Liechtenstein national football team

Liechtenstein

Nickname(s)	The Blue-Reds
Association	Liechtenstein Football Association (Liechtensteiner Fussballverband)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Konrad Fünfstück
Captain	Nicolas Hasler
Most caps	Peter Jehle (132)
Top scorer	Mario Frick (16)
Home stadium	Rheinpark Stadion
FIFA code	LIE
First colours Second colours Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current	202 1 (4 April 2024)[1]
Highest	118 (January 2008, July 2011, September 2011)
Lowest	204 (June 2023)
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)
Website	lfv.li

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, albeit in a friendly match. Liechtenstein suffered its biggest ever loss in 1996, during qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, losing 1–11 to Macedonia (now North Macedonia), the result also being Macedonia's largest ever win to date. The team's head coach is currently Konrad Fünfstück.^[3]

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

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6] They produced a shock 2–0 win at home against Lithuania; their goals were scored by Philippe Erne and Michele Polverino.^[6] In the following qualifying game, they managed a scoreless draw away to Lithuania.^[6]

In the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, the Blue-Reds were humiliated at home in their opening game against Bosnia-Herzegovina (1–8).^[7] The team loses many of its qualifying matches^[8] and earns its only two points in draws against Latvia^[9] and Slovakia.^[10] The team finished bottom of its group.

For the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign in France, Liechtenstein managed to finish second-bottom of the group and take five points, managing a goalless draw at home against Montenegro,^[11] an away win against Moldova, one goal to nil, thanks to Franz Burgmeier's ninth goal^[12] and then a 1–1 home draw in the return against the same Moldovans, the group's red lanterns with three fewer units.

During the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, The Blue-Reds lost all 10 of their matches and finished bottom of their group with no points scored and just one goal scored (away against Israel) compared to 39 conceded.

In 2018, Liechtenstein entered the first ever UEFA Nations League, in group 4 of league D.^[13] Their first Nations League match saw Armenia beat them 2–1 away. Liechtenstein were able to claim their first Nations League victory, beating Gibraltar 2–0 at home.^[14] Liechtenstein finished bottom of their group with just one win and a draw, also at home, against Armenia (2–2).

During the Euro 2021 qualifiers, Liechtenstein managed to pick up two points thanks to two draws, one away to Greece (1–1) and the other at home to Armenia (1–1), but finished bottom of their group with 2 goals scored and 31 conceded.

In the 2020-2021 edition of the Nations League, Liechtenstein failed to gain promotion to League C, with a single win (2–0 at San Marino), two draws (0–0 at home to San Marino and 1–1 at Gibraltar) and one defeat (0–1 at home to Gibraltar, their direct rival who eventually gained promotion). The Blue-Reds disappointed by failing to win a single match at home, once again falling behind Gibraltar in the standings as they had done in the previous edition, and being dominated overall in the goalless draw with San Marino.

The 2022 World Cup qualifiers once again saw Liechtenstein finish bottom of their group, with just one point from a 1–1 draw away to Armenia, and 9 defeats, with 2 goals scored and 34 conceded.

The 2022-2023 edition of the Nations League was also a disappointment for Liechtenstein, who finished bottom of their group with 6 defeats in as many games played and just one goal scored, away against Andorra (1–2), their worst record in this competition in 3 editions.

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

2023

Luxembourg  v  Liechtenstein

17 June 2023 (2023-06-17) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Luxembourg	2–0	Liechtenstein	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
15:00	Da. Sinani 59' Rodrigues 89'	Report		Stadium: Stade de Luxembourg Attendance: 6,806 Referee: Oleksii Derevinskyi (Ukraine)

Liechtenstein  v  Slovakia

20 June 2023 (2023-06-20) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	0–1	Slovakia	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
18:00		Report	Vavro 45+1'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 2,316 Referee: Yigal Frid (Israel)

Bosnia and Herzegovina  v  Liechtenstein

8 September 2023 (2023-09-08) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2–1	Liechtenstein	Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
20:45	Džeko 3' Lüchinger 19' (o.g.)	Report	S. Wolfinger 21'	Stadium: Kazakhstan )

