Liechtenstein national football team

Liechtenstein

Nickname(s)	The Blues-Reds
Association	Liechtenstein Football Association (Liechtensteiner Fussballverband)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Rene Pauritsch
Most caps	Mario Frick (125)
Top scorer	Mario Frick (16)
Home stadium	Rheinpark Stadion
FIFA code	LIE
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	189 6 (24 November 2016)
Highest	118 (January 2008, July 2011, September 2011)
Lowest	189 (November 2016)
Elo ranking
Current	165 (9 September 2015)
Highest	150 (September 2011)
Lowest	184 (September 2004)
First international
Liechtenstein 0–1 Switzerland "B"   (Balzers, Liechtenstein; 9 March 1982)[1]
Biggest win
Luxembourg 0–4 Liechtenstein  (Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 13 October 2004)
Biggest defeat
Liechtenstein 1–11 Macedonia  (Eschen, Liechtenstein; 9 November 1996)

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 away win ever and its first win in any World Cup qualifier. Liechtenstein suffered its biggest ever loss in 1996, during qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, with an 11–1 thrashing at the hands of Macedonia, the result also being Macedonia's largest ever win to date.

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 by winning 2–1 against Azerbaijan in a UEFA 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 enormously. The Euro 2004 qualifiers saw Liechtenstein improve to the extent they restricted England to 2–0 wins. 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 eight points.

From their qualifying campaigns, the one that they received the most points was their 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign. Only their 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns are ones, during which Liechtenstein failed to obtain at least a point.

Liechtenstein all-time record against all nations

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Albania	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4
Andorra	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
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	6	0	1	5	2	23	−21
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
Finland	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1
Faroe Islands	4	0	0	4	3	8	−5
Georgia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Germany	4	0	0	4	3	27	−24
Gibraltar	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Greece	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5
Hungary	3	0	1	2	0	10	−10
Republic of Ireland	4	0	1	3	0	14	−14
Iceland	7	1	2	4	5	16	−11
Israel	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6
Italy	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4
Lithuania	6	1	1	4	3	8	−5
Luxembourg	3	2	1	0	10	3	+7
Latvia	9	1	1	7	4	15	−11
Macedonia	5	0	1	4	4	20	−16
Malta	3	0	1	2	3	10	−7
Moldova	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Montenegro	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2
Netherlands	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Northern Ireland	4	1	0	4	6	17	−11
Poland	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Portugal	7	0	1	6	3	35	−32
Romania	4	0	0	4	1	26	−25
Russia	5	0	0	5	1	15	−14
San Marino	4	2	1	1	4	3	+1
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Scotland	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2
Spain	7	0	0	7	0	31	−31
Slovakia	9	0	2	7	1	26	−25
Sweden	4	0	0	4	1	10	−9
Switzerland	8	0	0	8	1	21	−20
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	168	11	20	137	69	488	−419

World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	W	D	L	GS	GA
1930 to 1994	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Did not qualify	6th, last (qualifying)	0	0	10	3	52
2002	Did not qualify	5th, last (qualifying)	0	0	8	0	23
2006	Did not qualify	6th out of 7 (qualifying)	2	2	8	13	23
2010	Did not qualify	6th, last (qualifying)	0	2	8	2	23
2014	Did not qualify	6th, last (qualifying)	0	2	8	4	25
2018	To be determined	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total		0/20	2	6	42	22	146

European Championship record

Year	Round	Position	W	D	L	GS	GA
1960 to 1992	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Did not qualify	6th, last (qualifying)	0	1	9	1	40
2000	Did not qualify	6th, last (qualifying)	1	1	8	2	39
2004	Did not qualify	5th, last (qualifying)	0	1	7	2	22
2008	Did not qualify	7th, last (qualifying)	2	1	9	9	32
2012	Did not qualify	5th, last (qualifying)	1	1	6	3	17
2016	Did not qualify	5th out of 6 (qualifying)	1	2	7	2	26
Total		0/15	5	7	46	19	176

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2016

Gibraltar  v  Liechtenstein

23 March 2016 Friendly	Gibraltar	0–0	Liechtenstein	Gibraltar
		Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium Referee: Ryan Stewart (Wales)

Liechtenstein  v  Faroe Islands

28 March 2016 Friendly	Liechtenstein	2–3	Faroe Islands	Marbella, Spain
	Gubser  73' Wolfinger  90'	Report	Olsen  6' Edmundsson  43' Vatnhamar  58'	Stadium: Centro Deportivo Municipal de Marbella Attendance: 50 Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

