Latvia national football team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Latvia

Nickname(s)	11 vilki (11 Wolves)
Association	Latvijas Futbola federācija (LFF)
Confederation	UEFA
Head coach	Paolo Nicolato
Captain	Kristers Tobers
Most caps	Vitālijs Astafjevs (167)
Top scorer	Māris Verpakovskis (29)
Home stadium	Skonto Stadium Daugava Stadium (rare matches)
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)
Baltic Cup
Appearances	29 (first in 1928)
Best result	Champions (1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018)

The Latvia national football team (Latvian: Latvijas futbola izlase) represents Latvia in men's 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, but did qualify 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, although since the autumn of 2022 most games have been held at Skonto Stadium.

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.

Team image

Kits

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.

Crest

Until July 2018, the team crest consisted of the Latvian Football Federation logo, when it was switched to a shield with a football in the colors of the Latvian flag and 'LATVIJA' written above. A similar crest with a head of a howling wolf was also unveiled as a secondary logo for use in souvenirs etc. as part of the #11vilki (#11wolves) brand.

Kit suppliers

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

Media coverage

All Latvian matches are currently broadcast with full commentary on the Go3 web streaming service, owned by TV3 Group. Since the 1990s, LTV7 (initially LTV2) was the broadcaster of all of the team games, before the All Media Baltics conglomerate took over broadcasting rights in September 2018. Games were broadcast on the group's TV6 channel and the TVPlay and Viaplay streaming platforms. All Media Baltics later became TV3 Group.

From the 2022 season until the 2028 season, Latvia's home and away qualifiers, and friendlies both home and away were broadcast live exclusively by Swedish Viaplay Group on their web streaming service. On 20 July 2023, Viaplay announced that it will leave the market of the Baltic states. Upon exiting, all sports licences owned by Viasat - including the Baltic broadcasting rights for the Baltic Cup, UEFA Champions League, Premier League, Formula 1 and the NHL - were acquired by TV3 Group. This means that the matches of the Latvian national football team are returning LTV7, in September 2024.

Stadium

In recent years, the home venue of the team has fluctuated between Skonto Stadium and the Daugava Stadium in Riga. Daugava was the main venue of the team from 1992 to 2000, when Skonto Stadium was unveiled as a temporary location due to the planned renovation of the Daugava. However, the renovation of the complex only began in 2017, with the first stage completed a year later.

The team then returned to the Daugava after an 18-year absence in the summer of 2018 with a game against Estonia on June 2nd. However, since mid-2022 home matches were once again temporarily moved to Skonto Stadium due to problems with the grass pitch and other issues. Works on replacing and upgrading the pitch began in October 2023. At the time, Latvian Football Federation president Vadims Ļašenko said that Skonto would become the main home of the men's team, with Daugava serving as a backup and the venue for the women's and youth national teams.

In the interwar era between 1921 and 1940, games were held in various locations such as the Army Sports Club Stadium in Riga and others.

Home venues record

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

Results and fixtures

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

Friendly 21 March 2024	Cyprus	1–1	Latvia	Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2	Pittas  34'	https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2024/03/21/world/friendlies/cyprus/latvia/4294505/	Cigaņiks  85'	Stadium: AEK Arena Referee: Lukas Fähndrich (Switzerland)

Friendly 26 March 2024	Latvia	1–1	Liechtenstein	Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2	Krollis  11'	https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2024/03/26/world/friendlies/latvia/liechtenstein/4318380/	Ošs  1' (o.g.)	Stadium: Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium Referee: Manfredas Lukjančukas (Lithuania)

2024 Baltic Cup 8 June 2024	Latvia	0–2	Lithuania	Liepāja, Latvia
16:00 UTC+3		https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2024/06/08/europe/baltic-cup/latvia/lithuania/4319905/	Kučys  49' Dolžnikov  72'	Stadium: Daugava Stadium Referee: Juri Frischer (Estonia)

2024 Baltic Cup 11 June 2024	Latvia	1–0	Faroe Islands	Liepāja, Latvia
19:00 UTC+3	Cigaņiks  49'	https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2024/06/11/europe/baltic-cup/latvia/faroe-islands/4319907/		Stadium: Daugava Stadium Referee: Kristo Tohver (Estonia)

2024–25 Nations League 7 September 2024	Armenia	4–1	Latvia	Yerevan, Armenia
20:00 UTC+4	Bichakhchyan  6' Dubra  35' (o.g.) Zelarayán  48' Spertsyan  86'	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2040063/	Arutyunyan  9' (o.g.)	Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium Attendance: 12,437 Referee: Nenad Minaković (Serbia)

