Latvia national football team

Latvia played their first match in 1922, a game against Estonia, which finished in a 1–1 draw. Latvia have won the Baltic Cup 12 times, and played 99 official games during its pre-war period from 1922 to 1940.[3][4]

In 1937, the Latvian team participated in the first qualification tournament for the 1938 World Cup. Latvia were placed in Group 8, alongside Austria and Lithuania.[5] Latvia beat Lithuania 4–2 in Riga, after a Fricis Kaņeps hat-trick and an Iļja Vestermans goal.[5] In Kaunas, they won 5–1, after two goals each from Kaņeps, Vaclavs Borduško, and Vestermans,[5] but lost 1–2 in the decisive away match against Austria, despite an early goal from Vestermans.[5] In April 1938, the Austrian Anschluss made the Austrian team unable to participate, however, despite being the group's runner-up, Latvia was not invited to the tournament by FIFA to replace Austria.[6]

In 1940, Latvia was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1991 and played their first match against Estonia on 16 November of that year in the Baltic Cup, and their first FIFA-recognized match against Romania on 8 April 1992 in Bucharest, a match, which Latvia lost 2–0.[7]

Latvian fans at Euro 2004

In September 2003, Latvia surprisingly finished second, ahead of Poland, in their qualifying group for Euro 2004.[8] This meant they qualified for the play-offs, where they were drawn against Turkey. Latvia won the first leg 1–0, through top goalscorer, Māris Verpakovskis.[9] The second leg finished in a 2–2 draw, with Latvia winning 3–2 on aggregate, thus qualifying for the tournament.[10][11] This resulted in Latvia being the first and only Baltic team, as well as being the second former-Soviet state in Europe at the time (after Russia) to qualify for a European Championship.[10][11] At Euro 2004, Latvia were drawn in Group D, alongside Germany, Czech Republic, and Netherlands.[12] Latvia faced Czech Republic in their opening match on 15 June 2004, with Verpakovskis scoring before half-time.[13] However, the Czechs would later come back to win the game 2–1.[13] Four days later, Latvia earned a respectable 0–0 draw against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament.[14] They lost their final match with 3–0 against Netherlands,[15] and were eliminated, finishing fourth, with one point from their draw and two losses.[16]

Latvia have since failed to qualify for another major tournament, although they came close to qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. After eight qualifying matches, Latvia were level on points with their next opponent, second-placed Greece, but a 5–2 defeat virtually ended all hopes of qualification and Latvia finished third in UEFA Group 2. Recent years have seen a sharp decline with many losses. In the EURO 2020 qualifiers, Latvia lost 9 out of 10 games, including a woeful 0-5 home loss to Slovenia.

The following table provides a summary of Latvia's results at home venues since 1992.

As of 14 June 2023.

The following players have been called up for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Armenia on 12 October 2023 and Turkey on 15 October 2023.[17]

Caps and goals as of 11 September 2023, after the match against Wales.[18]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Nils Toms Puriņš	(1998-08-01) 1 August 1998	3	0	Riga
12	1GK	Roberts Ozols	(1995-09-10) 10 September 1995	16	0	Auda
23	1GK	Rihards Matrevics	(1999-03-18) 18 March 1999	2	0	Riga
2	2DF	Vladislavs Sorokins	(1997-05-10) 10 May 1997	8	0	RFS
3	2DF	Mārcis Ošs	(1991-07-25) 25 July 1991	25	1	RFS
4	2DF	Kaspars Dubra	(1990-12-20) 20 December 1990	61	3	Panevėžys
11	2DF	Roberts Savaļnieks	(1993-02-04) 4 February 1993	53	3	RFS
17	2DF	Kirils Iļjins	(2001-05-03) 3 May 2001	0	0	Riga
21	2DF	Daniels Balodis	(1998-06-10) 10 June 1998	6	1	Valmiera
	2DF	Antonijs Černomordijs	(1996-09-26) 26 September 1996	31	1	Riga
5	3MF	Oskars Vientiess	(2002-10-08) 8 October 2002	0	0	Metta
7	3MF	Eduards Dašķevičs	(2002-07-12) 12 July 2002	4	0	Riga
8	3MF	Eduards Emsis	(1996-02-23) 23 February 1996	28	2	Raufoss IL
9	3MF	Dāvis Ikaunieks	(1994-01-07) 7 January 1994	45	6	Jablonec
10	3MF	Jānis Ikaunieks	(1995-02-16) 16 February 1995	52	13	RFS
13	3MF	Bogdans Samoilovs	(2000-05-13) 13 May 2000	0	0	Tukums
14	3MF	Andrejs Cigaņiks	(1997-04-12) 12 April 1997	45	2	Widzew Łódź
15	3MF	Maksims Toņiševs	(2000-05-12) 12 May 2000	1	0	Valmiera
16	3MF	Alvis Jaunzems	(1999-06-16) 16 June 1999	31	0	Stal Mielec
22	3MF	Aleksejs Saveļjevs	(1999-01-30) 30 January 1999	13	1	Auda
	3MF	Dmitrijs Zelenkovs	(2000-05-15) 15 May 2000	0	0	RFS
	3MF	Kristers Tobers (captain)	(2000-12-13) 13 December 2000	25	1	Grasshopper
18	4FW	Marko Regža	(1999-01-20) 20 January 1999	3	0	Riga
19	4FW	Raimonds Krollis	(2001-10-28) 28 October 2001	32	3	Spezia
20	4FW	Roberts Uldriķis	(1998-04-03) 3 April 1998	43	7	Cambuur

