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
FIFA ranking
Current	203 (21 December 2023)
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 Mario Frick) has seen the side's competitiveness improve slightly. The Euro 2004 qualifiers saw Liechtenstein improve to the extent they restricted England to 2–0 wins. Also at this time Liechtenstein lost 1–0 against San Marino, considered to be the weakest national team. As of 2023, it is San Marino's most recent (and only) victory. The 2006 World Cup qualifiers, however, brought even better results as two wins over Luxembourg and draws against both Slovakia and Portugal meant that Liechtenstein finished with 8 points.

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 2018, Liechtenstein entered the first ever UEFA Nations League, in group 4 of league D.^[7] 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.^[8]

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

23 March 2023 (2023-03-23) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Portugal	4–0	Liechtenstein	Lisbon, Portugal
20:45 (19:45 UTC±0)	Cancelo 8' B. Silva 47' Ronaldo 51' (pen.), 63'	Report		Stadium: Estádio José Alvalade Attendance: 45,378 Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway)

26 March 2023 (2023-03-26) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	0–7	Iceland	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
18:00		Report	Ólafsson 3' Haraldsson 38' Gunnarsson 48', 68', 73' (pen.) Guðjohnsen 85' Ellertsson 87'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 1,692 Referee: Jakob Kehlet (Denmark)

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)

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)

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: Bilino Polje Attendance: 6,189 Referee: Sayat Karabayev (Kazakhstan)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

22 March 2024 Friendly	Faroe Islands	v	Liechtenstein	Marbella, Spain
--:-- UTC+1				Stadium: Marbella Football Center

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

Manager history

Erich Bürzle (1990)
Dietrich Weise (1990–1996)
Alfred Riedl (1997–1998)
Erich Bürzle (1998)
Ralf Loose (1998–2003)
Walter Hörmann (2003–2004)
Martin Andermatt (2004–2006)
Urs Meier (2006)
Hans-Peter Zaugg (2006–2012)
Rene Pauritsch (2013–2018)
Helgi Kolviðsson (2018–2020)
Martin Stocklasa (2020–2023)
Rene Pauritsch (2023)
Konrad Fünfstück (2023–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Portugal and Luxembourg on 16 and 19 November 2023 respectively.^[9]

Caps and goals are current as of 19 November 2023, after the match against Luxembourg.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Benjamin Büchel (vice-captain)	(1989-07-04) 4 July 1989 (age 34)	61	0	Vaduz
1GK	Justin Ospelt	(1999-09-07) 7 September 1999 (age 24)	4	0	FSV Frankfurt
1GK	Gabriel Foser	(2002-09-02) 2 September 2002 (age 21)	0	0	Vaduz

2DF	Sandro Wolfinger	(1991-08-24) 24 August 1991 (age 32)	61	3	Balzers
2DF	Maximilian Göppel	(1997-08-31) 31 August 1997 (age 26)	59	2	Eschen/Mauren
2DF	Andreas Malin	(1994-01-31) 31 January 1994 (age 29)	48	0	Rot-Weiß Rankweil
2DF	Jens Hofer	(1997-10-01) 1 October 1997 (age 26)	33	0	Ares
2DF	Niklas Beck	(2001-03-25) 25 March 2001 (age 22)	17	0	Eschen/Mauren
2DF	Lars Traber	(2000-06-12) 12 June 2000 (age 23)	13	0	Vaduz
2DF	Martin Marxer	(1999-10-04) 4 October 1999 (age 24)	8	0	Muri-Gümligen

3MF	Sandro Wieser	(1993-02-03) 3 February 1993 (age 30)	61	2	Vaduz
3MF	Aron Sele	(1996-09-02) 2 September 1996 (age 27)	53	0	Eschen/Mauren
3MF	Livio Meier	(1998-01-10) 10 January 1998 (age 26)	40	1	Eschen/Mauren
3MF	Marcel Büchel	(1991-03-18) 18 March 1991 (age 32)	21	1	Unattached
3MF	Simon Lüchinger	(2002-11-28) 28 November 2002 (age 21)	17	0	Vaduz
3MF	Andrin Netzer	(2002-01-11) 11 January 2002 (age 22)	14	0	Eschen/Mauren
3MF	Nicola Kollmann	(1994-11-23) 23 November 1994 (age 29)	6	0	Ruggell
3MF	Severin Schlegel	(2004-07-24) 24 July 2004 (age 19)	3	0	Vaduz
3MF	Liam Kranz	(2003-07-17) 17 July 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Schaan

4FW	Dennis Salanović	(1996-02-26) 26 February 1996 (age 27)	58	4	York United
4FW	Philipp Ospelt	(1992-10-07) 7 October 1992 (age 31)	19	0	Ruggell
4FW	Julien Hasler	(1989-09-22) 22 September 1989 (age 34)	6	0	Triesen
4FW	Kenny Kindle	(2003-11-29) 29 November 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Triesen

