The Cyprus national football team (Greek: Εθνική ομάδα ποδοσφαίρου της Κύπρου) represents Cyprus in international football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association, the governing body for football in Cyprus. Cyprus' home ground is the GSP Stadium in Nicosia and the current coach is Temur Ketsbaia.
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Association | Cyprus Football Association (CFA) {Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου | ||
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Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
Head coach | Temur Ketsbaia | ||
Captain | Kostakis Artymatas | ||
Most caps | Ioannis Okkas (103) | ||
Top scorer | Michalis Konstantinou (32) | ||
Home stadium | GSP Stadium, Nicosia | ||
FIFA code | CYP | ||
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FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 107 ![]() | ||
Highest | 43 (September 2010) | ||
Lowest | 142 (June 2014) | ||
First international | |||
Unofficial: ![]() ![]() (Tel Aviv, Israel; 30 July 1949) Official: ![]() ![]() (Nicosia, Cyprus; 13 November 1960) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Limassol, Cyprus; 15 November 2000) ![]() ![]() (Nicosia, Cyprus; 16 November 2014) ![]() ![]() (Nicosia, Cyprus; 21 March 2019) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Essen, West Germany; 21 May 1969) |
HistoryEdit
The team's first match took place on 23 July 1949, one year after becoming a member of the world governing body FIFA: a friendly against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, ending in a 3–3 draw. Seven days later, the team had its first international game: a 3–1 defeat against Israel in the same city.
In November 1960, following independence from British rule, Cyprus drew its first post-independence official match 1–1 against Israel, as part of the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament. Cyprus' first international victory was a 3–1 win against Greece on 27 November 1963 in a friendly. On 17 February 1968, Cyprus recorded their first competitive win, beating Switzerland 2–1 in a European Championship qualifying match in Old GSP Stadium in Nicosia.
In 1974, the national team enjoyed one of their most famous victories when they beat Northern Ireland 1–0 in Nicosia. On 12 February 1983, as part of the Euro 1984 qualifiers, Cyprus held world champions Italy to a 1–1 draw in Tsirio Stadium in Limassol, followed a month later by the same result against Czechoslovakia. Four years later, in the Euro 1988 qualification, Cyprus recorded their first ever point achieved in an away match, against Poland. In 1989 they drew 1–1 with France in the World Cup qualifying match. Despite a number of triumphs on home soil, Cyprus had to wait until 1992 to record their first away win: a 2–0 victory against the Faroe Islands.
Results in qualifying tournaments have also improved considerably in recent times. In the qualifying stages for the 1996 UEFA European Championship, Cyprus drew 1–1 with holders Denmark. Four years later, they missed out on a place in the UEFA Euro 2000 despite 3–2 victories against both Spain and Israel and a 4–0 win over San Marino.
On 15 November 2000, Cyprus scored their biggest win in history by beating Andorra in Limassol 5–0 in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 7 October 2006, as part of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Cyprus caused a major upset by beating the Republic of Ireland 5–2 at GSP Stadium in Nicosia, with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambidis each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis finishing off the match. Just one month later, on 15 November 2006, they caused another surprise by holding the previous World Cup's hosts Germany to a 1–1 draw at home. On 13 October 2007, they beat Wales 3–1 in Nicosia. On 17 October 2007, Cyprus came close to a historic away victory in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland, but the hosts equalised in the last minute of the game and the match ended 1–1. On 3 September 2010, as part of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Cyprus claimed a historic 4–4 draw against Portugal in Guimarães.
During the Euro 2016 qualification phase, Cyprus, managed by Pambos Christodoulou, claimed one of their most historic victories by defeating 2014 World Cup participant Bosnia 2–1 in Zenica. In the last group match, the team faced Bosnia, needing a victory to finish 3rd and rely on Belgium to beat Israel in Brussels. As fate would have it, the Bosnians won the reverse leg 3–2 and qualified to the play-offs at the expense of the home team, who at one point took a 2–1 lead during the first half and for a number of minutes held onto 3rd place and a berth in the play-offs for the first time in history, as Belgium, a soon to be world number 1 side, were comfortably beating Israel at home.[3]
Cyprus would finish behind Estonia and ahead of Gibraltar to place 5th of 6 teams in Group H in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[4] Their qualification run would include an impressive 3–2 home victory over Bosnia.[5]
In the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Cyprus beat San Marino 5-0 but they lost to Belgium and Scotland. Even though they beat Kazakhstan 1–2 away from home, they lost their last three games and finished 4th out of 6 teams in the group, just ahead of Kazakhstan and San Marino.
