Lithuania national football team

Lithuania
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Rinktine (National team)
AssociationLithuanian Football Federation
(Lietuvos futbolo federacija – LFF)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachEdgaras Jankauskas[1]
CaptainFedor Černych
Most capsSaulius Mikoliūnas (101)
Top scorerTomas Danilevičius (19)
Home stadiumDarius and Girėnas Stadium
FIFA codeLTU
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 146 Decrease 2 (6 April 2023)[2]
Highest37 (October 2008)
Lowest148 (November 2010)
First international
 Lithuania 0–5 Estonia 
(Kaunas, Lithuania; 24 June 1923)
Biggest win
 Lithuania 7–0 Estonia 
(Riga, Latvia; 20 May 1995)

The Lithuania national football team (Lithuanian: Lietuvos nacionalinė futbolo rinktinė) 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 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 frequently. Despite this Lithuania holds the record for winning the most consecutive Baltic Cup championships, four titles in a row from 1996 to 2000.

From 2012 until 2022, the national team 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.[3] 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.[4]

Lithuania's first game following the declaration of independence in 1990 was a 2–2 draw against Georgia in Tbilisi on 27 May 1990.[5] 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."[6] It was followed by another successful 2–0 performance against Austria in Marijampolė on 10 September 2008.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2022

4 June 2022 Nations League Lithuania 0–2  Luxembourg Vilnius, Lithuania
19:00 Report
  • Sinani 44', 78'
Stadium: LFF Stadium
Attendance: 3,009
Referee: David Fuxman (Israel)
7 June 2022 Nations League Lithuania 0–6  Turkey Vilnius, Lithuania
21:45 Report
Stadium: LFF Stadium
Attendance: 2,843
Referee: Novak Simović (Serbia)
11 June 2022 Nations League Faroe Islands  2–1 Lithuania Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
17:00
Report Stadium: Tórsvøllur
Attendance: 2,278
Referee: Igor Pajac (Croatia)
14 June 2022 Nations League Turkey  2–0 Lithuania İzmir, Turkey
21:45
Report Stadium: Gürsel Aksel Stadium
Attendance: 14,694
Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)
22 September 2022 Nations League Lithuania 1–1  Faroe Islands Vilnius, Lithuania
20:45 (21:45 UTC+3)
Report Stadium: LFF Stadium
Attendance: 2,376
Referee: Vilhjálmur Alvar Þórarinsson (Iceland)
25 September 2022 Nations League Luxembourg  1–0 Lithuania Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
20:45 Report Stadium: Stade de Luxembourg
Attendance: 5,340
Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)
19 November 2022 Baltic Cup 3rd Estonia  2–0  Lithuania Tallinn, Estonia
16:00 (UTC+02:00)
Stadium: A. Le Coq Arena
Attendance: 1,563
Referee: Vitalijs Spasjonņikovs (Latvia)

2023

24 March 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Serbia  2–0  Lithuania Belgrade, Serbia
20:45
Report Stadium: Rajko Mitić Stadium
Attendance: 21,125
Referee: Lawrence Visser (Belgium)
27 March 2023 Friendly Greece  0–0  Lithuania Athens, Greece
18:00 UTC+2 Report Stadium: OPAP Arena
Referee: Jonathan Lardot (Belgium)
14 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Bulgaria  v  Lithuania Razgrad, Bulgaria
19:00 Report Stadium: Huvepharma Arena
19 November 2023 Friendly Cyprus  v  Lithuania Cyprus
Stadium: TBD

Coaching staff

Position[7] Name
Manager Lithuania Edgaras Jankauskas
Assistant coach Lithuania Andrius Velička
Assistant coach Lithuania Vaidas Sabaliauskas
Fitness coach Lithuania Georgas Freidgeimas
Goalkeeping coach Lithuania Audrius Paškevičius
Analyst Lithuania Rokas Pranaitis

