Latvia national football team
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.
| 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 | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 136 (4 April 2024) | ||
| Highest | 45 (November 2009) | ||
| Lowest | 148 (September 2017) | ||
| 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) | ||
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.