The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was a big disappointment for Cyprus. They lost theif first three games against Montenegro 0–2, Azerbaijan 0–1 and Luxembourg 2–0 and drew with and Azerbaijan 0–0 in the fourth game. Even though they beat Luxembourg 2–1 at home, they were crushed 4–0 by Montenegro in their last game and finished last in their group. This meant that they had to face Estonia in the relegation play-offs. They defeated Estonia 2–0 on aggregate, with goals from Marinos Tzionis and Pieros Sotiriou.
KitEdit
On 7 October 2006, Diadora unveiled Cyprus' new kit. It outlines a map of Cyprus in amber from the shoulder to the sleeve, with a green line running down the middle to indicate the division of the island. This controversial kit was used for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying phase. Then, Adidas made Cyprus' kits for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification phases. In 2018, Macron replaced Adidas as part of UEFA's Kit Assistance Scheme.
Kit provider | Period |
---|---|
Lotto | –2000 |
Errea | 2000–2002 |
Umbro | 2002–2006 |
Diadora | 2006–2008 |
Adidas | 2008–2018 |
Macron | 2018–2022 |
Errea | 2022–present |
Home stadiumEdit
Cyprus currently play their home matches at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia or the AEK Arena in Larnaca. Home matches had previously been staged at different stadiums all around the country. Until 1974, Cyprus used either the old GSP Stadium in central Nicosia or the GSE Stadium in Famagusta. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, some matches were played at the Tsirion Stadium in Limassol and the Makario Stadium in Nicosia. In 1999, the building of the New GSP Stadium in Nicosia provided a new home for the national team but in 2008, a change of sponsorship forced home fixtures of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification phase to be played at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca. However, Cyprus returned to the GSP Stadium for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase.
Recent results and forthcoming fixturesEdit
2021Edit
1 September 2021 World Cup qualifier | Malta | 3–0 | Cyprus | Ta' Qali, Malta |
20:45 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: National Stadium Attendance: 2,686 Referee: Fabio Maresca (Italy) |
4 September 2021 World Cup qualifier | Cyprus | 0–2 | Russia | Nicosia, Cyprus |
16:00 | Report |
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Stadium: GSP Stadium Attendance: 1,645 Referee: Alejandro Hernández (Spain) |
7 September 2021 World Cup qualifier | Slovakia | 2–0 | Cyprus | Bratislava, Slovakia |
20:45 | Report | Stadium: Tehelné pole Attendance: 6,762 Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (Azerbaijan) |
8 October 2021 World Cup qualifier | Cyprus | 0–3 | Croatia | Larnaca, Cyprus |
21:45 | Report | Stadium: AEK Arena Attendance: 2,333 Referee: Michael Oliver (England) |
11 October 2021 World Cup qualifier | Cyprus | 2–2 | Malta | Larnaca, Cyprus |
19:00 | Report |
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Stadium: AEK Arena Attendance: 1,405 Referee: Dennis Higler (Netherlands) |
11 November 2021 World Cup qualifier | Russia | 6–0 | Cyprus | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
19:00 | Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium Attendance: 10,108 Referee: Daniel Stefański (Poland) |
14 November 2021 World Cup qualifier | Slovenia | 2–1 | Cyprus | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
16:00 |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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Stadium: Stožice Stadium Attendance: 5,117 Referee: Sergey Ivanov (Russia) |
2022Edit
24 March 2022 2020–21 UEFA Nations League play-outs 1st Leg | Estonia | 0–0 | Cyprus | Tallinn, Estonia |
Stadium: A. Le Coq Arena Attendance: 5,366 Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland) |
29 March 2022 2020–21 UEFA Nations League play-outs 2nd Leg | Cyprus | 2–0 (2–0 agg.) | Estonia | Larnaca, Cyprus |
19:00 | Report | Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis Attendance: 2,464 Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal) |
2 June 2022 2022–23 Nations League | Cyprus | 0–2 | Kosovo | Larnaca, Cyprus |
