Lithuania national football team
| Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
| Nickname(s) | Nacionalinė komanda (National team) Trispalvės (Tricolours) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Edgaras Jankauskas | ||
| Captain | Fedor Černych | ||
| Most caps | Saulius Mikoliūnas (101) | ||
| Top scorer | Tomas Danilevičius (19) | ||
| Home stadium | Darius and Girėnas Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | LTU | ||
|
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 142 Decrease 1 (28 November 2024)[1] | ||
| Highest | 37 (October 2008) | ||
| Lowest | 149 (December 2017) | ||
| First international | |||
| File:Flag of Lithuania 1918-1940.svg Lithuania 0–5 Estonia File:Flag of Estonia.svg (Kaunas, Lithuania; 24 June 1923) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
| File:Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg Lithuania 7–0 Estonia File:Flag of Estonia.svg (Riga, Latvia; 20 May 1995) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
| File:Flag of Egypt (1922–1958).svg Egypt 10–0 Lithuania File:Flag of Lithuania 1918-1940.svg (Paris, France; 27 May 1924) | |||
| Baltic Cup | |||
| Appearances | 30 (first in 1928) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1930, 1935, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2010) | ||
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The Lithuania national football team (Lithuanian: Lietuvos nacionalinė futbolo rinktinė) represents Lithuania in men's international football, and is controlled by the Lithuanian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Lithuania. They played their first match in 1923. In 1940, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1990 and played their first match thereafter against Georgia on 27 May of that year.
Although Lithuania has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, nor the UEFA European Championship, they have successfully participated in the regional Baltic Cup tournament, which takes place every two years between Lithuania and their Baltic rivals, Latvia and Estonia. Lithuania has won the Baltic Cup championship 10 times out of 29 appearances, and only Latvia has won it more frequently. Despite this Lithuania holds the record for winning the most consecutive Baltic Cup championships, four titles in a row from 1996 to 2000.
From 2012 until 2022, the national team played their home matches at the LFF Stadium in Vilnius.
From 2022, the national team plays their home matches at the Darius and Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas.
History
On 24 June 1923, Lithuania played their first ever game, at the Lietuvos Fizinio Lavinimosi Sąjunga Stadionas, resulting in a 5–0 loss against Estonia. In 1924, Lithuania entered the 1924 Olympics in France, losing 9–0 against Switzerland on 25 May 1924. Two days later, Lithuania suffered a 10–0 loss to Egypt, a record defeat to date. During the early years of the Lithuanian national team, Lithuania regularly played Baltic neighbours Estonia and Latvia, with Lithuania's first win coming in a 2–1 away win against Estonia on 24 August 1924 in Tallinn. In 1930, Lithuania won the third edition of the Baltic Cup in Kaunas.[3] On 13 October 1940, Lithuania played their final game for just shy of 50 years, a 4–3 win against Latvia, following the first Soviet annexation of the country.[4] Lithuania's first game following the declaration of independence in 1990 was a 2–2 draw against Georgia in Tbilisi on 27 May 1990.[5] In the 1990s, Lithuania established a respectable presence in the World Cup and European Championship qualifiers: third place in their group in both Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. In the Euro 2004 qualifiers, they were once again contenders for qualification and managed an away draw with Germany and a home win over Scotland; however, a 1–0 defeat to Scotland in the final game ended their hopes. Although finishing fifth in their 2006 World Cup qualifying group, Lithuania were nevertheless competitive. Lithuania drew with world champions Italy 1–1 in Naples in a Euro 2008 qualifying game on 2 September 2006, in the first competitive game that Italy played since the World Cup final. On 6 September 2008, Lithuania defeated Romania 3–0 in a 2010 World Cup qualifier. The victory was regarded by many as "a historic win."[6] It was followed by another successful 2–0 performance against Austria in Marijampolė on 10 September 2008.
