Association |
Lithuanian Football Federation (Lietuvos futbolo federacija – LFF) |
---|---|
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) |
Head coach | Edgaras Jankauskas |
Captain | Fiodor Černych |
Most caps | Andrius Skerla (84) |
Top scorer | Tomas Danilevičius (19) |
Home stadium | LFF Stadium |
FIFA code | LTU |
FIFA ranking | |
Current | 105 (12 January 2017) |
Highest | 37 (October 2008) |
Lowest | 139 (April 2016) |
Elo ranking | |
Current | 93 (23 January 2017) |
Highest | 48 (10 September 2008) |
Lowest | 127 (1994) |
First international | |
Lithuania 0–5 Estonia (Kaunas, Lithuania; 24 June 1923) |
|
Biggest win | |
Lithuania 7–0 Estonia (Riga, Latvia; 20 May 1995) |
|
Biggest defeat | |
Egypt 10–0 Lithuania (Paris, France; 27 May 1924) |
The Lithuania national football team (Lithuanian: Lietuvos nacionalinė futbolo rinktinė) is under the auspices of the Lithuanian Football Federation. It played its 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 as a new nation against Georgia on 27 May of that year. Since 2012 the team plays its home matches in LFF Stadium, Vilnius.
In the 1990s, Lithuania established a respectable presence in World Cup and European Championship qualifiers: third place in their group in both UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In the UEFA 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 FIFA World Cup qualifying group, Lithuania were nevertheless competitive.
Lithuania drew with world champions Italy 1–1 in Naples in a UEFA 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 World Cup 2010 qualifier. The victory was regarded by many as "a historic win." It was followed by another successful 2–0 performance against Austria in Marijampolė.