Cyprus national football team

The Cyprus national football team (Greek: Εθνική ομάδα ποδοσφαίρου της Κύπρου) represents Cyprus in men's international football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association, the governing body for football in Cyprus. Cyprus' home ground is currently the AEK Arena in Larnaca, and the current coach is Temur Ketsbaia.

Cyprus
AssociationCyprus Football Association (CFA)
Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachTemur Ketsbaia
CaptainKostakis Artymatas
Most capsIoannis Okkas (103)
Top scorerMichalis Konstantinou (32)
Home stadiumAEK Arena
FIFA codeCYP
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 124 Increase 1 (4 April 2024)[1]
Highest43 (September 2010)
Lowest142 (June 2014)
First international
Unofficial:
 Israel 3–1 Cyprus 
(Tel Aviv, Israel; 30 July 1949)
Official:
 Cyprus 1–1 Israel 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 13 November 1960)
Biggest win
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Limassol, Cyprus; 15 November 2000)
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 16 November 2014)
 Cyprus 5–0 San Marino 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 21 March 2019)
Biggest defeat
 West Germany 12–0 Cyprus 
(Essen, West Germany; 21 May 1969)

History

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 by 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 over 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.

Cyprus national team against Bulgaria in 2012.

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.[2]

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.[3] Their qualification run would include an impressive 3–2 home victory over Bosnia.[4]

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 their first three games against Montenegro 0–2, Azerbaijan 0–1 and Luxembourg 2–0 and drew with 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.

The 2022–2023 Nations League ended in another big disappointment for Cyprus. In their opening game, Cyprus lost 2–0 to Kosovo with Kosovo scoring two late second half goals then after a quite good performance failed to score against Northern Ireland with the game ending in a scoreless draw 0-0. In the next game, Cyprus got crushed by Greece 3-0. Cyprus got a 0–2 lead against Northern Ireland with Andronikos Kakoullis scoring twice but Cyprus could not hold the lead as Northern Ireland equalised with a 94th minute goal by Jonny Evans, with Cyprus failing to win for the 4th time in the UEFA Nations League. In spite of all odds being stacked against them, Cyprus pulled off a miracle win against top of the group Greece which had won all their games in the group at Larnaca with an early first half goal from Marinos Tzionis. In the final game of the group, Cyprus was defeated by Kosovo 5-1, finishing in the last place of their group.

Kit

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
Italy Lotto 0000–2000
Italy Errea 2000–2002
England Umbro 2002–2006
Italy Diadora 2006–2008
Germany Adidas 2008–2018
Italy Macron 2018–2022
Italy Errea 2022–present

Home stadium

Since late 2021, Cyprus have played their home matches at the Georgios Karapatakis 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 however have not played there since September 2021.

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

2023
17 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Cyprus  1–2  Georgia Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45 UTC+3
  • Pittas 40' (pen.)
 Report
Stadium: AEK Arena
Attendance: 3,763
Referee: Fábio Veríssimo (Portugal)
20 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Norway  3–1  Cyprus Oslo, Norway
20:45 UTC+2
Report
Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion
Attendance: 23,643
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)
8 September 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Cyprus  0–3  Scotland Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45 UTC+3 Report
Stadium: AEK Arena
Attendance: 6,633
Referee: Balázs Berke (Hungary)
12 September 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Spain  6–0  Cyprus Granada, Spain
20:45 UTC+2
Report Stadium: Nuevo Los Cármenes
Attendance: 17,311
Referee: Simone Sozza (Italy)
12 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Cyprus  0–4  Norway Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45 UTC+3 Report
Stadium: AEK Arena
Attendance: 7,206
Referee: Donatas Rumšas (Lithuania)
15 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Georgia  4–0  Cyprus Tbilisi, Georgia
17:00 UTC+4
Report Stadium: Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena
Attendance: 15,871
Referee: Rob Jones (England)
16 November 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Cyprus  1–3  Spain Limassol, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2
  • Pileas 75'
 Report
Stadium: Alphamega Stadium
Attendance: 9,667
Referee: Mykola Balakin (Ukraine)
19 November 2023 Friendly Cyprus  1–0  Lithuania Limassol, Cyprus
18:00 UTC+2
  • Pittas 22'
 Report Stadium: Alphamega Stadium
Attendance: 1,169
Referee: Marcel Birsan (Romania)

