Andorra national football team


The Andorra national football team represents Andorra in association football and is controlled by the Andorran Football Federation, the governing body for football in Andorra. The team has enjoyed very little success due to the Principality's tiny population, the fifth smallest of any UEFA country.
Andorra's first official game was a 6–1 defeat in a friendly match to Estonia in 1996. Since the qualifying rounds for the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament, Andorra have competed in qualifying for every European Championship and World Cup but have had very little success. They have only ever won six matches, four of them at home. They have three wins in competitive matches, 1–0 wins against Macedonia in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying competition; Hungary in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying competition; and Moldova in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying competition.

History

Though the Andorran Football Federation formed in 1994, and the domestic league started in 1995, the national team could not participate in major championships until it gained affiliation with governing bodies FIFA and UEFA in 1996. The national team played its first match against Estonia in Andorra La Vella and lost 6–1.
Andorra's first match in a FIFA-sanctioned competition was a 3–1 loss to Armenia on 5 September 1998 in a qualifier for UEFA Euro 2000. Andorra lost all ten qualifiers for the tournament. The team particularly struggled in away matches; each loss was by at least three goals. Andorra scored only three goals, two of which were penalties, and two of which were in the away matches. Andorra conceded 28 goals, and their biggest defeat of the qualifiers was a 6–1 away loss to Russia.
For their first World Cup qualifying campaign, Andorra were drawn in a group with Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal. They lost their opening match 1–0 to Estonia. In the next game, they lost 3–2 to Cyprus but scored their first World Cup qualifying goals. They were again defeated by Estonia, this time 2–1. They lost all their matches and their only away goal was in a 3–1 loss against Ireland. Their worst defeat was 7–1 to Portugal on a neutral ground in Lleida, Spain. Andorra finished the campaign with no points and conceded 36 goals in ten matches.
In the team's qualification campaign for Euro 2004 they again lost every game. They scored their only goal in a 2–1 away loss to Bulgaria. In this competition the scores were closer than before as they lost 3–0 to Bulgaria, Croatia and Belgium, 2–0 twice to Estonia, 2–0 to Croatia and 1–0 to Belgium.
By Andorran standards, qualification for the 2006 World Cup was successful. They won their first competitive game 1–0 at home against Macedonia. Andorra midfielder Marc Bernaus, who played in the Spanish second division, received a long throw in off his chest and volleyed in a goal early in the second half. After the game, Macedonia coach Dragan Kanatlarovski resigned and called the game "a shameful outcome, a humiliation." Andorra also drew two matches, 0–0 in Macedonia and 0–0 at home against Finland.
In Euro 2008 qualifying, Andorra again lost every game. The closest game was against Russia, a 1–0 defeat on 21 November 2007. Their biggest defeat was a 7–0 loss to Croatia in Andorra La Vella, which is their worst defeat in UEFA competitions and matched their loss to the Czech Republic as their largest losing deficit. Andorra scored only two goals and conceded 42 in a total of 12 games. In 2010 World Cup qualifying, Andorra lost all ten matches. For the tournament, they scored three goals, in defeats to Belarus and Kazakhstan, and conceded 39 goals, including six in a defeat to England, the largest margin in the group.
Qualifying for UEFA Euro 2012 ended in familiar fashion; they lost all ten matches, scoring only one goal and conceding 25; their best results were two one-goal losses to Slovakia and a 3–1 loss in Ireland. The 2014 World Cup qualifying tournament was even more disastrous. Andorra lost all their matches while conceding 30 goals and not scoring.
During 2016 UEFA Euro qualifying, Andorra again lost all of its ten games but scored four goals, setting a national team record for goals scored in a European Championship qualifying group. On 22 February 2017, Andorra beat San Marino away 2–0 in a friendly match, ending with 12 years and 132 days without winning any match. On 9 June 2017, Andorra beat Hungary 1–0 in a World Cup home qualifier with a goal by Marc Rebés, their first victory in a competitive match since 2004. Thanks to these two wins and a draw against the Faroe Islands on 6 July 2017, Andorra progressed 57 positions in the FIFA rankings to 129th, its second best position ever. On 21 March 2018, Rebés scored the only goal of a friendly win over Liechtenstein in Spain, giving Andorra their third victory of the last 13 months and sixth of all time.
In 2018, Andorra made its debut in the newly-created UEFA Nations League. They played in Group 1 of League D, where they finished at the bottom of the group with four ties and two losses, finishing unbeaten at home.
On 11 October 2019, Andorra won 1–0 against Moldova in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying competition, thus ending a 56-match winless run in Euro qualifiers. One month later, the team earned one more point after an away draw against Albania, thus avoiding for the first time to end a qualifying round in the last position.

