in a 2–2 draw, with Latvia winning 3–2 on aggregate, thus qualifying for the tournament. This resulted in Latvia being the first and only Baltic team, as well as being the second former-Soviet state in Europe at the time (after Russia) to qualify for a European Championship. At Euro 2004, Latvia were drawn in Group D, alongside Germany, Czech Republic, and Netherlands. Latvia faced Czech Republic in their opening match on 15 June 2004, with Verpakovskis scoring before half-time. However, the Czechs would later come back to win the game 2–1. Four days later, Latvia earned a respectable 0–0 draw against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament. They lost their final match with 3–0 against Netherlands, and were eliminated, finishing fourth, with one point from their draw and two losses.

Latvia have since failed to qualify for another major tournament, although they came close to qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. After eight qualifying matches, Latvia were level on points with their next opponent, second-placed Greece, but a 5–2 defeat virtually ended all hopes of qualification and Latvia finished third in UEFA Group 2. Recent years have seen a sharp decline with many losses. In the EURO 2020 qualifiers, Latvia lost 9 out of 10 games, including a woeful 0-5 home loss to Slovenia.

Stadium

The majority of home matches take place at the Daugava Stadium in Riga. Between 2000 and 2018, the main base for the team was the Skonto Stadium, which was built as a temporary location due to the planned renovation of Daugava Stadium, which started only in 2017, with the first stage completed a year later.

Home venues record

The following table provides a summary of Latvia's results at home venues since 1992. .

Results and fixtures

2022

Friendly 25 March 2022	Latvia	1–1	Kuwait	Ta' Qali, Malta
13:00	Savaļnieks  55'	https://ca.soccerway.com/matches/2022/03/25/world/friendlies/latvia/kuwait/3748090/	Bader Al-Mutawa  12'	Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Matthew De Gabriele (Malta)

Friendly 29 March 2022	Azerbaijan	0–1	Latvia	Ta' Qali, Malta
13:00		https://ca.soccerway.com/matches/2022/03/29/world/friendlies/azerbaijan/latvia/3747170/	Gutkovskis  85'	Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (Malta)

2022-23 Nations League 3 June 2022	Latvia	3–0	Andorra	Riga, Latvia
21:45 UTC+3	Uldriķis  9', 77' Ikaunieks  85' (pen.)	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2034428/		Stadium: Daugava Stadium Attendance: 5,863 Referee: Tomasz Musiał (Poland)

2022-23 Nations League 6 June 2022	Latvia	1–0	Liechtenstein	Riga, Latvia
21:45 UTC+3	Zjuzins  73'	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2034454/		Stadium: Daugava Stadium Attendance: 5,966 Referee: Mario Zebec (Croatia)

2022-23 Nations League 10 June 2022	Moldova	2–4	Latvia	Chișinău, Moldova
19:00	Nicolaescu  5' (pen.) Moțpan  64'	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2034474/	Gutkovskis  19', 60' J. Ikaunieks  26', 75'	Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 4,842 Referee: Andrew Madley (England)

2022-23 Nations League 14 June 2022	Liechtenstein	0–2	Latvia	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 UTC+2		https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2034518/	Gutkovskis  20', 28'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 885 Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)

2022-23 Nations League 22 September 2022	Latvia	1–2	Moldova	Riga, Latvia
21:45 UTC+3	Ikaunieks  55'	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2034527/	Revenco  26' Nicolaescu  45'	Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 6,711 Referee: António Nobre (Portugal)

2022-23 Nations League 25 September 2022	Andorra	1–1	Latvia	Andorra la Vella, Andorra
15:00 UTC+2	Rosas  88'	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2034547/	Gutkovskis  50'	Stadium: Estadi Nacional Attendance: 1,102 Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (Greece)

2022 Baltic Cup 16 November 2022	Latvia	1–1 (5–3 pen)	Estonia	Riga, Latvia
19:00 (UTC+2)	Krollis  45+2'	https://jalgpall.ee/koondis/1/mangud/protocol/2749	Zenjov  2'	Stadium: Daugava Stadium Attendance: 1,657 Referee: Robertas Valikonis (Lithuania)
		Penalties
	*J. Ikaunieks Zjuzins Jaunzems D. Ikaunieks Stuglis		* Mets Vassiljev Zenjov Sorga