2024
21 March 2024 Friendly Cyprus  1–1  Latvia Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2
  • Pittas 34'
 Report
  • Cigaņiks 85'
 Stadium: AEK Arena
Referee: Lukas Fähndrich (Switzerland)
25 March 2024 Friendly Cyprus  0–1  Serbia Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2 Report
Stadium: AEK Arena
Referee: Marco Di Bello (Italy)
8 June 2024 Friendly Moldova  v  Cyprus Chișinău, Moldova
19:00 UTC+3 Report Stadium: Zimbru Stadium
11 June 2024 Friendly San Marino  v  Cyprus Serravalle, San Marino
18:00 UTC+2 Report Stadium: San Marino Stadium
6 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League Lithuania  v  Cyprus Lithuania
20:45
9 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League Cyprus  v  Kosovo Cyprus
21:45
12 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League Cyprus  v  Romania Cyprus
21:45
15 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League Kosovo  v  Cyprus Kosovo
20:45
15 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League Cyprus  v  Lithuania Cyprus
21:45
18 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League Romania  v  Cyprus Romania
21:45

Coaching staff
Manager Georgia (country) Temur Ketsbaia
Assistant Manager Georgia (country) Mamuka Chakvetadze
Assistant Manager Georgia (country) Aleksandre Chanturishvili
Goalkeeping Coach Georgia (country) Irakli Kuchava
Physical Trainer Georgia (country) Giorgi Papunashvili
Match Analyst Georgia (country) Davit Arveladze

Coaching history
As of 12 July 2022.[5][6]
  • Greece Argyrios Gavalas (1960–1967)
  • Cyprus Pambos Avraamidis (1968–1969)
  • England Ray Wood (1970–1971)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sima Milovanov (1972)
  • Cyprus Pambos Avraamidis (1972–1974)
  • Cyprus Panikos Iakovou (1974)
  • Cyprus Pambos Avraamidis (1975)
  • Cyprus Kostas Talianos (1976)
  • Cyprus Panikos Krystallis (1976–1977)
  • Cyprus Andreas Lazarides (1977)
  • Cyprus Kostas Talianos (1978–1982)
  • Bulgaria Vasil Spasov (1982–1984)
  • Cyprus Panikos Iakovou (1984–1987)
  • Cyprus Takis Charalambous (1987)
  • Cyprus Panikos Iakovou (1988–1991)
  • Cyprus Andreas Michaelides (1991–1996)
  • Cyprus Stavros Papadopoulos (1997)
  • Cyprus Panikos Georgiou (1997–1999)
  • Cyprus Stavros Papadopoulos (1999–2001)
  • Cyprus Takis Charalambous (2001)
  • Serbia and Montenegro Momčilo Vukotić (2001–2004)
  • Greece Angelos Anastasiadis (2005–2011)
  • Greece Nikos Nioplias (2011–2013)
  • Cyprus Pambos Christodoulou (2014–2015)
  • Cyprus Christakis Christoforou (2015–2017)
  • Israel Ran Ben Shimon (2017–2020)
  • Belgium Johan Walem (2020–2021)
  • Greece Nikos Kostenoglou (2021–2022)
  • Georgia (country) Temur Ketsbaia (2022–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against  Spain and friendly game against  Lithuania on 16 and 19 November 2023, respectively.[7]