The following players have been called up within the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Jānis Beks	(2002-11-01) 1 November 2002	0	0	Metta	v.  Armenia, 19 June 2023
GK	Pāvels ŠteinborsWD	(1985-09-22) 22 September 1985	30	0	RFS	v.  Wales, 28 March 2023
GK	Krišjānis Zviedris	(1997-01-25) 25 January 1997	0	0	SJK	v.  Wales, 11 September 2023
DF	Igors TarasovsRET	(1988-10-16) 16 October 1988	46	2	Nordic United	v.  Iceland, 19 November 2022
DF	Elvis Stuglis	(1993-07-04) 4 July 1993	10	0	Chrobry Głogów	v.  Armenia, 19 June 2023
DF	Raivis JurkovskisINJ	(1996-12-07) 7 December 1996	37	0	Riga	v.  Armenia, 19 June 2023
DF	Iļja Korotkovs	(2000-05-24) 24 May 2000	0	0	Auda	v.  Iceland, 19 November 2022
DF	Ivo Minkevičs	(1999-06-28) 28 June 1999	0	0	Auda	v.  Iceland, 19 November 2022
DF	Emīls Birka	(2000-04-25) 25 April 2000	0	0	Valmiera	v.  Wales, 28 March 2023
DF	Dāvis Dāvids Sprūds	(1998-12-28) 28 December 1998	0	0	FC Swift Hesperange	v.  Wales, 11 September 2023
MF	Artūrs ZjuzinsWD	(1991-06-18) 18 June 1991	60	9	RFS	v.  Wales, 28 March 2023
MF	Renārs Varslavāns	(2001-08-23) 23 August 2001	6	0	Valmiera	v.  Wales, 28 March 2023
MF	Deniss Meļņiks	(2002-09-07) 7 September 2002	0	0	Auda	v.  Armenia, 19 June 2023
FW	Vladislavs GutkovskisINJ	(1995-04-02) 2 April 1995	43	11	Daejeon Hana Citizen	v.  Armenia, 19 June 2023
RET Retired from national team INJ Injured player WD Withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue

Player	Competition	Against	Home/Away	Result	Date
Voldemārs Žins	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	6–3	27 July 1927
Voldemārs Plade	1929 Baltic Cup	Lithuania	Home	3–1	14 August 1929
Ēriks Pētersons	1930 Baltic Cup	Lithuania	Away	3–3	17 August 1930
Ēriks Pētersons 4	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	5–2	30 June 1931
Ēriks Pētersons	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	6–2	12 June 1933
Hugo Vītols	International Friendly	Lithuania	Home	6–1	30 May 1935
Fricis Kaņeps	1938 FIFA World Cup qualification	Lithuania	Home	4–2	29 July 1937

• ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Latvia national football team kits.

Latvia's kit is traditionally a carmine red jersey with white trim, carmine red shorts and socks, whilst their current away kit is all predominantly white. Latvia's kits have been produced by various manufacturers.

Until July 2018, the team crest consisted of the Latvian Football Federation logo, when it was switched to a shield with a football in the colors of the Latvian flag and 'LATVIJA' written above. A similar crest with a head of a howling wolf was also unveiled as a secondary logo for use in souvenirs etc as part of the #11vilki (#11wolves) brand.[21]