2022 Baltic Cup 19 November 2022	Latvia	1–1 (7–8 pen)	Iceland	Riga, Latvia
16:00 (UTC+2)	Cigaņiks  67'		Jóhannesson  62' (pen.)	Stadium: Daugavas stadions Referee: Joonas Jaanovits (Estonia)
		Penalties
	*J. Ikaunieks Zjuzins D. Ikaunieks Jaunzems Stuglis Sorokins Cigaņiks Černomordijs		* Jóhannesson S. Guðjohnsen Helgason Sigurðsson Þórðarson Þrándarson Ellertsson Grétarsson

2023

Friendly 22 March 2023 (2023-03-22)	Ireland	v	Latvia	Dublin, Ireland
19:45 UTC+1				Stadium: Aviva Stadium

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 28 March 2023	Wales	v	Latvia	Cardiff, Wales
19:45 UTC+1		https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2036320/		Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 16 June 2023	Latvia	v	Turkey	Riga, Latvia
21:45 UTC+3		https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2036343/		Stadium: Skonto Stadium

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 19 June 2023	Armenia	v	Latvia	Yerevan, Armenia
20:00 UTC+4		https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2036365/		Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 8 September 2023	Croatia	v	Latvia	TBD, Croatia
20:45 UTC+2		https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2036388/		Stadium: TBD

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 12 October 2023	Latvia	v	Armenia	Riga, Latvia
21:45 UTC+3		https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2036435/		Stadium: Skonto Stadium

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 15 October 2023	Turkey	v	Latvia	TBD, Turkey
21:45 UTC+3		https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2036457/		Stadium: TBD

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying 18 November 2023	Latvia	v	Croatia	Riga, Latvia
19:00 UTC+2		https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2036480/		Stadium: Skonto Stadium

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Dainis Kazakevičs
Assistant coach	Jurģis Pučinsks
	Jānis Intenbergs
	Marians Pahars
Analyst	Vladimirs Serbins
Fitness coach	Māris Smirnovs
Goalkeeping coach	Aleksandrs Proskurņins
Physiotherapist	Artūrs Ivuškāns
	Jurijs Ksenzovs
	Dmitrijs Jefremenkovs
Masseur	Sergejs Avakovs
Doctor	Boriss Novikovs
Manager	Aivars Vaivods
Kitman	Jānis Zeltiņš
Media officer	Viktors Sopirins

Coaching history

Players

Current squad

The following players have been called up for the 2022 Baltic Cup matches on 16 and 19 November 2022.

Caps and goals as of 25 September 2022, after the match against Andorra.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Pāvels Šteinbors	(1985-09-22) 22 September 1985 (age 38)	28	0	RFS
	1GK	Rihards Matrevics	(1999-03-18) 18 March 1999 (age 24)	2	0	Valmiera
	1GK	Nils Toms Puriņš	(1998-08-01) 1 August 1998 (age 25)	0	0	Riga
	2DF	Roberts Savaļnieks	(1993-02-04) 4 February 1993 (age 30)	48	2	Liepāja
	2DF	Igors Tarasovs	(1988-10-16) 16 October 1988 (age 34)	46	2	Ypsonas
	2DF	Raivis Jurkovskis	(1996-12-07) 7 December 1996 (age 26)	35	0	Riga
	2DF	Antonijs Černomordijs (captain)	(1996-09-26) 26 September 1996 (age 26)	29	1	Riga
	2DF	Elvis Stuglis	(1993-07-04) 4 July 1993 (age 30)	9	0	RFS
	2DF	Vladislavs Sorokins	(1997-05-10) 10 May 1997 (age 26)	5	0	RFS
	2DF	Daniels Balodis	(1998-06-10) 10 June 1998 (age 25)	2	0	Valmiera
	2DF	Emīls Birka	(2000-04-25) 25 April 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Valmiera
	2DF	Iļja Korotkovs	(2000-05-24) 24 May 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Auda
	2DF	Ivo Minkevičs	(1999-06-28) 28 June 1999 (age 24)	0	0	Auda
	3MF	Artūrs Zjuzins	(1991-06-18) 18 June 1991 (age 32)	59	8	RFS
	3MF	Jānis Ikaunieks	(1995-02-16) 16 February 1995 (age 28)	49	11	KuPS
	3MF	Andrejs Cigaņiks	(1997-04-12) 12 April 1997 (age 26)	40	2	DAC Dunajská Streda
	3MF	Eduards Emsis	(1996-02-23) 23 February 1996 (age 27)	26	1	Lahti
	3MF	Alvis Jaunzems	(1999-06-16) 16 June 1999 (age 24)	25	0	Valmiera
	3MF	Aleksejs Saveļjevs	(1999-01-30) 30 January 1999 (age 24)	8	1	Auda
	3MF	Renārs Varslavāns	(2001-08-23) 23 August 2001 (age 22)	4	0	RFS
	3MF	Maksims Toņiševs	(2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Valmiera
	4FW	Dāvis Ikaunieks	(1994-01-07) 7 January 1994 (age 29)	42	6	Jablonec
	4FW	Roberts Uldriķis	(1998-04-03) 3 April 1998 (age 25)	38	6	Cambuur
	4FW	Raimonds Krollis	(2001-10-28) 28 October 2001 (age 21)	27	3	Valmiera