Managers history

Name Nat From To Games Won Drawn Lost GF GA Win%
Benjaminas Zelkevičius Lithuania19901991 3 1 2 0 7 4 033.33
Algimantas Liubinskas Lithuania19921994 29 7 8 14 29 48 024.14
Benjaminas Zelkevičius Lithuania19951997 29 12 6 11 45 41 041.38
Kęstutis Latoža Lithuania19981999 18 5 4 9 15 24 027.78
Robertas Tautkus (caretaker) Lithuania19991999 1 0 0 1 0 3 000.00
Stasys Stankus Lithuania20002000 8 2 0 6 8 18 025.00
Julius Kvedaras (caretaker) Lithuania20002000 1 0 0 1 1 6 000.00
Benjaminas Zelkevičius Lithuania20012003 19 4 3 12 20 41 021.05
Algimantas Liubinskas Lithuania20032008 50 18 6 26 54 65 036.00
José Couceiro Portugal20082009 15 6 3 6 17 15 040.00
Raimondas Žutautas Lithuania20102011 16 4 3 9 11 22 025.00
Csaba László Hungary20122013 16 2 4 10 12 28 012.50
Igoris Pankratjevas Lithuania20132015 21 5 5 11 14 31 023.81
Edgaras Jankauskas Lithuania20162018 26 3 5 18 14 50 011.54
Valdas Urbonas Lithuania20192021 24 5 4 15 17 49 020.83
Valdas Ivanauskas Lithuania20212022 13 2 1 10 6 29 015.38
Reinhold Breu (interim) Germany20222022 4 0 2 2 1 4 000.00
Edgaras Jankauskas Lithuania2023present 2 0 1 1 0 2 000.00

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the international matches in March 2023.[8]

Caps and goals correct as of: 28 March 2023, after the match against  Greece

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Emilijus Zubas (1990-07-10) 10 July 1990 14 0 Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv
12 1GK Džiugas Bartkus (1989-11-07) 7 November 1989 12 0 Israel Ironi Kiryat Shmona
16 1GK Lukas Paukštė (1998-09-25) 25 September 1998 0 0 Lithuania Šiauliai

2 2DF Linas Klimavičius (1989-04-10) 10 April 1989 37 0 Lithuania Panevėžys
3 2DF Markas Beneta (1993-11-08) November 8, 1993 15 0 Lithuania Panevėžys
4 2DF Edvinas Girdvainis (1993-01-19) 19 January 1993 42 0 Lithuania Kauno Žalgiris
5 2DF Kipras Kažukolovas (2000-11-20) November 20, 2000 2 0 Lithuania Žalgiris
6 2DF Vilius Armalas (2000-07-21) July 21, 2000 2 0 Lithuania Hegelmann
13 2DF Justas Lasickas (1997-10-06) 6 October 1997 40 2 Slovenia Olimpija Ljubljana
17 2DF Pijus Širvys (1998-04-01) April 1, 1998 4 0 Lithuania Panevėžys
24 2DF Rolandas Baravykas (1995-08-23) 23 August 1995 34 2 Romania Farul Constanța

7 3MF Gratas Sirgėdas (1994-12-17) 17 December 1994 15 5 Lithuania Kauno Žalgiris
8 3MF Eligijus Jankauskas (1998-06-22) 22 June 1998 3 0 Lithuania Šiauliai
10 3MF Fedor Černych (captain) (1991-05-21) 21 May 1991 82 12 Cyprus AEL Limassol
11 3MF Arvydas Novikovas (1990-12-18) 18 December 1990 87 12 Israel Hapoel Haifa
14 3MF Vykintas Slivka (1995-04-29) 29 April 1995 56 3 Greece Lamia
15 3MF Gvidas Gineitis (2004-04-15) April 15, 2004 4 0 Italy Torino
18 3MF Daniel Romanovskij (1996-06-19) 19 June 1996 8 0 Lithuania Šiauliai
20 3MF Domantas Šimkus (1996-02-10) 10 February 1996 30 0 Slovenia Mura
21 3MF Klaudijus Upstas (1994-10-30) October 30, 1994 3 0 Lithuania Hegelmann
22 3MF Paulius Golubickas (1999-08-19) 19 August 1999 21 1 Lithuania Žalgiris