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
| 21 March 2024 Nations League play-out | Gibraltar File:Flag of Gibraltar.svg | 0–1 | File:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania | Faro/Loulé, Portugal |
| 20:45 UTC+1 | Report | Stadium: Estádio Algarve Attendance: 207 Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia) |
| 26 March 2024 Nations League play-out | Lithuania File:Flag of Lithuania.svg | 1–0 (2–0 agg.) | File:Flag of Gibraltar.svg Gibraltar | Kaunas, Lithuania |
| 19:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Attendance: 6,102 Referee: Duje Strukan (Croatia) | ||
| Note: Lithuania won 2–0 on aggregate and remained in League C, while Gibraltar were relegated to League D. | ||||
| 8 June 2024 2024 Baltic Cup | Latvia File:Flag of Latvia.svg | 0–2 | File:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania | Liepāja, Latvia |
| 16:00 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Daugava Stadium Attendance: 3,505 Referee: Juri Frischer (Estonia) |
| 11 June 2024 2024 Baltic Cup | Lithuania File:Flag of Lithuania.svg | 1–1 (3–4 p) | File:Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia | Kaunas, Lithuania |
| 19:00 UTC+3 | Matulevicius File:Soccerball shade.svg 84' | Report | Lepik File:Soccerball shade.svg 82' | Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia) |
| Penalties | ||||
| 6 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Lithuania File:Flag of Lithuania.svg | 0–1 | File:Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus | Marijampole, Lithuania |
| 20:45 | Report | Stadium: Sūduva Stadium Attendance: 4,905 Referee: Igor Pajac (Croatia) |
| 9 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Romania File:Flag of Romania.svg | 3–1 | File:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania | Bucharest, Romania |
| 21:45 | Report | Stadium: Steaua Stadium Attendance: 28,168 Referee: Rade Obrenovic (Slovenia) |
| 12 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Lithuania File:Flag of Lithuania.svg | 1–2 | File:Flag of Kosovo.svg Kosovo | Kaunas, Lithuania |
| 16:00 | Report | Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Attendance: 7,554 Referee: Ondřej Berka (Czech Republic) |
| 15 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Lithuania File:Flag of Lithuania.svg | 1–2 | File:Flag of Romania.svg Romania | Kaunas, Lithuania |
| 21:45 | Report | Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Attendance: 2,585 Referee: Nick Walsh (Scotland) |
| 15 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Cyprus File:Flag of Cyprus.svg | 2–1 | File:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania | Larnaca, Cyprus |
| 21:45 | Report | Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis Attendance: 1,733 Referee: Nenad Minaković (Serbia) |
| 18 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Kosovo File:Flag of Kosovo.svg | 1–0 | File:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania | Pristina, Kosovo |
| 20:45 | Report | Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium Attendance: 12,856 Referee: Kristoffer Hagenes (Norway) |
Coaching staff
| Position[7] | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Lithuania Edgaras Jankauskas |
| Assistant coach | Lithuania Andrius Velička |
| Assistant coach | Lithuania Vaidas Sabaliauskas |
| Fitness coach | Lithuania Georgas Freidgeimas |
| Goalkeeping coach | Lithuania Audrius Paškevičius |
| Analyst | Lithuania Rokas Pranaitis |
Managers history
| Name | Nat | From | To | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjaminas Zelkevičius | Lithuania | 1990 | 1991 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 33.33 |
| Algimantas Liubinskas | Lithuania | 1992 | 1994 | 29 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 29 | 48 | 24.14 |
| Benjaminas Zelkevičius | Lithuania | 1995 | 1997 | 29 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 45 | 41 | 41.38 |
| Kęstutis Latoža | Lithuania | 1998 | 1999 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 27.78 |
| Robertas Tautkus (caretaker) | Lithuania | 1999 | 1999 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Stasys Stankus | Lithuania | 2000 | 2000 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 25.00 |
| Julius Kvedaras (caretaker) | Lithuania | 2000 | 2000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0.00 |
| Benjaminas Zelkevičius | Lithuania | 2001 | 2003 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 20 | 41 | 21.05 |
| Algimantas Liubinskas | Lithuania | 2003 | 2008 | 50 | 18 | 6 | 26 | 54 | 65 | 36.00 |
| José Couceiro | Portugal | 2008 | 2009 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 15 | 40.00 |
| Raimondas Žutautas | Lithuania | 2010 | 2011 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 22 | 25.00 |
| Csaba László | Hungary | 2012 | 2013 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 28 | 12.50 |
| Igoris Pankratjevas | Lithuania | 2013 | 2015 | 21 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 31 | 23.81 |
| Edgaras Jankauskas | Lithuania | 2016 | 2018 | 26 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 14 | 50 | 11.54 |
| Valdas Urbonas | Lithuania | 2019 | 2021 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 49 | 20.83 |
| Valdas Ivanauskas | Lithuania | 2021 | 2022 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 29 | 15.38 |
| Reinhold Breu (interim) | Germany | 2022 | 2022 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.00 |
| Edgaras Jankauskas | Lithuania | 2023 | present | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 27 | 20.00 |
Players
Current squad
- The following players were called up for the international matches in November 2024.[8]
- Caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2024, after the match against File:Flag of Kosovo.svg Kosovo.
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Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months.
Player records
- As of 20 November 2024[9]
- Players in bold are still active with Lithuania.