Iceland  v  Liechtenstein

6 June 2016 Friendly	Iceland	4–0	Liechtenstein	Reykjavik, Iceland
	Kolbeinn Sigþórsson  10' Birkir Már Sævarsson 20' Alfreð Finnbogason 42' Eiður Guðjohnsen 82'	Report		Stadium: Laugardalsvöllur Attendance: 8,401 Referee: Marcin Borski (Poland)

Denmark  v  Liechtenstein

31 August 2016 Friendly	Denmark	5–0	Liechtenstein	Horsens, Denmark
	N. Jørgensen  30', 33' Cornelius  49' Fischer  62' Larsen  84'	Report		Stadium: CASA Arena Attendance: 8,004 Referee: Thoroddur Hjaltalin (Iceland)

Spain  v  Liechtenstein

5 September 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Spain	8–0	Liechtenstein	León, Spain
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Costa  10', 66' Roberto  55' Silva  59', 90+1' Vitolo  60' Morata  82', 83'	Report		Referee: Simon Lee Evans (Wales)

Liechtenstein  v  Albania

6 October 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Liechtenstein	0–2	Albania	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Jehle  12' (o.g.) Balaj  71'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Tamás Bognar (Hungary)

Israel  v  Liechtenstein

9 October 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Israel	2–1	Liechtenstein	Jerusalem, Israel
18:00 (19:00 UTC+3)	Hemed  4', 16'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Göppel  49'	Stadium: Teddy Stadium Referee: Clayton Pisani (Malta)

Liechtenstein  v  Italy

12 November 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Liechtenstein	0–4	Italy	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Belotti  11', 44' Immobile  12' Candreva  32'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 5,864 Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)

2017

Liechtenstein  v  Macedonia

24 March 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Liechtenstein	v	Macedonia	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
19:45 GMT		Report		Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Italy  v  Liechtenstein

11 June 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Italy	v	Liechtenstein	TBD, Italy
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)

Albania  v  Liechtenstein

2 September 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Albania	v	Liechtenstein
18:00 (18:00 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)

Liechtenstein  v  Spain

5 September 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Liechtenstein	v	Spain	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)		Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Liechtenstein  v  Israel

6 October 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Liechtenstein	v	Israel	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)		Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Macedonia  v  Liechtenstein

9 October 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup Q	Macedonia	v	Liechtenstein	Skopje, Macedonia
19:45 GMT		Report		Stadium: Philip II Arena

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–)

Current squad

The following 23-man squad was named for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier match against Italy on November 12, 2016.^[2]
Caps and goals are current as of 12 November 2016 after the match against Italy.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Peter Jehle (Captain)	22 January 1982	124	0	Vaduz
	GK	Cengiz Biçer	11 December 1987	11	0	Yomraspor
	GK	Benjamin Büchel	4 July 1989	11	0	Oxford United
	DF	Yves Oehri	15 March 1987	52	0	Young Fellows Juventus
	DF	Daniel Kaufmann	22 December 1990	41	1	Chiasso
	DF	Martin Rechsteiner	15 February 1989	31	0	Balzers
	DF	Seyhan Yildiz	30 April 1989	23	0	Balzers
	DF	Ivan Quintans	15 October 1989	21	0	Eschen/Mauren
	DF	Andreas Malin	31 January 1994	1	0	Dornbirn
	MF	Franz Burgmeier	7 April 1982	104	9	Vaduz
	MF	Martin Büchel	19 February 1987	64	2	FC Unterföhring
	MF	Michele Polverino	26 September 1984	58	5	Balzers
	MF	Sandro Wieser	3 February 1993	38	1	Reading
	MF	Andreas Christen	29 August 1989	27	0	Eschen/Mauren
	MF	Sandro Wolfinger	24 August 1991	13	1	Wolfratshausen
	MF	Mathias Sele	28 May 1992	3	0	Eschen/Mauren
	MF	Aron Sele	2 September 1996	1	0	Balzers
	FW	Philippe Erne	14 December 1986	24	1	Balzers
	FW	Robin Gubser	17 April 1991	24	1	Balzers
	FW	Dennis Salanović	26 February 1996	18	0	Rapperswil-Jona
	FW	Simon Kühne	30 April 1994	16	0	Eschen/Mauren
	FW	Marcel Büchel	18 March 1991	9	0	Empoli
	FW	Yanik Frick	27 May 1998	2	0	Altach

