Liechtenstein national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Liechtenstein women's national football team.

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 ever away win and its first win in any FIFA World Cup qualifier. Conversely, Liechtenstein is the only country that lost an official match against San Marino, albeit in a friendly match. Liechtenstein suffered its biggest ever loss in 1996, during qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, losing 1–11 to Macedonia, the result also being Macedonia's largest ever win to date. The team's head coach is currently Rene Pauritsch, who has taken the role as caretaker following the departure of Martin Stocklasa to FC Vaduz.

Liechtenstein

Nickname(s)	The Blue-Reds
Association	Liechtenstein Football Association (Liechtensteiner Fussballverband)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Rene Pauritsch (Caretaker)
Captain	Nicolas Hasler
Most caps	Peter Jehle (132)
Top scorer	Mario Frick (16)
Home stadium	Rheinpark Stadion
FIFA code	LIE
First colours Second colours Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current	198 2 (22 December 2022)
Highest	118 (January 2008, July 2011, September 2011)
Lowest	198 (December 2022–)
First international
Liechtenstein 1–1 Malta (Daejeon, South Korea; 14 June 1981)
Biggest win
Luxembourg 0–4 Liechtenstein (Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 13 October 2004)
Biggest defeat
Liechtenstein 1–11 Macedonia (Eschen, Liechtenstein; 9 November 1996)
Website	lfv.li

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 after winning 2–1 against Azerbaijan in a 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 slightly. The Euro 2004 qualifiers saw Liechtenstein improve to the extent they restricted England to 2–0 wins. Also at this time Liechtenstein lost 1-0 against San Marino, considered to be the worst national team in the world. 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 8 points.

In the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Liechtenstein beat Latvia through a solitary goal from Mario Frick. The result caused the Latvian manager to resign after the match. They repeated their heroics against Iceland managing to beat them 3–0 on 17 October 2007 for their second qualifying group win. On the 26 March 2008 Liechtenstein had an embarrassing 7–1 loss to fellow small nation in Europe, Malta. This was recorded as Malta's largest win.

The Liechtensteiner Fussballverbund voted Rainer Hasler to be their "Golden Player" — their best player over the last 50 years — to mark UEFA's golden jubilee.

In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Liechtenstein secured a scoreless draw against Azerbaijan and a 1–1 draw against Finland, finishing bottom of Group 4 on two points.

In the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Liechtenstein were narrowly beaten 2–1 by Scotland in Hampden Park thanks to a goal by Stephen McManus in the seventh minute of additional time. They produced a shock 2–0 win at home against Lithuania; their goals were scored by Philippe Erne and Michele Polverino. In the following qualifying game, they managed a scoreless draw away to Lithuania.

In 2018, Liechtenstein entered the first ever UEFA Nations League, in group 4 of league D. Their first Nations League match saw Armenia beat them 2–1 away. Liechtenstein were able to claim their first Nations League victory, beating Gibraltar 2–0.

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

Main article: Liechtenstein national football team results (2020–present)

2022

Liechtenstein v Cape Verde

25 March 2022 (2022-03-25) Friendly	Liechtenstein	0–6	Cape Verde	San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain
20:45		Report	G. Tavares 18', 38', 45+1' Semedo 34' Bebé 73', 83'	Stadium: Pinatar Arena Referee: Dario Bel (Croatia)

Faroe Islands v Liechtenstein

29 March 2022 (2022-03-29) Friendly	Faroe Islands	1–0	Liechtenstein	San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain
20:45	Johannesen 39'	Report		Stadium: Pinatar Arena Referee: Jason Barcelo (Gibraltar)

Liechtenstein v Moldova

3 June 2022 (2022-06-03) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	0–2	Moldova	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	Nicolaescu 5' (pen.) Bolohan 90+1'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 903 Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)

Latvia v Liechtenstein

6 June 2022 (2022-06-06) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Latvia	1–0	Liechtenstein	Riga, Latvia
20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)	Zjuzins 73'	Report		Stadium: Daugava Stadium Attendance: 5,966 Referee: Mario Zebec (Croatia)

Andorra v Liechtenstein

10 June 2022 (2022-06-10) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Andorra	2–1	Liechtenstein	Andorra la Vella, Andorra
20:45	Aláez 78' (pen.) Rubio 82'	Report	Meier 90+3'	Stadium: Estadi Nacional Attendance: 932 Referee: Nejc Kajtazović (Slovenia)