Caps and goals updated as of 19 November 2023, after the match against  Lithuania.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Constantinos Panagi (1994-10-08) 8 October 1994 28 0 Cyprus Omonia
13 1GK Demetris Demetriou (1999-01-15) 15 January 1999 9 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
22 1GK Joël Mall (1991-04-05) 5 April 1991 6 0 Switzerland Servette
2 2DF Andreas Karo (1996-09-09) 9 September 1996 20 1 Greece OFI
4 2DF Nicholas Ioannou (1995-11-10) 10 November 1995 46 2 Italy Como
7 2DF Anderson Correia (1991-05-06) 6 May 1991 5 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
14 2DF Kostas Pileas (1998-12-11) 11 December 1998 4 1 Greece Panserraikos
16 2DF Stelios Andreou (2002-07-24) 24 July 2002 15 0 Belgium Charleroi
18 2DF Nikolas Panayiotou (2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 11 0 Cyprus Omonia
19 2DF Konstantinos Laifis (1993-05-19) 19 May 1993 55 3 Belgium Standard Liège
3 3MF Hector Kyprianou (2001-05-27) 27 May 2001 4 0 England Peterborough United
5 3MF Charalampos Charalampous (2002-04-04) 4 April 2002 12 1 Cyprus Omonia
6 3MF Alex Gogić (1994-04-13) 13 April 1994 26 0 Scotland St Mirren
8 3MF Ioannis Kousoulos (1996-06-14) 14 June 1996 38 4 Cyprus Omonia
12 3MF Charalambos Kyriakou (1995-02-09) 9 February 1995 54 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
15 3MF Danilo Špoljarić (1999-07-14) 14 July 1999 10 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
20 3MF Grigoris Kastanos (1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 51 4 Italy Salernitana
9 4FW Ioannis Pittas (1996-07-10) 10 July 1996 36 4 Sweden AIK
10 4FW Loizos Loizou (2003-07-18) 18 July 2003 27 1 Netherlands Heerenveen
11 4FW Andronikos Kakoullis (2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 19 3 Cyprus Omonia
21 4FW Stavros Gavriel (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 1 0 Cyprus APOEL
23 4FW Constantinos Elia (2000-10-25) 25 October 2000 0 0 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna

Recent call-ups

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 Neofytos Michael (1993-12-16) 16 December 1993 15 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF Andreas Panayiotou Filiotis (1995-05-31) 31 May 1995 7 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol v.  Spain, 16 November 2023
DF Marios Antoniades (1990-05-14) 14 May 1990 25 0 Cyprus Doxa Katokopias v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF Minas Antoniou (1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 20 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF Pavlos Correa (1998-07-14) 14 July 1998 4 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF Valentin Roberge (1987-06-09) 9 June 1987 5 1 Cyprus AEK Larnaca v.  Spain, 12 September 2023
DF Constantinos Sergiou (2000-10-02) 2 October 2000 0 0 Cyprus Nea Salamis Famagusta v.  Norway, 20 June 2023
MF Michalis Ioannou (2000-06-30) 30 June 2000 7 1 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Spain, 12 September 2023
MF Giannis Satsias (2002-12-28) 28 December 2002 2 0 Cyprus APOEL v.  Norway, 20 June 2023
FW Marios Elia (1996-05-19) 19 May 1996 13 1 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna v.  Spain, 16 November 2023
FW Demetris Christofi (1988-09-28) 28 September 1988 71 9 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna v.  Georgia, 15 October 2023
FW Marinos Tzionis (2001-07-16) 16 July 2001 24 2 United States Sporting Kansas City v.  Spain, 12 September 2023
FW Pieros Sotiriou (1993-01-13) 13 January 1993 59 12 Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima v.  Spain, 12 September 2023
  • INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
  • PRE Preliminary squad.
  • RET Retired from international football.
  • SUS Suspended

Player records
As of 19 November 2023[8]
Players in bold are still active with Cyprus.