2024–25 Nations League 10 September 2024	Latvia	1–0	Faroe Islands	Riga, Latvia
19:00 UTC+3	Varslavāns  64'	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2040092/		Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 5,808 Referee: Duje Strukan (Croatia)

2024–25 Nations League 10 October 2024	Latvia	0–3	Macedonia	Riga, Latvia
19:00 UTC+3		https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2040099/	Atanasov  35' Qamili  70' Elmas  90+3'	Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 5,001 Referee: Jakob Sundberg (Denmark)

2024–25 Nations League 13 October 2024	Faroe Islands	1–1	Latvia	Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
19:45 UTC+1	Sørensen  40'	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2040125/	Šits  69'	Stadium: Tórsvøllur Attendance: 2,017 Referee: Philip Farrugia (Malta)

2024–25 Nations League 14 November 2024	Macedonia	1–0	Latvia	Skopje, North Macedonia
20:45 UTC+1	Serafimov  57'	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2040153/		Stadium: Toše Proeski Arena Attendance: 8,851 Referee: Goga Kikacheishvili (Georgia)

2024–25 Nations League 17 November 2024	Latvia	1–2	Armenia	Riga, Latvia
16:00 UTC+2	Uldriķis  70'	https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2040173/	Spertsyan  48' Miranyan  74'	Stadium: Skonto Stadium Attendance: 5,543 Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria)

2026

2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs 26 March 2026	Gibraltar	v	Latvia	Europa Point, Gibraltar
18:00 UTC+1		https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2043052/		Stadium: Europa Sports Park

2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs 31 March 2026	Latvia	v	Gibraltar	Riga, Latvia
19:00 UTC+3		https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/match/2043054/		Stadium: Skonto Stadium

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Paolo Nicolato
Assistant coach	Massimo Paganin
	Aleksandrs Cauņa
Video Analyst	Leonardo Carletti
Video Analyst	Iļja Ščaņicins
Fitness coach	Māris Smirnovs
Fitness coach	Vincenzo Pincolini
Goalkeeping coach	Andris Vaņins
Physiotherapist	Artūrs Ivuškāns
	Jurijs Ksenzovs
	Dmitrijs Jefremenkovs
Masseur	Sergejs Avakovs
Doctor	Boriss Novikovs
Manager	Roberts Mežeckis
Kitman	Jānis Zeltiņš
Media officer	Iļja Poļakovs

Manager statistics

.

Coaching history

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League C matches against North Macedonia and Armenia on 14 and 17 November 2024.

Caps and goals as of 7 November 2024, after the match against Faroe Islands.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
23	1GK	Rihards Matrevics	(1999-03-18) 18 March 1999 (age 25)	12	0	Riga FC-2
12	1GK	Frenks Orols	(2000-06-26) 26 June 2000 (age 24)	0	0	Daugavpils
1	1GK	Krišjānis Zviedris	(1997-01-21) 21 January 1997 (age 27)	0	0	Auda
4	2DF	Kaspars Dubra	(1990-12-20) 20 December 1990 (age 34)	66	3	Panevėžys
11	2DF	Roberts Savaļnieks	(1993-02-04) 4 February 1993 (age 31)	65	2	RFS
14	2DF	Andrejs Cigaņiks	(1997-04-12) 12 April 1997 (age 27)	59	4	Luzern
13	2DF	Raivis Jurkovskis	(1996-12-07) 7 December 1996 (age 28)	49	0	Riga
5	2DF	Antonijs Černomordijs	(1996-09-26) 26 September 1996 (age 28)	38	1	Riga
3	2DF	Vitālijs Jagodinskis	(1992-02-28) 28 February 1992 (age 32)	34	0	Visakha
2	2DF	Daniels Balodis	(1998-06-10) 10 June 1998 (age 26)	15	1	Valmiera
21	2DF	Maksims Toņiševs	(2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 24)	3	0	Valmiera
11	2DF	Emīls Birka	(2000-04-25) 25 April 2000 (age 24)	1	0	Auda
	2DF	Oskars Vientiess	(2002-10-08) 8 October 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Metta
16	3MF	Alvis Jaunzems	(1999-06-16) 16 June 1999 (age 25)	41	0	Stal Mielec
6	3MF	Kristers Tobers (captain)	(2000-12-13) 13 December 2000 (age 24)	37	1	Grasshopper
22	3MF	Aleksejs Saveļjevs	(1999-01-30) 30 January 1999 (age 25)	25	1	Auda
8	3MF	Renārs Varslavāns	(2001-08-23) 23 August 2001 (age 23)	14	1	Valmiera
15	3MF	Dmitrijs Zelenkovs	(2000-05-15) 15 May 2000 (age 24)	12	0	RFS
17	3MF	Lukass Vapne	(2003-08-31) 31 August 2003 (age 21)	8	0	Valmiera
19	3MF	Deniss Meļņiks	(2002-09-07) 7 September 2002 (age 22)	3	0	Valmiera
10	4FW	Jānis Ikaunieks	(1995-02-16) 16 February 1995 (age 29)	63	12	RFS
20	4FW	Roberts Uldriķis	(1998-04-03) 3 April 1998 (age 26)	55	8	Athens Kallithea
9	4FW	Vladislavs Gutkovskis	(1995-04-02) 2 April 1995 (age 29)	50	11	Daejeon Hana Citizen
7	4FW	Eduards Dašķevičs	(2002-07-12) 12 July 2002 (age 22)	16	0	Riga
18	4FW	Dario Šits	(2004-02-04) 4 February 2004 (age 20)	3	1	Helmond Sport
	4FW	Raimonds Krollis	(2001-10-28) 28 October 2001 (age 23)	39	4	Triestina