Liechtenstein v Latvia

14 June 2022 (2022-06-14) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	0–2	Latvia	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	Gutkovskis 20', 28'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 885 Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)

Liechtenstein v Andorra

22 September 2022 (2022-09-22) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Liechtenstein	0–2	Andorra	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	Rosas 4' Cervós 80'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 914 Referee: Juxhin Xhaja (Albania)

Moldova v Liechtenstein

25 September 2022 (2022-09-25) 2022–23 UEFA Nations League	Moldova	2–0	Liechtenstein	Chişinău, Moldova
15:00 (19:00 UTC+6 or 16:00 UTC+3)	Stînă 90+2', 90+4'	Report		Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 5,774 Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

Gibraltar v Liechtenstein

16 November 2022 (2022-11-16) Friendly	Gibraltar	2–0	Liechtenstein	Gibraltar
19:00	R. Chipolina 14' Walker 21' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium Referee: Ahmad Alali (Kuwait)

2023

Portugal v Liechtenstein

23 March 2023 (2023-03-23) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Portugal	v	Liechtenstein	Lisbon, Portugal
20:45 (19:45 UTC±0)		Report		Stadium: TBD

Liechtenstein v Iceland

26 March 2023 (2023-03-26) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	v	Iceland	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
18:00		Report		Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Luxembourg v Liechtenstein

17 June 2023 (2023-06-17) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Luxembourg	v	Liechtenstein	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
15:00		Report		Stadium: Stade de Luxembourg

Liechtenstein v Slovakia

20 June 2023 (2023-06-20) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	v	Slovakia	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
18:00		Report		Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Bosnia and Herzegovina v Liechtenstein

8 September 2023 (2023-09-08) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Bosnia and Herzegovina	v	Liechtenstein	Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
20:45		Report		Stadium: Bilino Polje

Slovakia v Liechtenstein

11 September 2023 (2023-09-11) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Slovakia	v	Liechtenstein	Trnava, Slovakia
20:45		Report		Stadium: Štadión Antona Malatinského

Liechtenstein v Bosnia and Herzegovina

13 October 2023 (2023-10-13) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	v	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report		Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Iceland v Liechtenstein

16 October 2023 (2023-10-16) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Iceland	v	Liechtenstein	Reykjavík, Iceland
18:45		Report		Stadium: Laugardalsvöllur

Liechtenstein v Portugal

16 November 2023 (2023-11-16) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	v	Portugal	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report		Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Liechtenstein v Luxembourg

19 November 2023 (2023-11-19) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Liechtenstein	v	Luxembourg	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report		Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion

Manager history

Martin Stocklasa, the team manager from 2020 to 2023.

• 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 (2013–2018)
• Helgi Kolviðsson (2018–2020)
• Martin Stocklasa (2020–2023)
• Rene Pauritsch (2023)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Portugal and Iceland on 23 and 26 March 2023 respectively.

Caps and goals are current as of 16 November 2022, after the match against Gibraltar.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Benjamin Büchel	(1989-07-04) 4 July 1989	51	0	Vaduz
	1GK	Justin Ospelt	(1999-09-07) 7 September 1999	4	0	Dornbirn
	1GK	Lorenzo Lo Russo	(1993-07-08) 8 July 1993	0	0	Freienbach
	2DF	Seyhan Yildiz	(1989-04-30) 30 April 1989	60	1	Eschen/Mauren
	2DF	Sandro Wolfinger	(1991-08-24) 24 August 1991	53	2	Balzers
	2DF	Andreas Malin	(1994-01-31) 31 January 1994	41	0	Rot-Weiß Rankweil
	2DF	Jens Hofer	(1997-10-01) 1 October 1997	26	0	Solothurn
	2DF	Martin Marxer	(1999-10-04) 4 October 1999	4	0	Muri-Gümligen
	2DF	Lars Traber	(2000-06-12) 12 June 2000	4	0	Vaduz
	2DF	Marco Wolfinger	(1989-04-18) 18 April 1989	3	0	Balzers
	3MF	Nicolas Hasler (captain)	(1991-05-04) 4 May 1991	91	5	Vaduz
	3MF	Sandro Wieser (captain)	(1993-02-03) 3 February 1993	53	2	Vaduz
	3MF	Aron Sele	(1996-09-02) 2 September 1996	44	0	Chur 97
	3MF	Livio Meier	(1998-01-10) 10 January 1998	30	1	Eschen/Mauren
	3MF	Fabio Wolfinger	(1996-11-05) 5 November 1996	21	1	Balzers
	3MF	Noah Frommelt	(2000-12-18) 18 December 2000	19	0	Kosova Zürich
	3MF	Niklas Beck	(2001-03-25) 25 March 2001	8	0	Eschen/Mauren
	3MF	Simon Lüchinger	(2002-11-28) 28 November 2002	8	0	Vaduz
	3MF	Andrin Netzer	(2002-01-11) 11 January 2002	8	0	Vaduz II
	3MF	Jakob Lorenz	(2001-09-11) 11 September 2001	2	0	Vaduz
	4FW	Noah Frick	(2001-10-16) 16 October 2001	19	2	Montlingen
	4FW	Ridvan Kardesoglu	(1996-10-12) 12 October 1996	10	0	Nenzing
	4FW	Philipp Gassner	(2003-08-30) 30 August 2003	3	0	Dornbirn