Most appearances
Ioannis Okkas is Cyprus' most capped player with 103 appearances.
Rank Name Caps Goals Career
1 Ioannis Okkas 103 27 1997–2011
2 Constantinos Charalambidis 93 12 2003–2017
3 Michalis Konstantinou 84 32 1997–2012
4 Pambos Pittas 82 7 1987–1999
5 Constantinos Makrides 77 5 2004–2016
6 Nicos Panayiotou 74 0 1994–2006
7 Demetris Christofi 72 9 2008–present
8 Elias Charalambous 69 0 2002–2017
Chrysis Michael 69 7 2000–2017
Giorgos Theodotou 69 0 1996–2008

Top goalscorers
Rank Name Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Michalis Konstantinou 32 86 0.37 1997–2012
2 Ioannis Okkas 27 103 0.26 1997–2011
3 Pieros Sotiriou 12 60 0.2 2012–present
Constantinos Charalambidis 12 93 0.13 2003–2017
5 Efstathios Aloneftis 10 62 0.11 2005–2017
6 Marios Agathokleous 9 38 0.24 1994–2003
Demetris Christofi 9 72 0.13 2008–present
8 Fivos Vrahimis 8 18 0.44 1977–1982
Milenko Špoljarić 8 21 0.38 1997–2001
Siniša Gogić 8 37 0.22 1994–1999
Andreas Sotiriou 8 39 0.21 1991–1999

Competitive record

All-time record
As of 19 November 2023
Competition Played Won Draw Lost GF GA
FIFA World Cup qualification12416159391320
European Championship qualification122191588101316
Friendly matches133373363140200
UEFA Nations League2046101331
Total3997669255345867

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 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950 Did not enter Did not enter
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958 Withdrew Withdrew
Chile 1962 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 2 7
England 1966 4 0 0 4 0 19
Mexico 1970 6 0 0 6 2 35
West Germany 1974 6 1 0 5 1 14
Argentina 1978 6 0 0 6 3 24
Spain 1982 8 0 0 8 4 29
Mexico 1986 6 0 0 6 3 18
Italy 1990 8 0 1 7 6 20
United States 1994 10 2 1 7 8 18
France 1998 8 3 1 4 10 15
South Korea Japan 2002 10 2 2 6 13 31
Germany 2006 10 1 1 8 8 20
South Africa 2010 10 2 3 5 14 16
Brazil 2014 10 1 2 7 4 15
Russia 2018 10 3 1 6 9 18
Qatar 2022 10 1 2 7 4 21
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/19 124 16 15 93 91 320

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 Not a UEFA member Not a UEFA member
Spain 1964 Did not enter Did not enter
Italy 1968 Did not qualify 6105325
Belgium 1972 6006226
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 6006016
Italy 1980 6015219
France 1984 8026421
West Germany 1988 8017316
Sweden 1992 8008225
England 1996 10145620
Belgium Netherlands 2000 84041221
Portugal 2004 8224918
Austria Switzerland 2008 124261724
Poland Ukraine 2012 8026720
France 2016 104061617
Europe 2020 103161520
Germany 2024 8008328
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 2028 To be determined To be determined
Italy Turkey 2032
Total0/16 122191588101316

UEFA Nations League
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 Same position 36th
2020–21 C 1 8 2 2 4 4 10 Same position 46th
2022–23 C 2 6 1 2 3 4 12 Same position 45th
2024–25 C 2 To be determined
Total 20 4 6 10 13 31 36th

Head-to-head record

As of 25 March 2024.

  Positive record   Neutral record   Negative record

References
Notes
    Citation
    1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
    2. uefa.com (13 October 2015). "Bosnia and Herzegovina in play-offs, Cyprus out". Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
    3. FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – Qualifiers – Europe". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015.
    4. "Cyprus vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina – Football Match Summary – August 31, 2017 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
    5. "Cyprus Football Association – Εθνική Ανδρών: Προπονητές". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
    6. "Cyprus National Team Coaches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
    7. "The call for the matches against Spain and Lithuania". CFA (in Greek).
    8. Mamrud, Roberto. "Cyprus – Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
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