9 4FW Karolis Laukžemis (1992-03-11) 11 March 1992 31 2 Lithuania Banga
19 4FW Gytis Paulauskas (1999-09-27) 27 September 1999 3 0 Albania Egnatia

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Edvinas Gertmonas INJ (1997-05-13) 13 May 1997 4 0 Lithuania Žalgiris  Estonia, 19 November 2022
GK Ignas Plūkas (1993-12-08) 8 December 1993 1 0 Lithuania Kauno Žalgiris  Estonia, 19 November 2022
GK Marius Adamonis (1997-05-13) 13 May 1997 1 0 Italy Lazio  Estonia, 19 November 2022
GK Ernestas Šetkus RET (1985-05-25) 25 May 1985 38 0 Retired  Turkey, 14 June 2022

DF Saulius Mikoliūnas RET (1984-05-02) 2 May 1984 101 5 Lithuania Žalgiris  Estonia, 19 November 2022
DF Artemijus Tutyškinas INJ (2003-08-08) 8 August 2003 4 0 Poland ŁKS Łódź  Estonia, 19 November 2022
DF Natanas Žebrauskas (2002-02-18) February 18, 2002 3 0 Germany Greuther Fürth  Estonia, 19 November 2022
DF Benas Šatkus (2001-04-01) 1 April 2001 14 0 Lithuania Banga  Luxembourg, 25 September 2022
DF Dominykas Barauskas INJ (1997-04-18) 18 April 1997 11 0 Poland Stal Mielec  Luxembourg, 25 September 2022
DF Edgaras Utkus INJ (2000-06-22) 22 June 2000 10 0 Belgium Cercle Brugge  Turkey, 14 June 2022

MF Modestas Vorobjovas INJ (1995-12-30) 30 December 1995 27 1 Romania Chindia Târgoviște  Estonia,19 November 2022
MF Tomas Kalinauskas (2000-04-27) April 27, 2000 2 0 Netherlands Den Bosch  Estonia, 19 November 2022
MF Linas Mėgelaitis (1998-09-09) 9 September 1998 15 1 Italy Viterbese  Luxembourg, 25 September 2022
MF Titas Milašius (2000-12-12) December 12, 2000 5 0 Poland Podbeskidzie  Luxembourg, 25 September 2022
MF Deividas Dovydaitis (2003-01-26) January 26, 2003 0 0 Lithuania Banga  Luxembourg, 25 September 2022
MF Artūr Dolžnikov (2000-06-06) June 6, 2000 4 0 Lithuania Kauno Žalgiris  Luxembourg, 25 September 2022
MF Donatas Kazlauskas (1994-03-31) 31 March 1994 33 2 Lithuania Žalgiris  Turkey, 14 June 2022
MF Vilius Armanavičius (1995-05-08) 8 May 1995 6 0 Kazakhstan Caspiy  Turkey, 14 June 2022
MF Karolis Uzėla (2000-03-11) 11 March 2000 4 0 Latvia RFS  Turkey, 14 June 2022
MF Giedrius Matulevičius (1997-03-05) 5 March 1997 3 0 Lithuania Hegelmann  Turkey, 14 June 2022
MF Nauris Petkevičius (2000-02-19) February 19, 2000 2 0 Lithuania Žalgiris  Turkey, 7 June 2022
MF Gustas Jarusevičius (2003-05-23) May 23, 2003 0 0 Lithuania Žalgiris Training camp, 1 June 2022

FW Augustinas Klimavičius INJ (2001-04-27) April 27, 2001 6 1 Lithuania Hegelmann  Estonia, 19 November 2022
FW Armandas Kučys (2003-02-27) 27 February 2003 4 0 Sweden Kalmar FF  Estonia, 19 November 2022
FW Ignas Kružikas (1998-12-14) December 14, 1998 3 0 Romania Miercurea Ciuc  Turkey, 14 June 2022

Notes
  • PRE = Preliminary squad.
  • WD = The player withdrew from the current squad due to non-injury issue.
  • INJ = It is not part of the current squad due to injury.
  • RET = Retired from the national team.

Player records

As of 25 March 2023[9]
Players in bold are still active with Lithuania.