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Thomas Hobi	20 June 1993	0	0	Balzers	v.  Albania, 6 October 2016 ^PRE
GK	Claudio Majer	23 March 1996	0	0	Balzers	v.  Denmark, 31 August 2016 ^PRE
DF	Maximilian Göppel	31 August 1997	5	1	Vaduz	v.  Italy, 12 November 2016^PRE
DF	Pascal Foser	16 October 1992	1	0	Balzers	v.  Spain, 5 September 2016
DF	Roman Spirig	22 June 1998	0	0	Dornbirn	v.  Denmark, 31 August 2016 ^PRE
MF	Nicolas Hasler	4 May 1991	43	1	Vaduz	v.  Israel, 9 October 2016
MF	Daniel Brändle	23 January 1992	12	0	St. Andrews	v.  Israel, 9 October 2016
MF	Luca Ritter	29 October 1997	0	0	Eschen/Mauren	v.  Denmark, 31 August 2016 ^PRE
MF	Livio Meier	10 January 1998	0	0	Balzers	v.  Denmark, 31 August 2016 ^PRE
MF	Fabio Wolfinger	11 May 1996	0	0	FC Balzers	v.  Denmark, 31 August 2016 ^PRE
FW	Niklas Kieber	4 March 1993	9	0	Eschen/Mauren	v.  Spain, 5 September 2016
FW	Philipp Ospelt	7 October 1992	3	0	Vaduz II	v.  Iceland, 6 June 2016
FW	Armando Heeb	25 September 1990	1	0	Balzers	v.  Denmark, 31 August 2016 ^PRE

Notes:

• PRE = Preliminary squad

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

{{2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G | expanded =yes | fixtures =yes }}

  Team has qualified

  Team is assured of at least a play-off spot

2016 UEFA European Championship qualification

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Austria	10	9	1	0	22	5	+17	28	Qualify for final tournament		—	1–0	1–1	1–0	3–0	1–0
2	Russia	10	6	2	2	21	5	+16	20			0–1	—	1–0	2–0	4–0	1–1
3	Sweden	10	5	3	2	15	9	+6	18	Advance to play-offs		1–4	1–1	—	3–1	2–0	2–0
4	Montenegro	10	3	2	5	10	13	−3	11			2–3	0–3[lower-alpha 1]	1–1	—	2–0	2–0
5	Liechtenstein	10	1	2	7	2	26	−24	5			0–5	0–7	0–2	0–0	—	1–1
6	Moldova	10	0	2	8	4	16	−12	2			1–2	1–2	0–2	0–2	0–1	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Montenegro home match against Russia was awarded as a 3–0 win to Russia^[3] after match was abandoned after 67 minutes due to crowd violence and scuffle between players (caused by Dmitri Kombarov being hit by an object thrown from the Montenegrin sector^[4]). The original score was 0–0 and Russia missed a penalty moments before the match was abandoned. This was the second delay of the match as in the first minute, Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was hit by a flare, causing a 33-minute delay.^[5] Both teams were then charged by UEFA.^[6]

Player history

As of 12 November 2016

Most capped players Rank Player Caps Goals Years 1 Mario Frick 125 16 1993–2015 2 Peter Jehle 124 0 1998– 3 Martin Stocklasa 113 5 1996–2014 4 Franz Burgmeier 104 9 2001– 5 Thomas Beck 92 5 1998–2013 6 Daniel Hasler 81 1 1993–2007 7 Martin Telser 73 1 1996–2007 8 Ronny Büchel 72 0 1998–2010 9 Michael Stocklasa 71 2 1998–2012 10 Martin Büchel 64 2 2004–

Top goalscorers Rank Player Caps Goals Years 1 Mario Frick 125 16 1993–2015 2 Franz Burgmeier 104 9 2001– 3 Martin Stocklasa 113 5 1996–2014 Thomas Beck 92 5 1998–2013 Michele Polverino 58 5 2007– 6 Michael Stocklasa 71 2 1998–2012 Martin Büchel 64 2 2004– Fabio D'Elia 50 2 2001–2010 Mathias Christen 36 2 2008– Benjamin Fischer 23 2 2005–2011

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.

References

1. Garin, Erik. "Liechtenstein – International Results". RSSSF. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
2. "Liechtenstein squad for Italy qualifier" (PDF).
3. "Russia given 3-0 win over Montenegro after suspended game". 8 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
4. "Montenegro v Russia abandoned (Telegraph)". 28 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
5. "Montenegro v Russia abandoned (Daily Mail)". 27 March 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
6. "MNE and RUS charged by UEFA". 30 March 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.

External links

• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• Liechtensteiner Fussballverbund
• Die Elf, documentary film about Liechtenstein national team