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up in the last 12 months and are still eligible to represent.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Gabriel Foser	(2002-09-02) 2 September 2002	0	0	Vaduz	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
GK	Tim-Tiado Öhri	(2003-12-15) 15 December 2003	0	0	Vaduz	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
GK	Thomas Hobi	(1993-06-20) 20 June 1993	5	0	Balzers	v. Latvia, 14 June 2022
GK	Claudio Majer	(1996-03-23) 23 March 1996	0	0	Eschen/Mauren	v. Latvia, 14 June 2022
DF	Maximilian Göppel	(1997-08-31) 31 August 1997	51	2	Eschen/Mauren	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
DF	Rafael Grünenfelder	(1999-03-20) 20 March 1999	16	0	Balzers	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
DF	Jonas Hilti	(2000-03-22) 22 March 2000	1	0	Vaduz	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
DF	Manuel Mikus	(1999-07-13) 13 July 1999	1	0	Balzers	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
DF	David Tschupp	(2002-11-19) 19 November 2002	0	0	Kickers Luzern	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
DF	Fabian Unterrainer	(2001-06-05) 5 June 2001	0	0	ASKÖ Donau Linz	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
DF	Lukas Graber	(2001-05-03) 3 May 2001	5	0	Eschen/Mauren	v. Moldova, 22 September 2022
DF	Marco Marxer	(1999-06-02) 2 June 1999	2	0	Höchst	v. Moldova, 22 September 2022
DF	Daniel Brändle	(1992-01-23) 23 January 1992	43	0	SV Pullach	v. Latvia, 14 June 2022
MF	Alessio Hasler	(2005-07-07) 7 July 2005	0	0	Vaduz	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
MF	Silvan Schiess	(2003-07-11) 11 July 2003	0	0	Rapperswil-Jona	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
MF	Severin Schlegel	(2004-07-24) 24 July 2004	0	0	Vaduz	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
MF	Nicola Kollmann	(1994-11-23) 23 November 1994	6	0	Ruggell	v. Latvia, 14 June 2022
MF	Noah Graber	(2001-05-03) 3 May 2001	1	0	Vaduz II	v. Latvia, 14 June 2022
FW	Dennis Salanović	(1996-02-26) 26 February 1996	50	4	CF Talavera	v. Portugal, 23 March 2023 INJ
FW	Fabio Luque Notaro	(2005-08-31) 31 August 2005	0	0	Vaduz	v. Gibraltar, 16 November 2022
FW	Yanik Frick	(1998-05-27) 27 May 1998	30	3	Montlingen	v. Latvia, 14 June 2022
FW	Philipp Ospelt	(1992-10-07) 7 October 1992	17	0	Ruggell	v. Latvia, 14 June 2022

Notes:

• PRE = Preliminary squad
• INJ = Injured
• SUS = Suspended for a match

Player records

As of 21 November 2022

Players in bold are still active and available for selection.

Most capped players

Peter Jehle is Liechtenstein's most capped player at 132 capps.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Peter Jehle	132	0	1998–2018
2	Mario Frick	125	16	1993–2015
3	Martin Stocklasa	113	5	1996–2014
4	Franz Burgmeier	112	9	2001–2018
5	Thomas Beck	92	5	1998–2013
6	Nicolas Hasler	91	5	2010–
	Martin Büchel	91	2	2004–2021
8	Michele Polverino	79	6	2007–2019
9	Daniel Hasler	78	1	1993–2007
10	Martin Telser	73	1	1996–2007

Top goalscorers

Mario Frick is Liechtenstein's all-time record goalscorer at 16 goals.