Slovakia  v  Liechtenstein

11 September 2023 (2023-09-11) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Slovakia	3–0	Liechtenstein	Bratislava, Slovakia
20:45	Hancko 1' Duda 3' Mak 6'	Report		Stadium: Tehelné pole Attendance: 13,679 Referee: Sander van der Eijk (Netherlands)

Liechtenstein  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina

13 October 2023 (2023-10-13) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	0–2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	Rahmanović 13' Stevanović 41'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 5,874 Referee: Damian Sylwestrzak (Poland)

Iceland  v  Liechtenstein

16 October 2023 (2023-10-16) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Iceland	4–0	Liechtenstein	Reykjavík, Iceland
18:45	G. Sigurðsson 22' (pen.), 49' Finnbogason 44' Haraldsson 63'	Report		Stadium: Laugardalsvöllur Attendance: 4,317 Referee: Abdulkadir Bitigen (Turkey)

Liechtenstein  v  Portugal

16 November 2023 (2023-11-16) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	0–2	Portugal	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	Ronaldo 46' Cancelo 57'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 5,749 Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (Sweden)

Liechtenstein  v  Luxembourg

19 November 2023 (2023-11-19) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	0–1	Luxembourg	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	G. Rodrigues 69'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 2,241 Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

2024

Liechtenstein  v  Faroe Islands

22 March 2024 Friendly	Liechtenstein	0–4	Faroe Islands	Marbella, Spain
18:00 UTC+1		Report	P. Petersen 3', 45+1' Justinussen 49' A.Svensson 90+2'	Stadium: Marbella Football Center Attendance: 25 Referee: Jason Lee Barcelo (Gibraltar)

Latvia  v  Liechtenstein

26 March 2024 Friendly	Latvia	1–1	Liechtenstein	Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2	Krollis 11'	Report	Ošs 1' (o.g.)	Stadium: Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium Referee: Manfredas Lukjancukas (Lithuania)

Albania  v  Liechtenstein

4 June 2024 Friendly	Albania	v	Liechtenstein	TBD, Austria
		Report

Romania  v  Liechtenstein

8 June 2024 Friendly	Romania	v	Liechtenstein	Bucharest, Romania
				Stadium: Stadionul Steaua

San Marino  v  Liechtenstein

5 September 2024 (2024-09-05) 2024–25 UEFA Nations League	San Marino	v	Liechtenstein	Serravalle, San Marino
20:45				Stadium: Olympic Stadium of Serravalle

Gibraltar  v  Liechtenstein

8 September 2024 (2024-09-08) 2024–25 UEFA Nations League	Gibraltar	v	Liechtenstein	Faro/Loulé, Portugal
18:00				Stadium: Estádio Algarve

Liechtenstein  v  Gibraltar

13 October 2024 (2024-10-13) 2024–25 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	v	Gibraltar	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
18:00				Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Liechtenstein  v  San Marino

18 November 2024 (2024-11-18) 2024–25 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	v	San Marino	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45				Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Manager history