20:45 | Report | Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis Attendance: 1,550 Referee: Jérôme Brisard (France) |
5 June 2022 2022–23 Nations League | Cyprus | 0–0 | Northern Ireland | Larnaca, Cyprus |
18:00 | Report | Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis Attendance: 1,663 Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania) |
9 June 2022 2022–23 Nations League | Greece | 3–0 | Cyprus | Volos, Greece |
18:00 | Report | Stadium: Panthessaliko Stadium Attendance: 12,418 Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary) |
12 June 2022 2022–23 Nations League | Northern Ireland | 2–2 | Cyprus | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
14:00 BST | Report |
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Stadium: Windsor Park Attendance: 16,454 Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (Spain) |
24 September 2022 2022–23 Nations League | Cyprus | v | Greece | Larnaca, Cyprus |
14:00 | Report | Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis |
27 September 2022 2022–23 Nations League | Kosovo | v | Cyprus | Pristina, Kosovo |
14:00 | Report | Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium |
Coaching staffEdit
Manager | Nikos Kostenoglou |
Assistant Manager | Panagiotis Egomitis |
Assistant Manager | Kyriakos Petrides |
Goalkeeping Coach | Nikos Konstantinidis |
Physical Trainer | Pavlos Keenan |
Match Analyst | Charalampos Mitsotakis |
Coaching historyEdit
- Argyrios Gavalas (1960–1967)
- Pambos Avraamidis (1968–1969)
- Ray Wood (1970–1971)
- Sima Milovanov (1972)
- Pambos Avraamidis (1972–1974)
- Panikos Iakovou (1974)
- Pambos Avraamidis (1975)
- Kostas Talianos (1976)
- Panikos Krystallis (1976–1977)
- Andreas Lazarides (1977)
- Kostas Talianos (1978–1982)
- Vasil Spasov (1982–1984)
- Panikos Iakovou (1984–1987)
- Takis Charalambous (1987)
- Panikos Iakovou (1988–1991)
- Andreas Michaelides (1991–1996)
- Stavros Papadopoulos (1997)
- Panikos Georgiou (1997–1999)
- Stavros Papadopoulos (1999–2001)
- Takis Charalambous (2001)
- Momčilo Vukotić (2001–2004)
- Angelos Anastasiadis (2005–2011)
- Nikos Nioplias (2011–2013)
- Pambos Christodoulou (2014–2015)
- Christakis Christoforou (2015–2017)
- Ran Ben Shimon (2017–2020)
- Johan Walem (2020–2021)
- Nikos Kostenoglou (2021–present)
PlayersEdit
Current squadEdit
- The following players were called up for the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League matches.[8]
- Match dates: 2, 5, 9 and 12 June 2022.
- Opposition: Kosovo, Northern Ireland (twice) and Greece
- Caps and goals correct as of: 2 June 2022, after the match against Kosovo.
Recent call-upsEdit
The following players have also been called up to the Cyprus squad within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.
Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK | Demetris Demetriou | 15 January 1999 | 7 | 0 | Apollon Limassol | v. Estonia, 29 March 2022 |
DF | Andreas Karo | 9 September 1996 | 12 | 0 | APOEL | v. Estonia, 29 March 2022 |
DF | Paris Psaltis | 12 November 1996 | 8 | 0 | Omonia | v. Estonia, 29 March 2022 |
DF | Stelios Andreou | 24 July 2002 | 5 | 0 | Charleroi | v. Estonia, 29 March 2022 |
DF | Constantinos Soteriou | 21 June 1996 | 10 | 0 | AEL Limassol | v. Estonia, 29 March 2022 |
DF | Marios Demetriou | 25 December 1992 | 3 | 0 | PAEEK | v. Slovenia, 14 November 2021 |
DF | Thomas Ioannou | 19 July 1995 | 5 | 0 | Ethnikos Achna | v. Malta, 11 October 2021 |
DF | Ioannis Kousoulos | 14 June 1996 | 27 | 4 | Omonia | v. Ukraine, 7 June 2021 |
DF | Thomas Nikolaou | 22 October 2001 | 0 | 0 | Nea Salamis Famagusta | v. Ukraine, 7 June 2021 |
DF | Christos Shelis | 2 February 2000 | 4 | 0 | Volos | v. Slovakia, 24 March 2021 |
MF | Rafail Mamas | 4 March 2001 | 1 | 0 | AEK Larnaca | v. Estonia, 29 March 2022 |
FW | Marios Elia | May 19, 1996 | 8 | 1 | Ethnikos Achna FC | v. Slovenia, 14 November 2021 |
FW | Panagiotis Zachariou | 26 February 1996 | 9 | 1 | Omonia | v. Slovakia, 7 September 2021 |
FW | Onisiforos Roushias | 15 July 1992 | 9 | 0 | Anorthosis Famagusta | v. Slovakia, 7 September 2021 |
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Player recordsEdit
- As of 7 September 2021[9]
- Players in bold are still active with Cyprus.