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	Lorenzo Lo Russo	(1993-07-08) 8 July 1993 (age 30)	0	0	Kreuzlingen	v. Slovakia, 11 September 2023

DF	Manuel Mikus	(1999-07-13) 13 July 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Balzers	v. Slovakia, 11 September 2023

MF	Fabio Wolfinger	(1996-11-05) 5 November 1996 (age 27)	26	1	Balzers	v. Iceland, 16 October 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	Lukas Graber	(2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 22)	6	0	Eschen/Mauren	v. Slovakia, 20 June 2023
MF	Marco Wolfinger	(1989-04-18) 18 April 1989 (age 34)	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	Fabio Luque Notaro	(2005-08-31) 31 August 2005 (age 18)	3	0	Vaduz	v. Iceland, 16 October 2023
FW	Ferhat Saglam	(2001-10-10) 10 October 2001 (age 22)	4	0	Vaduz	v. Slovakia, 11 September 2023
FW	Philipp Gaßner	(2003-08-30) 30 August 2003 (age 20)	6	0	Dornbirn	v. Slovakia, 20 June 2023
FW	Noah Frick	(2001-10-16) 16 October 2001 (age 22)	20	2	Montlingen	v. Iceland, 26 March 2023
FW	Ridvan Kardesoglu	(1996-10-12) 12 October 1996 (age 27)	10	0	Höchst	v. Iceland, 26 March 2023

Notes:

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

Player records

As of 19 November 2023^[10]

Players in bold are still active with Liechtenstein.

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Peter Jehle	132	0	1998–2018
2	Mario Frick	125	16	1993–2015
3	Martin Stocklasa	113	5	1996–2014
4	Franz Burgmeier	112	9	2001–2018
5	Nicolas Hasler	94	5	2010–present
6	Thomas Beck	92	5	1998–2013
7	Martin Büchel	91	2	2004–2021
8	Michele Polverino	79	6	2007–2019
9	Daniel Hasler	78	1	1993–2007
10	Martin Telser	73	1	1996–2007

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Mario Frick	16	125	0.13	1993–2015
2	Franz Burgmeier	9	112	0.08	2001–2018
3	Michele Polverino	6	79	0.08	2007–2019
4	Nicolas Hasler	5	94	0.05	2010–present
	Thomas Beck	5	92	0.05	1998–2013
	Martin Stocklasa	5	113	0.04	1996–2014
7	Dennis Salanović	4	58	0.07	2014–present
8	Yanik Frick	3	30	0.1	2016–present
8	Sandro Wolfinger	3	61	0.05	2013–present
10
	Noah Frick	2	20	0.1	2019–present
	Benjamin Fischer	2	23	0.09	2005–2011
	Mathias Christen	2	36	0.06	2008–2014
	Fabio D'Elia	2	50	0.04	2001–2010
	Maximilian Göppel	2	59	0.03	2016–present
	Sandro Wieser	2	61	0.03	2008–present
	Michael Stocklasa	2	71	0.03	1998–2012
	Martin Büchel	2	91	0.02	2004–2021

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
FIFA World Cup record								Qualification record
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
2038
Total	0/26	–	–	–	–	–	–	—	70	2	7	61	25	219

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

UEFA European Championship

Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
UEFA European Championship record								Qualification record
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	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	7	0	0	7	4	17	−13
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	11	1	1	9	4	18	−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	226	15	27	184	90	646	−556

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.^[11]

References

^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
^ "Konrad Fünfstück neuer Nationaltrainer" (in German). Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
^ Ltd, Allied Newspapers. "Malta beat Liechtenstein 7-1". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
^ "Liechtenstein and Finland football teams played to a 1:1 draw, 9 September 2009". eu-football.info. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Liechtenstein missing goal hero Philippe Erne". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
^ UEFA.com. "UEFA Nations League - Standings". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
^ "Liechtenstein - UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
^ "European Qualifiers 2024" (PDF). lfv.li (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
^ Garin, Erik. "Liechtenstein - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
^ Connelly, Charlie (11 June 2014). Stamping Grounds : Exploring Liechtenstein and its World Cup Dream. ISBN 9780349141121. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.

External links

[FIFA_World_Rankings-1] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

[World_Football_Elo_Ratings-2] Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.

[3] "Konrad Fünfstück neuer Nationaltrainer" (in German). Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.

[4] Ltd, Allied Newspapers. "Malta beat Liechtenstein 7-1". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.

[5] "Liechtenstein and Finland football teams played to a 1:1 draw, 9 September 2009". eu-football.info. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.

[euro_2012-6] "Liechtenstein missing goal hero Philippe Erne". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.

[7] UEFA.com. "UEFA Nations League - Standings". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.

[8] "Liechtenstein - UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.

[9] "European Qualifiers 2024" (PDF). lfv.li (in German). Retrieved 10 November 2023.

[10] Garin, Erik. "Liechtenstein - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.

[11] Connelly, Charlie (11 June 2014). Stamping Grounds : Exploring Liechtenstein and its World Cup Dream. ISBN 9780349141121. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.

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