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the

Caps and goals are current as of 26 March 2024, after the match against Latvia.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Benjamin Büchel (vice-captain)	(1989-07-04) 4 July 1989 (age 34)	63	0	Vaduz
	1GK	Thomas Hobi	(1993-06-20) 20 June 1993 (age 30)	5	0	Balzers
	1GK	Lorenzo Lo Russo	(1993-07-08) 8 July 1993 (age 30)	0	0	Kreuzlingen
	2DF	Andreas Malin	(1994-01-31) 31 January 1994 (age 30)	49	0	Rot-Weiß Rankweil
	2DF	Niklas Beck	(2001-03-25) 25 March 2001 (age 23)	19	0	Eschen/Mauren
	2DF	Lars Traber	(2000-06-12) 12 June 2000 (age 23)	15	0	Vaduz
	2DF	Martin Marxer	(1999-10-04) 4 October 1999 (age 24)	10	0	Muri-Gümligen
	3MF	Lukas Graber	(2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 22)	6	0	Eschen/Mauren
	3MF	Noah Graber	(2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 22)	1	0	Altstätten
	3MF	David Jäger	(2004-07-04) 4 July 2004 (age 19)	0	0	Vaduz
	3MF	Sandro Wolfinger	(1991-08-24) 24 August 1991 (age 32)	63	3	Balzers
	3MF	Maximilian Göppel	(1997-08-31) 31 August 1997 (age 26)	61	2	Eschen/Mauren
	3MF	Aron Sele	(1996-09-02) 2 September 1996 (age 27)	55	0	Eschen/Mauren
	3MF	Livio Meier	(1998-01-10) 10 January 1998 (age 26)	42	1	Eschen/Mauren
	3MF	Fabio Wolfinger	(1996-11-05) 5 November 1996 (age 27)	28	1	Balzers
	3MF	Marcel Büchel	(1991-03-18) 18 March 1991 (age 33)	21	1	SPAL
	3MF	Simon Lüchinger	(2002-11-28) 28 November 2002 (age 21)	19	0	Vaduz
	3MF	Andrin Netzer	(2002-01-11) 11 January 2002 (age 22)	16	0	Eschen/Mauren
	3MF	Severin Schlegel	(2004-07-24) 24 July 2004 (age 19)	5	0	Vaduz
	3MF	Liam Kranz	(2003-07-17) 17 July 2003 (age 20)	4	0	Schaan
	3MF	Jonas Beck	(2003-05-19) 19 May 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Schaan
	3MF	Emanuel Zünd	(2004-12-29) 29 December 2004 (age 19)	0	0	Veyrier
	4FW	Dennis Salanović	(1996-02-26) 26 February 1996 (age 28)	58	4	York United
	4FW	Philipp Ospelt	(1992-10-07) 7 October 1992 (age 31)	21	0	Ruggell
	4FW	Ferhat Saglam	(2001-10-10) 10 October 2001 (age 22)	6	0	Vaduz

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up in the last 12 months and are still eligible to represent.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Justin Ospelt	(1999-09-07) 7 September 1999 (age 24)	4	0	FSV Frankfurt	v.  Luxembourg, 19 November 2023
GK	Gabriel Foser	(2002-09-02) 2 September 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Vaduz	v.  Luxembourg, 19 November 2023
DF	Jens Hofer	(1997-10-01) 1 October 1997 (age 26)	33	0	Ares	v.  Luxembourg, 19 November 2023
DF	Manuel Mikus	(1999-07-13) 13 July 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Balzers	v.  Slovakia, 11 September 2023
MF	Sandro Wieser	(1993-02-03) 3 February 1993 (age 31)	61	2	Vaduz	v.  Luxembourg, 19 November 2023
MF	Nicola Kollmann	(1994-11-23) 23 November 1994 (age 29)	6	0	Ruggell	v.  Luxembourg, 19 November 2023
MF	Jakob Lorenz	(2001-09-11) 11 September 2001 (age 22)	4	0	Vaduz	v.  Iceland, 16 October 2023
MF	Colin Haas	(1996-05-30) 30 May 1996 (age 27)	2	0	Ruggell	v.  Iceland, 16 October 2023
MF	Seyhan Yildiz	(1989-04-30) 30 April 1989 (age 34)	63	1	Eschen/Mauren	v.  Slovakia, 11 September 2023
MF	Noah Frommelt	(2000-12-18) 18 December 2000 (age 23)	21	0	Kosova Zürich	v.  Slovakia, 20 June 2023
MF	Marco Wolfinger	(1989-04-18) 18 April 1989 (age 35)	3	0	Balzers	v.  Slovakia, 20 June 2023
MF	Marco Marxer	(1999-06-02) 2 June 1999 (age 24)	2	0	Höchst	v.  Slovakia, 20 June 2023
MF	Nicolas Hasler (captain)	(1991-05-04) 4 May 1991 (age 32)	94	5	Vaduz	v.  Luxembourg, 17 June 2023
FW	Julien Hasler	(1989-09-22) 22 September 1989 (age 34)	6	0	Triesen	v.  Luxembourg, 19 November 2023
FW	Kenny Kindle	(2003-11-29) 29 November 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Triesen	v.  Luxembourg, 19 November 2023
FW	Fabio Luque Notaro	(2005-08-31) 31 August 2005 (age 18)	3	0	Vaduz	v.  Iceland, 16 October 2023
FW	Philipp Gaßner	(2003-08-30) 30 August 2003 (age 20)	6	0	Dornbirn	v.  Slovakia, 20 June 2023

Notes:

• PRE = Preliminary squad
• INJ = Injured
• SUS = Suspended for a match

Player records

As of 26 March 2024^[16]

Players in bold are still active with Liechtenstein.