Stadium

From 1996 until 2014, Andorra played their home matches at the Comunal d'Andorra la Vella, in the capital city of Andorra la Vella. This stadium has a capacity of 1,800 and also hosts the matches of club sides FC Andorra and the Andorran Premier League. On 9 September 2014, the national team began playing at the new Estadi Nacional with a capacity of 3,306.
Andorra have occasionally played home matches outside their borders. For example, Andorra hosted France and England in the 2000 European Championship, 2008 European Championship and 2010 World Cup qualifiers in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, which was the home of RCD Espanyol between 1997 and 2009.

Kit suppliers

Reputation

Andorra's lopsided win-loss record gives them a lowly reputation in world football. The nation has only won three competitive fixtures, World Cup qualifying matches against Macedonia in 2004 and Hungary in 2017, both by 1–0; a European Championship qualifying match against Moldova in 2019, by the same score; and three friendly games against Belarus and Albania at home and San Marino away, all of them by 2–0.
With the fourth smallest population of any UEFA country, until the admission of Gibraltar, the talent pool is small. Players are predominantly amateurs because the Andorra domestic league is only part-time. Since Andorra began playing in 1996, their average FIFA ranking is 163.

Manager history

Manuel Miluir was the first coach of the team and managed their first three matches of European Championship qualifying. He departed in 1999 to make way for David Rodrigo, whose first competitive match was a 2–0 European Championship qualifying defeat at home to Iceland on 27 March of that year. Rodrigo had been in charge of the team until February 2010, when it was announced that Koldo would take over this role.

FIFA World Cup record

UEFA European Championship record

UEFA Nations League record

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying

2018–19 UEFA Nations League

Recent results and fixtures

2019

2020

Andorra all-time record against all nations

Against
511349−5
8017220−18
504112−1
4103411−7
4004114−13
200206−6
100103−3
200215−4
1010000
1010000
6006024−24
5005317−14
2002112−11
4004016−16
100101−1
120012528−23
302101−1
201103−3
5005014−14
100102−2
201114−3
310217−6
7007018−18
100101−1
4004214−12
301227−5
7025114−13
2101110
200217−6
611419−8
2020220
611438−5
6006021−21
100104−4
5005122−21
100101−1
4004211−9
4004115−14
6006221−19
100101−1
110020+2
200202−2
100104−4
200215−4
4004010−10
4004017−17
1010000
200214−3
Total16472013746418−372

° FIFA-unofficial match on 19 February 1998 between Andorra – Czech Republic is not included.

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Turkey on 17 November 2019.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the Andorra squad in the last 12 months.
RET: player retired from international football
INJ: player withdrewed due to injury

Record

Most capped players

RankPlayerCapsGoalsYears
1Ildefons Lima128111997–
2Óscar Sonejee10641997–2015
3Márcio Vieira9202005–
4Josep Ayala8412002–2017
4Marc Pujol8422000–
6Manolo Jiménez7911998–2012
7Koldo Álvarez de Eulate7801998–2009
8Juli Sánchez7321996–2019
9Txema Garcia7101997–2009
10Justo Ruiz6721998–2008

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerGoalsCapsAverageYears
1Ildefons Lima111281997–
2Cristian Martínez5592009–
3Óscar Sonejee41061997–2015
4Jesús Lucendo3291996–2003
4Emiliano González3371998–2003
7Marc Rebés2302015–
7Fernando Silva2512002–2013
7Justo Ruiz2671998–2008
7Juli Sánchez2731996–2019
7Marc Pujol2842000–