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Roberts Ozols	(1995-09-10) 10 September 1995 (age 28)	15	0	Riga	v.  Azerbaijan, 29 March 2022
GK	Krišjānis Zviedris	(1997-01-25) 25 January 1997 (age 26)	0	0	Liepāja	v.  Andorra, 25 September 2022
DF	Kaspars Dubra	(1990-12-20) 20 December 1990 (age 32)	59	3	RFS	v.  Andorra, 25 September 2022
DF	Mārcis Ošs	(1991-07-25) 25 July 1991 (age 32)	20	1	Free agent	v.  Liechtenstein, 6 June 2022
DF	Krišs Kārkliņš	(1996-01-31) 31 January 1996 (age 27)	16	0	Liepāja	v.  Andorra, 25 September 2022
MF	Vladimirs Kamešs	(1988-10-28) 28 October 1988 (age 34)	38	3	Riga	v.  Liechtenstein, 6 June 2022
MF	Kristers Tobers	(2000-12-13) 13 December 2000 (age 22)	21	0	Lechia Gdańsk	v.  Andorra, 25 September 2022
MF	Vladislavs Fjodorovs	(1996-09-27) 27 September 1996 (age 26)	14	1	RFS	v.  Azerbaijan, 29 March 2022
MF	Mārtiņš Ķigurs	(1997-03-31) 31 March 1997 (age 26)	12	0	Liepāja	v.  Azerbaijan, 29 March 2022
MF	Daniels Ontužāns	(2000-03-07) 7 March 2000 (age 23)	6	0	SC Freiburg	v.  Kuwait, 25 March 2022 INJ
FW	Vladislavs Gutkovskis	(1995-04-02) 2 April 1995 (age 28)	40	11	Raków Częstochowa	v.  Andorra, 25 September 2022
INJ Withdrew due to injury

Player records

Players in bold are still active with Latvia.

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

Hat-tricks

Player	Competition	Against	Home/Away	Result	Date
, Voldemārs ŽinsVoldemārs Žins	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	6–3	27 July 1927
, Voldemārs PladeVoldemārs Plade	1929 Baltic Cup	Lithuania	Home	3–1	14 August 1929
, Ēriks PētersonsĒriks Pētersons	1930 Baltic Cup	Lithuania	Away	3–3	17 August 1930
, Ēriks PētersonsĒriks Pētersons 4	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	5–2	30 June 1931
, Ēriks PētersonsĒriks Pētersons	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	6–2	12 June 1933
Hugo Vītols	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	6–1	30 May 1935
, Fricis KaņepsFricis Kaņeps	1938 FIFA World Cup qualification	Lithuania	Home	4–2	29 July 1937

• ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Clean sheets

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter									Was not invited
1934										Declined participation
1938	Did not qualify									3	2	0	1	10	5
1950	Part of the  USSR									Part of the  USSR
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994	Did not qualify									12	0	5	7	4	21
1998										10	3	1	6	10	14
2002										8	1	1	6	5	16
2006										12	4	3	5	18	21
2010										10	5	2	3	18	15
2014										10	2	2	6	10	20
2018										10	2	1	7	7	18
2022										10	2	3	5	11	14
2026	To be determined									To be determined
Total		0/11								85	21	18	46	93	144

