Lithuania national football team


The Lithuania national football team represents Lithuania in international football and is controlled by the Lithuanian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Lithuania. They played their 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 thereafter against Georgia on 27 May of that year.
Although Lithuania has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, nor the UEFA European Championship, they have successfully participated in the local sub-regional Baltic Cup tournament, which takes place every two years between Lithuania and their Baltic rivals, Latvia and Estonia. Lithuania has won the Baltic Cup championship 11 times, only Latvia has won it more. Despite this Lithuania holds the record for winning the most consecutive Baltic Cup championships, four titles in a row from 1996 to 2000.
Since 2012 the national team has played their home matches at the LFF Stadium in Vilnius.

History

On 24 June 1923, Lithuania played their first ever game, at the Lietuvos Fizinio Lavinimosi Sąjunga Stadionas, resulting in a 5–0 loss against Estonia. In 1924, Lithuania entered the 1924 Olympics in France, losing 9–0 against Switzerland on 25 May 1924. Two days later, Lithuania suffered a 10–0 loss to Egypt, a record defeat to date. During the early years of the Lithuanian national team, Lithuania regularly played Baltic neighbours Estonia and Latvia, with Lithuania's first win coming in a 2–1 away win against Estonia on 24 August 1924 in Tallinn. In 1930, Lithuania won the third edition of the Baltic Cup in Kaunas. On 13 October 1940, Lithuania played their final game for just shy of 50 years, a 4–3 win against Latvia, following the first Soviet annexation of the country.
Lithuania's first game following the declaration of independence in 1990 was a 2–2 draw against Georgia in Tbilisi on 27 May 1990. In the 1990s, Lithuania established a respectable presence in the World Cup and European Championship qualifiers: third place in their group in both Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. In the 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 World Cup qualifying group, Lithuania were nevertheless competitive.
Lithuania drew with world champions Italy 1–1 in Naples in a 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 2010 World Cup qualifier. The victory was regarded by many as "a historic win." It was followed by another successful 2–0 performance against Austria in Marijampolė on 10 September 2008.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup record

UEFA European Championship record

Recent results and upcoming fixtures

FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying

Euro 2020 qualification

Personnel

Current coaching staff

PositionName
Head coach Valdas Urbonas
Assistant coach Andrius Skerla
Fitness coach Šarūnas Bičiušas
Goalkeeping coach Justinas Gasiūnas
Analyst Lukas Žėkas

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match against Portugal on 14 November and the Friendly Match against New Zealand on 17 November 2019.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary / standby.
RET Player retired from the national team.
SUS Player is serving suspension.
WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Statistics

Top 10 Lithuania goalscorers

As of 17 November 2019, the ten highest scorers for Lithuania are:
#PlayerCareerGoals Avg/game
1Tomas Danilevičius1998–201219 0.267
2Antanas Lingis1928–193812 0.363
3Edgaras Jankauskas1991–200810 0.178
4Virginijus Baltušnikas1990–19989 0.214
4Fedor Černych2012–9 0.164
6Jaroslavas Citavičius1926–19338 0.333
6Valdas Ivanauskas1990–20008 0.285
6Darius Maciulevičius1991–20058 0.210
6Robertas Poškus1999–20118 0.166
6Arvydas Novikovas2010–8 0.138

As of 17 November 2019, the ten players with the most caps for Lithuania are:
#NameCareerCapsGoals
1Saulius Mikoliūnas2004–845
1Andrius Skerla1996–2011841
3Deividas Šemberas1996–2013820
4Tomas Danilevičius1998–20127119
5Žydrūnas Karčemarskas2003–2013660
6Aurelijus Skarbalius1991–2005655
6Marius Stankevičius2001–2013655
8Deividas Česnauskis2001–2018644
9Gintaras Staučė1992–2004610
10Arvydas Novikovas2010–588

As of 17 November 2019.
OpponentPWDL
4202
2200
1010
4202
3102
3111
8134
2020
6114
1001
1001
1001
2011
3102
7106
2011
1001
4004
4820820
8611
4202
4004
8314
2011
3102
5014
4112
1100
1001
5014
6024
1001
1010
1001
51131127
6411
4112
3201
1001
5221
8242
2002
1100
2011
2002
11245
4004
4013
131012
4013
4400
1010
10136
10109
4022
6222
6015
2110
5005
3003
1100
10217
1010

List of managers