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 29)	19	0	Qizilqum	v.  Faroe Islands, 10 September 2024
DF	Vjačeslavs Isajevs	(1993-08-23) 23 August 1993 (age 31)	7	0	FK Auda	v.  Faroe Islands, 10 September 2024
DF	Vitālijs Maksimenko	(1990-12-08) 8 December 1990 (age 34)	54	1	Aiolikos	v.  Liechtenstein, 26 March 2024
DF	Mārcis Ošs	(1991-07-25) 25 July 1991 (age 33)	27	1	RFS	v.  Liechtenstein, 26 March 2024
DF	Vladislavs Sorokins	(1997-05-10) 10 May 1997 (age 27)	10	0	Kyzylzhar	v.  Liechtenstein, 26 March 2024
FW	Marko Regža	(1999-01-20) 20 January 1999 (age 26)	10	0	Riga	v.  Faroe Islands, 10 September 2024
RET Retired from national team INJ Injured player WD Withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue

Player records

Players in bold are still active with Latvia.

Most appearances

Vitālijs Astafjevs is Latvia's most capped player with 167 appearances.

Top goalscorers

Māris Verpakovskis is Latvia's top scorer with 29 goals.

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									Declined invitation
1934										Did not enter
1938	Did not qualify									3	2	0	1	10	5
1950	Part of the  Soviet Union									Part of the  Soviet Union
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
2030
2034
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  Soviet Union										Part of the  Soviet Union
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											8	1	0	7	5	19
2028	To be determined										To be determined
2032
Total	Group stage	1/8	3	0	1	2	1	5	—		80	22	13	45	75	135

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	4	In progress
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 17 November 2024 after match against  Armenia.

Opponent	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA	GD
Albania	5	0	5	0	6	6	0
Andorra	11	7	4	0	23	2	+21
Angola	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Armenia	6	2	1	3	7	8	–1
Austria	9	2	1	6	9	24	−15
Azerbaijan	5	1	3	1	4	5	−1
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	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Croatia	6	0	0	6	1	17	−16
Cyprus	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3
Czech Republic	5	0	1	4	4	13	−9
Denmark	4	0	1	3	1	7	−6
Estonia	61	28	22	11	95	63	+32
Finland	17	4	3	10	18	32	−14
Faroe Islands	8	2	5	1	5	5	0
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	4	3	0	1	11	3	+8
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	7	2	3	2	12	12	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	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2
Liechtenstein	12	9	2	1	19	5	+14
Lithuania	57	29	12	16	119	79	+40
Luxembourg	7	6	1	0	20	4	+16
Malta	7	3	1	3	8	5	+3
Moldova	5	3	0	2	11	9	+2
Montenegro	4	0	2	2	2	5	−3
Netherlands	5	0	0	5	0	14	−14
North Korea	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1
Macedonia	5	0	0	5	2	11	−9
Northern Ireland	7	2	0	5	4	8	−4
Norway	4	1	1	2	4	5	-1
Oman	2	1	0	1	4	4	0
Poland	16	2	2	12	15	42	−27
Portugal	6	0	0	6	4	18	−14
Qatar	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2
Republic of Ireland	6	0	0	6	3	17	−14
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
South Korea	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	10	1	5	4	15	22	−7
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	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5
Total	418	118	101	199	495	692	−197

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Honours

Regional

• Baltic Cup
  • 1 Champions (13): 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018
  • 2 Runners-up (14)
  • 3 Third place (2)

Friendly

• King's Cup
  • 1 Champions (1): 2005

See also

In Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Letonia para niños

• Latvia men's national under-21 football team
• Latvia men's national under-19 football team
• Latvia men's national under-17 football team
• Latvia women's national football team
• Latvia women's national under-17 football team