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record											Qualifying record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960	Part of the  USSR										Part of the  USSR
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996	Did not qualify										10	4	0	6	11	20
2000											10	3	4	3	13	12
2004	Group stage	14th	3	0	1	2	1	5	Squad		10	6	2	2	13	8
2008	Did not qualify										12	4	0	8	15	17
2012											10	3	2	5	9	12
2016											10	0	5	5	6	19
2020											10	1	0	9	3	28
2024	To be determined										To be determined
Total	Group stage	1/7	3	0	1	2	1	5	—		72	21	13	38	70	116

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2018–19	D	1	6	0	4	2	2	6		51st
2020–21	D	1	6	1	4	1	8	4		53rd
2022–23	D	1	6	4	1	1	12	5		50th
2024–25	C	To be determined
Total			18	5	9	4	22	15	50th

Baltic Cup

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
1924	Second round	15th	1	0	0	1	0	7	Squad
Total	Second round	1/1	1	0	0	1	0	7	—

Head-to-head record

As of 11 October 2021 after match against  Turkey

Opponent	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA	GD
Albania	5	0	5	0	6	6	0
Andorra	9	6	3	0	19	1	+18
Angola	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Armenia	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2
Austria	9	2	1	6	9	24	−15
Azerbaijan	4	0	3	1	3	5	−2
Bahrain	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
Belarus	6	1	1	4	7	13	−6
Belgium	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6
Bolivia	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	0	0	2	1	9	−8
Brazil	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Bulgaria	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6
China PR	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Croatia	4	0	0	4	1	10	−9
Cyprus	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3
Czech Republic	5	0	1	4	4	13	−9
Denmark	4	0	1	3	1	7	−6
Estonia	60	28	21	11	94	62	+32
Finland	17	4	3	10	18	32	−14
Faroe Islands	5	0	4	1	3	5	−2
France	1	0	0	1	0	7	−7
Georgia	10	3	2	5	10	18	−8
Germany	4	0	1	3	2	13	−11
Ghana	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Gibraltar	3	2	0	1	8	2	+6
Greece	8	1	2	5	6	13	−7
Honduras	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Hungary	7	1	0	6	7	16	−9
Iceland	6	2	2	2	11	11	0
Israel	8	1	1	6	6	18	−12
Japan	2	0	1	1	2	5	−3
Kazakhstan	7	2	4	1	7	5	+2
Kosovo	1	0	0	1	3	4	−1
Kuwait	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Liechtenstein	9	7	1	1	15	4	+11
Lithuania	56	29	12	15	119	77	+42
Luxembourg	7	6	1	0	20	4	+16
Malta	7	3	1	3	8	5	+3
Moldova	3	2	0	1	6	5	+1
Montenegro	4	0	2	2	2	5	−3
Netherlands	5	0	0	5	0	14	−14
Korea DPR	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1
FYR Macedonia	3	0	0	3	2	7	−5
Northern Ireland	7	2	0	5	4	8	−4
Norway	3	1	0	2	4	5	-1
Oman	2	1	0	1	4	4	0
Poland	15	2	2	11	15	40	−25
Portugal	6	0	0	6	4	18	−14
Qatar	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2
Ireland	5	0	0	5	1	14	−13
Romania	5	0	1	4	0	9	−9
Russia	4	0	1	3	2	7	−5
San Marino	5	4	1	0	9	1	+8
Saudi Arabia	1	0	0	1	0	2	–2
Scotland	4	0	0	4	1	7	−6
Slovakia	5	0	3	2	5	9	−4
Slovenia	5	1	0	4	2	9	−7
Korea Republic	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2
Spain	4	0	1	3	0	9	−9
Sweden	17	2	4	11	12	54	−42
Switzerland	5	0	1	4	3	9	−6
Thailand	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Tunisia	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Turkey	8	1	5	2	13	15	−2
Ukraine	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2
United States	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Uzbekistan	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Wales	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Total	408	116	98	194	489	678	−189

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Kits and crest

Latvia's kit is traditionally a carmine red jersey with white trim, carmine red shorts and socks, whilst their current away kit is all predominantly white. Latvia's kits have been produced by various manufacturers. Rather than displaying the logo of the Latvian Football Federation, Latvia's jersey from the 2018 features the Latvia National Teams brand #11wolves.

Kit suppliers

Kit supplier	Period
Umbro	1992-1994
Adidas	1994-1996
Tro	1996-1998
Puma	1998-2000
Tramondi	2000-2002
Adidas	2002–present

See also

In Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Letonia para niños

• Latvia national under-21 football team
• Latvia national under-19 football team
• Latvia national under-17 football team