Most appearances
| Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saulius Mikoliūnas | 101 | 5 | 2004–2022 |
| 2 | Fedor Černych | 97 | 15 | 2012–present |
| 3 | Arvydas Novikovas | 96 | 12 | 2010–present |
| 4 | Andrius Skerla | 84 | 1 | 1996–2011 |
| 5 | Deividas Šemberas | 82 | 0 | 1996–2013 |
| 6 | Tomas Danilevičius | 71 | 19 | 1998–2012 |
| Vykintas Slivka | 71 | 3 | 2015–present | |
| 7 | Žydrūnas Karčemarskas | 66 | 0 | 2003–2013 |
| 8 | Aurelijus Skarbalius | 65 | 5 | 1991–2005 |
| Marius Stankevičius | 65 | 5 | 2001–2013 |
Top goalscorers
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| Rank | Player | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomas Danilevičius | 19 | 71 | 0.27 | 1998–2012 |
| 2 | Fedor Černych | 15 | 97 | 0.16 | 2012–present |
| 3 | Antanas Lingis | 12 | 33 | 0.36 | 1928–1938 |
| Arvydas Novikovas | 12 | 96 | 0.13 | 2010–present | |
| 5 | Edgaras Jankauskas | 10 | 56 | 0.18 | 1991–2008 |
| 6 | Virginijus Baltušnikas | 9 | 42 | 0.21 | 1990–1998 |
| 7 | Jaroslavas Citavičius | 8 | 24 | 0.33 | 1926–1933 |
| Valdas Ivanauskas | 8 | 28 | 0.29 | 1992–2000 | |
| Darius Maciulevičius | 8 | 38 | 0.21 | 1991–2005 | |
| Robertas Poškus | 8 | 48 | 0.17 | 1999–2011 |
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 | |
| Uruguay 1930 | Did not enter | Declined invitation | |||||||||||||
| Italy 1934 | Did not qualify | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| France 1938 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | |||||||||
| Brazil 1950 to Italy 1990 | Part of the File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union | Part of the File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union | |||||||||||||
| United States 1994 | Did not qualify | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 21 | ||||||||
| France 1998 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 8 | |||||||||
| South Korea Japan 2002 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 20 | |||||||||
| Germany 2006 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 9 | |||||||||
| South Africa 2010 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 11 | |||||||||
| Brazil 2014 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 11 | |||||||||
| Russia 2018 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 20 | |||||||||
| Qatar 2022 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 19 | |||||||||
| Canada Mexico United States 2026 | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
| Morocco Portugal Spain 2030 | |||||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia 2034 | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 0/11 | 81 | 18 | 16 | 47 | 63 | 130 | ||||||||
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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 | Part of the File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union | Part of the File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union | |||||||||||||
| Spain 1964 | |||||||||||||||
| Italy 1968 | |||||||||||||||
| Belgium 1972 | |||||||||||||||
| Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 | |||||||||||||||
| Italy 1980 | |||||||||||||||
| France 1984 | |||||||||||||||
| West Germany 1988 | |||||||||||||||
| Sweden 1992 | |||||||||||||||
| England 1996 | Did not qualify | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 12 | ||||||||
| Belgium Netherlands 2000 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 16 | |||||||||
| Portugal 2004 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | |||||||||
| Austria Switzerland 2008 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 13 | |||||||||
| Poland Ukraine 2012 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 13 | |||||||||
| France 2016 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 18 | |||||||||
| European Union 2020 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 25 | |||||||||
| Germany 2024 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 14 | |||||||||
| United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 2028 | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
| Italy Turkey 2032 | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 0/8 | 74 | 21 | 12 | 41 | 63 | 122 | ||||||||
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UEFA Nations League
| UEFA Nations League record | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season** | Division | Group | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | P/R | RK |
| 2018–19 | C | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 16 | Same position | 39th |
| 2020–21 | C | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | Same position | 41st |
| 2022–23 | C | 1 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 14 | Same position | 47th |
| 2024–25 | C | 2 | To be determined | |||||||
| Total | 20 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 37 | 39th | |||
- *Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
- **Group stage played home and away. Flag shown represents host nation for the finals stage.
Baltic Cup
Head-to-head record
As of 18 November 2024.
Honours
Regional
- Baltic Cup
- 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions (10): 1930, 1935, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2010
- 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up (8)
- 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Third place (9)
See also
- Lithuania national under-21 football team
- Lithuania national under-19 football team
- Lithuania national under-18 football team
- Lithuania national under-17 football team
References
- ↑ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
- ↑ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ↑ "MATCHES → international football results of Lithuania". eufootball.info. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ↑ "International football MATCH: 13.10.1940 Lithuania v Latvia*". eufootball.info. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ↑ "International football MATCH: 27.05.1990 Georgia v Lithuania". eufootball.info. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ↑ FIFA World Cup Archived 30 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine uefa.com
- ↑ "Įvyko LFF Vykdomojo komiteto posėdis". LFF (in lietuvių). 30 January 2023. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ↑ "Patvirtinta vyrų rinktinės sudėtis Tautų lygos finišui".
- ↑ Mamrud, Roberto. "Lithuania - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
External links
- Official website (in Lithuanian)
- Lithuania at FIFA
- Lithuania at UEFA
- All Lithuanian Team Games 1923–1930
- Reports for all matches of Lithuania national team
- Lithuanian football videos Lithuanian Football TV