Most appearances

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup									Qualification
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1974	Not a FIFA member								Not a FIFA member
1978 to 1994	Did not enter								Did not enter
1998	Did not qualify								6/6	10	0	0	10	3	52
2002									5/5	8	0	0	8	0	23
2006									6/7	12	2	2	8	13	23
2010									6/6	10	0	2	8	2	23
2014									6/6	10	0	2	8	4	25
2018									6/6	10	0	0	10	1	39
2022									6/6	10	0	1	9	2	34
2026	To be determined								To be determined
2030
2034
Total	0/12	–	–	–	–	–	–		—	70	2	7	61	25	219

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1960 to 1972	Not a UEFA member								Not a UEFA member
1976 to 1992	Did not enter								Did not enter
1996	Did not qualify								6/6	10	0	1	9	1	40
2000									6/6	10	1	1	8	2	39
2004									5/5	8	0	1	7	2	22
2008									7/7	12	2	1	9	9	32
2012									5/5	8	1	1	6	3	17
2016									5/6	10	1	2	7	2	26
2020									6/6	10	0	2	8	2	31
2024									6/6	10	0	0	10	1	28
2028	To be determined								To be determined
2032
2036
Total	0/20	–	–	–	–	–	–		—	78	5	9	64	22	235

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2018–19	D	4	6	1	1	4	7	12		52nd
2020–21	D	2	4	1	2	1	3	2		51st
2022–23	D	1	6	0	0	6	1	11		55th
2024–25	D	1	To be determined
Total			16	2	3	11	11	25	51st

Head-to-head record

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Albania	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6
Andorra	4	1	0	3	2	5	-3
Armenia	6	0	3	3	5	10	-5
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	10	0	1	9	3	35	−32
Cape Verde	1	0	0	1	0	6	-6
China	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
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
Faroe Islands	8	0	0	8	4	21	−17
Finland	5	0	2	3	3	9	−6
Georgia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Germany	6	0	0	6	3	38	−35
Gibraltar	6	1	2	3	4	6	-2
Greece	5	0	1	4	1	8	−7
Hungary	3	0	1	2	0	10	−10
Iceland	11	1	2	8	6	35	−29
Indonesia	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1
Israel	4	0	0	4	1	8	−7
Italy	4	0	0	4	0	20	−20
Latvia	12	1	2	9	5	19	−14
Lithuania	6	1	1	4	3	8	−5
Luxembourg	6	3	1	2	12	7	+5
Malaysia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Malta	5	0	1	4	3	14	−11
Moldova	4	1	1	2	2	5	-4
Montenegro	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2
Netherlands	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
North Macedonia	11	0	1	10	5	42	−37
Northern Ireland	4	0	0	4	6	17	−11
Poland	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Portugal	9	0	1	8	3	41	−38
Qatar	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Republic of Ireland	4	0	1	3	0	14	−14
Romania	6	0	0	6	1	30	−29
Russia	5	0	0	5	1	15	−14
San Marino	6	3	2	1	6	3	+3
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Scotland	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2
Slovakia	11	0	2	9	1	30	−29
Spain	8	0	0	8	0	39	−39
Sweden	4	0	0	4	1	10	−9
Switzerland	9	0	0	9	1	28	−27
Thailand	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Togo	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
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	232	15	28	189	92	659	−567

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.^[17]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liechtenstein national football team.

• Liechtensteiner Fussballverbund
• Liechtenstein at UEFA
• Liechtenstein at FIFA
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• Die Elf – documentary film about Liechtenstein national team (archived 20 August 2013)