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Mario Frick	16	125	0.13	1993–2015
2	Franz Burgmeier	9	112	0.08	2001–2018
3	Michele Polverino	6	79	0.08	2007–2019
4	Nicolas Hasler	5	91	0.05	2010–
	Thomas Beck	5	92	0.05	1998–2013
	Martin Stocklasa	5	113	0.04	1996–2014
7	Dennis Salanović	4	50	0.08	2014–
8	Yanik Frick	3	30	0.1	2016–
9
	Noah Frick	2	19	0.11	2019–
	Benjamin Fischer	2	23	0.09	2005–2011
	Mathias Christen	2	36	0.06	2008–2014
	Fabio D'Elia	2	50	0.04	2001–2010
	Maximilian Göppel	2	51	0.04	2016–
	Sandro Wieser	2	53	0.04	2008–
	Sandro Wolfinger	2	53	0.04	2013–
	Michael Stocklasa	2	71	0.03	1998–2012
	Martin Büchel	2	91	0.02	2004–2021

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1994	Did not enter								Did not enter
1998	Did not qualify								6/6	10	0	0	10	3	52
2002									5/5	8	0	0	8	0	23
2006									6/7	12	2	2	8	13	23
2010									6/6	10	0	2	8	2	23
2014									6/6	10	0	2	8	4	25
2018									6/6	10	0	0	10	1	39
2022									6/6	10	0	1	9	2	34
2026	To be determined								To be determined
Total	0/22	–	–	–	–	–	–		—	70	2	7	61	25	219

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1960 to 1992	Did not enter								Did not enter
1996	Did not qualify								6/6	10	0	1	9	1	40
2000									6/6	10	1	1	8	2	39
2004									5/5	8	0	1	7	2	22
2008									7/7	12	2	1	9	9	32
2012									5/5	8	1	1	6	3	17
2016									5/6	10	1	2	7	2	26
2020									6/6	10	0	2	8	2	31
2024	To be determined								To be determined	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	0/16	–	–	–	–	–	–		—	68	5	9	54	21	207

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2018–19	D	4	6	1	1	4	7	12		52nd
2020–21	D	2	4	1	2	1	3	2		51st
2022–23	D	1	6	0	0	6	1	11		55th
2024–25	D	To be determined
Total			16	2	3	11	11	25	51st

Head-to-head record

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Albania	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6
Andorra	4	1	0	3	2	5	-3
Armenia	6	0	3	3	5	10	-5
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	8	0	1	7	2	31	−29
Cape Verde	1	0	0	1	0	6	-6
China	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
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
Faroe Islands	7	0	0	7	4	17	−13
Finland	5	0	2	3	3	9	−6
Georgia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Germany	6	0	0	6	3	38	−35
Gibraltar	6	1	2	3	4	6	-2
Greece	5	0	1	4	1	8	−7
Hungary	3	0	1	2	0	10	−10
Iceland	9	1	2	6	6	24	−18
Indonesia	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1
Israel	4	0	0	4	1	8	−7
Italy	4	0	0	4	0	20	−20
Latvia	11	1	1	9	4	18	−14
Lithuania	6	1	1	4	3	8	−5
Luxembourg	4	3	1	0	12	4	+8
Malaysia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Malta	5	0	1	4	3	14	−11
Moldova	4	1	1	2	2	5	-4
Montenegro	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2
Netherlands	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
North Macedonia	11	0	1	10	5	42	−37
Northern Ireland	4	0	0	4	6	17	−11
Poland	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Portugal	7	0	1	6	3	35	−32
Qatar	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Republic of Ireland	4	0	1	3	0	14	−14
Romania	6	0	0	6	1	30	−29
Russia	5	0	0	5	1	15	−14
San Marino	6	3	2	1	6	3	+3
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Scotland	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2
Slovakia	9	0	2	7	1	26	−25
Spain	8	0	0	8	0	39	−39
Sweden	4	0	0	4	1	10	−9
Switzerland	9	0	0	9	1	28	−27
Thailand	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Togo	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
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	223	18	29	181	98	627	−529

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.

External links

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