Most appearances

Saulius Mikoliūnas is Lithuania's most capped player with 101 appearances.
Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1 Saulius Mikoliūnas 101 5 2004–2022
2 Arvydas Novikovas 87 12 2010–present
3 Andrius Skerla 84 1 1996–2011
4 Fedor Černych 82 12 2012–present
Deividas Šemberas 82 0 1996–2013
6 Tomas Danilevičius 71 19 1998–2012
7 Žydrūnas Karčemarskas 66 0 2003–2013
8 Aurelijus Skarbalius 65 5 1991–2005
Marius Stankevičius 65 5 2001–2013
10 Deividas Česnauskis 64 4 2001–2016

Top goalscorers

Tomas Danilevičius is Lithuania's top scorer with 19 goals.
Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Tomas Danilevičius 19 71 0.27 1998–2012
2 Antanas Lingis 12 33 0.36 1928–1938
Fedor Černych 12 82 0.16 2012–present
Arvydas Novikovas 12 87 0.15 2010–present
5 Edgaras Jankauskas 10 56 0.18 1991–2008
6 Virginijus Baltušnikas 9 42 0.21 1990–1998
7 Jaroslavas Citavičius 8 24 0.33 1926–1933
Valdas Ivanauskas 8 28 0.29 1992–2000
Darius Maciulevičius 8 38 0.21 1991–2005
Robertas Poškus 8 48 0.17 1999–2011

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Was not invited
Italy 1934 Did not qualify 1 0 0 1 0 2
France 1938 2 0 0 2 3 9
Brazil 1950 Part of the  Soviet Union Part of the  Soviet Union
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962
England 1966
Mexico 1970
West Germany 1974
Argentina 1978
Spain 1982
Mexico 1986
Italy 1990
United States 1994 Did not qualify 12 2 3 7 8 21
France 1998 10 5 2 3 11 8
South Korea Japan 2002 8 0 2 6 3 20
Germany 2006 10 2 4 4 8 9
South Africa 2010 10 4 0 6 10 11
Brazil 2014 10 3 2 5 9 11
Russia 2018 10 1 3 6 7 20
Qatar 2022 8 1 0 7 4 19
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/11 81 18 16 47 63 130

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record Qualifying record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
France 1960 Part of the  Soviet Union Part of the  Soviet Union
Spain 1964
Italy 1968
Belgium 1972
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976
Italy 1980
France 1984
West Germany 1988
Sweden 1992
England 1996 Did not qualify 10 5 1 4 13 12
Belgium Netherlands 2000 10 3 2 5 8 16
Portugal 2004 8 3 1 4 7 11
Austria Switzerland 2008 12 5 1 6 11 13
Poland Ukraine 2012 8 1 2 5 4 13
France 2016 10 3 1 6 7 18
European Union 2020 8 0 1 7 5 25
Germany 2024 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/7 66 20 9 37 55 108

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season** Division Group Pld W D* L GF GA P/R RK
2018–19 C 4 6006316Same position39th
2020–21 C 4 622257Same position41st
2022–23 C 1 6015214TBA47th
Total 18 2 3 13 10 37 47th
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
**Group stage played home and away. Flag shown represents host nation for the finals stage.

Baltic Cup

Honours

Baltic Cup

Head-to-head record

As of 31 March 2021.

See also

References

  1. "Vykdomojo komiteto posėdyje patvirtinti Lietuvos nacionalinių rinktinių treneriai". Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  2. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  3. "MATCHES → international football results of Lithuania". eufootball.info. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  4. "International football MATCH: 13.10.1940 Lithuania v Latvia*". eufootball.info. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  5. "International football MATCH: 27.05.1990 Georgia v Lithuania". eufootball.info. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  6. FIFA World Cup Archived 30 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine uefa.com
  7. "Įvyko LFF Vykdomojo komiteto posėdis". LFF (in Lithuanian). 30 January 2023. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  8. "Patvirtinta Nacionalinės Vyrų Rinktinės Sudėtis" (in Lithuanian). futbolas.lt. 24 March 2023. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  9. Mamrud, Roberto. "Lithuania - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.