Most capped playersEdit
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Top goalscorersEdit
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Competitive RecordEdit
All-time recordEdit
- As of 30 March 2021.
Competition | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FIFA World Cup qualification | 122 | 16 | 15 | 91 | 90 | 311 |
European Championship qualification | 114 | 19 | 15 | 80 | 98 | 288 |
Friendly matches | 129 | 35 | 32 | 62 | 134 | 194 |
UEFA Nations League | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 19 |
TOTAL | 377 | 72 | 65 | 239 | 329 | 812 |
FIFA World Cup recordEdit
FIFA World Cup record | FIFA World Cup Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
1930 | Did not enter | Declined participation | |||||||||||||
1934 | |||||||||||||||
1938 | |||||||||||||||
1950 | |||||||||||||||
1954 | |||||||||||||||
1958 | |||||||||||||||
1962 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||
1966 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | |||||||||
1970 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 35 | |||||||||
1974 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 14 | |||||||||
1978 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 24 | |||||||||
1982 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 29 | |||||||||
1986 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 18 | |||||||||
1990 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 20 | |||||||||
1994 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 18 | |||||||||
1998 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 15 | |||||||||
2002 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 31 | |||||||||
2006 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 20 | |||||||||
2010 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 16 | |||||||||
2014 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 15 | |||||||||
2018 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 18 | |||||||||
2022 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 21 | |||||||||
2026 | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
Total | 0/22 | 124 | 16 | 15 | 93 | 91 | 320 |
UEFA European Championship recordEdit
UEFA European Championship record | Qualifying record | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Result | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA | ||
1960 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
1964 | |||||||||||||||
1968 | Did not qualify | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 25 | ||||||||
1972 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |||||||||
1976 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 | |||||||||
1980 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 19 | |||||||||
1984 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 21 | |||||||||
1988 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 16 | |||||||||
1992 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 25 | |||||||||
1996 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 20 | |||||||||
2000 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 21 | |||||||||
2004 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 18 | |||||||||
2008 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 24 | |||||||||
2012 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 20 | |||||||||
2016 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 17 | |||||||||
2020 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 17 | |||||||||
2024 | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
Total | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 114 | 19 | 15 | 80 | 96 | 285 |
UEFA Nations League recordEdit
UEFA Nations League record | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Division | Group | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | P/R | Rank |
2018–19 | C | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 36th | |
2020–21 | C | 1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 46th | |
2022–23 | C | 2 | To be determined | |||||||
Total | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 19 | 36th |
Head-to-head recordEdit
As of 30 March 2021.
Positive record Neutral record Negative record
Opponent | P | W | D | L |
---|---|---|---|---|
Albania | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Andorra | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
Armenia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Austria | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Azerbaijan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Belarus | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Belgium | 13 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Bulgaria | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
Canada | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Croatia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Czech Republic | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Czechoslovakia | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Denmark | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
England | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Estonia | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Faroe Islands | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Finland | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
France | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
Georgia | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Germany | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Gibraltar | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Greece | 27 | 3 | 6 | 18 |
Hungary | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
Iceland | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Iran | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Iraq | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Israel | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
Italy | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Jordan | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Kazakhstan | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Kuwait | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Latvia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Lebanon | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Lithuania | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Luxembourg | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
North Macedonia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Malta | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Moldova | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Montenegro | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Netherlands | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
Northern Ireland | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Norway | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
Poland | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
Portugal | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
Republic of Ireland | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
Romania | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Russia | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
San Marino | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Saudi Arabia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Scotland | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Serbia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Slovakia | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Slovenia | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
Soviet Union | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Spain | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
Sweden | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Switzerland | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Syria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Ukraine | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Wales | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
Yugoslavia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
ReferencesEdit
- Notes
- Citation
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
- ^ uefa.com (13 October 2015). "Bosnia and Herzegovina in play-offs, Cyprus out". Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Qualifiers - Europe". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015.
- ^ "Cyprus vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina - Football Match Summary - August 31, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
- ^ "Cyprus Football Association – Εθνική Ανδρών: Προπονητές". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
- ^ "Cyprus National Team Coaches". www.rsssf.com.
- ^ "Σε ρυθμούς προετοιμασίας η Εθνική Ανδρών" (in Greek). Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
- ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Cyprus - Record International Players". RSSSF.
External linksEdit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cyprus national football team. |