Liechtenstein 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. 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.
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Nickname(s) | The Blues-Reds | ||
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Association | Liechtenstein Football Association (Liechtensteiner Fussballverband) | ||
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
Head coach | Helgi Kolviðsson | ||
Captain | Martin Büchel | ||
Most caps | Peter Jehle (132) | ||
Top scorer | Mario Frick (16) | ||
Home stadium | Rheinpark Stadion | ||
FIFA code | LIE | ||
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FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 180 ![]() | ||
Highest | 118 (January 2008, July 2011, September 2011) | ||
Lowest | 191 (July 2017) | ||
First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Daejeon, South Korea; 14 June 1981) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 13 October 2004) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Eschen, Liechtenstein; 9 November 1996) |
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. 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.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4] They produced a shock 2–0 win at home against Lithuania; their goals were scored by Philippe Erne and Michele Polverino.[4] In the following qualifying game, they managed a scoreless draw away to Lithuania.[4]
In 2018, Liechtenstein entered the first ever UEFA Nations League, in group 4 of league D.[5] Their first Nations League match saw Armenia beat them 2–0 away. Liechtenstein were able to claim their first Nations League victory, beating Gibraltar 2–0.[6]
Liechtenstein all-time record against all nations
Against | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 |
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2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -4 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 |
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9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 36 | −35 |
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5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | −4 |
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8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 31 | −29 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 |
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3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | −13 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 |
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5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 10 | −8 |
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5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 11 | −8 |
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5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 27 | −24 |
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3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 |
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5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | −7 |
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3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | −10 |
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7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 16 | −11 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | −7 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 20 | −20 |
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9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 15 | −11 |
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6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | −5 |
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3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 |
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3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | −7 |
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2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 |
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9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 33 | −28 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 17 | −11 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 |
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7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 35 | −32 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 |
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4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 14 | −14 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 26 | −25 |
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5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 15 | −14 |
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4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 |
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9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 26 | −25 |
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8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 39 | −39 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 | −9 |
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8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 21 | −20 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | −8 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 |
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3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | −8 |
Total | 194 | 13 | 24 | 157 | 81 | 560 | −474 |
Competitive record
World Cup record
Year | Round | Position | W | D | L | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() | Did not enter | ||||||
![]() | Did not qualify | 6th, last (qualifying) | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 52 |
![]() ![]() | 5th, last (qualifying) | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 23 | |
![]() | 6th out of 7 (qualifying) | 2 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 23 | |
![]() | 6th, last (qualifying) | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 23 | |
![]() | 6th, last (qualifying) | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 25 | |
![]() | 6th, last (qualifying) | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 39 | |
![]() | To be determined | To be determined | – | – | – | – | – |
![]() ![]() ![]() | To be determined | To be determined | – | – | – | – | – |
Total | 0/21 | 2 | 6 | 52 | 23 | 185 |
European Championship record
Year | Round | Position | W | D | L | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() | Did not enter | ||||||
![]() | Did not qualify | 6th, last (qualifying) | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 40 |
![]() ![]() | 6th, last (qualifying) | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 39 | |
![]() | 5th, last (qualifying) | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 22 | |
![]() ![]() | 7th, last (qualifying) | 2 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 32 | |
![]() ![]() | 5th, last (qualifying) | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 17 | |
![]() | 5th out of 6 (qualifying) | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 26 | |
![]() | 6th, last (qualifying) | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 31 | |
Total | 0/16 | 5 | 9 | 54 | 20 | 190 |
Recent results and forthcoming fixtures
2019
5 September 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying | Bosnia and Herzegovina ![]() | 5–0 | ![]() | Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
20:45 | Report | Stadium: Bilino Polje Stadium Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden) |
8 September 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying | Greece ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Heraklion, Greece |
20:45 |
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Report |
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Stadium: Pankritio Stadium Referee: Alexander Harkam (Austria) |
12 October 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying | Liechtenstein ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
20:45 |
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Report |
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Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: István Kovács (Romania) |
15 October 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying | Liechtenstein ![]() | 0–5 | ![]() | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00) | Report |
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Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia) |
15 November 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying | Finland ![]() | 3–0 | ![]() | Helsinki, Finland |
18:00 | Report | Stadium: Telia 5G Areena Referee: Benoît Bastien (France) |
18 November 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying | Liechtenstein ![]() | 0–3 | ![]() | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00) | Report | Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Halis Özkahya (Turkey) |
2020
8 September 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League | San Marino ![]() | v | ![]() | Serravalle, San Marino |
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00) | Stadium: San Marino Stadium |
7 October 2020 Friendly | Luxembourg ![]() | v | ![]() | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg |
TBD | Stadium: Stade Josy Barthel |
10 October 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League | Liechtenstein ![]() | v | ![]() | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00) | Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion |
13 October 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League | Liechtenstein ![]() | v | ![]() | Vaduz, Liechtenstein |
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00) | Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion |
11 November 2020 Friendly | Malta ![]() | v | ![]() | Ta' Qali, Malta |
TBD | Stadium: National Stadium, Ta' Qali |
17 November 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League | Gibraltar ![]() | v | ![]() | Gibraltar |
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00) | Stadium: Victoria Stadium |
2020 UEFA European Championship qualification
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ![]() |
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1 | ![]() |
10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 | +33 | 30 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 9–1 | 6–0 | |
2 | ![]() |
10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 18 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 14 | −2 | 14 | 0–3 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | ||
4 | ![]() |
10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 13 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 2–2 | — | 2–1 | 5–0 | ||
5 | ![]() |
10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 25 | −11 | 10 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | — | 3–0 | ||
6 | ![]() |
10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 31 | −29 | 2 | 0–5 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | — |
Manager history
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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–)
Players
Current squad
The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Finland and Bosnia and Herzegovina on 15 and 18 November 2019 respectively.[7]
Caps and goals are current as of 18 November 2019 after the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GK | Benjamin Büchel | 4 July 1989 | 29 | 0 | ![]() |
21 | GK | Lorenzo Lo Russo | 8 July 1993 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
12 | GK | Justin Ospelt | 7 September 1999 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
15 | DF | Seyhan Yildiz | 30 April 1989 | 37 | 1 | ![]() |
20 | DF | Sandro Wolfinger | 24 August 1991 | 33 | 2 | ![]() |
3 | DF | Maximilian Göppel | 31 August 1997 | 30 | 1 | ![]() |
2 | DF | Daniel Brändle | 23 January 1992 | 27 | 0 | ![]() |
6 | DF | Andreas Malin | 31 January 1994 | 19 | 0 | ![]() |
DF | Jens Hofer | 1 October 1997 | 6 | 0 | ![]() | |
13 | MF | Martin Büchel (Captain) | 19 February 1987 | 82 | 2 | ![]() |
17 | MF | Robin Gubser | 17 April 1991 | 38 | 1 | ![]() |
8 | MF | Aron Sele | 2 September 1996 | 19 | 0 | ![]() |
14 | MF | Livio Meier | 10 January 1998 | 12 | 0 | ![]() |
19 | MF | Philipp Ospelt | 7 October 1992 | 4 | 0 | ![]() |
5 | MF | Noah Frommelt | 18 December 2000 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
7 | MF | Ridvan Kardesoglu | 12 October 1996 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
16 | MF | Fabio Wolfinger | 5 November 1996 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
4 | MF | Marco Wolfinger | 18 April 1989 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
18 | FW | Nicolas Hasler | 4 May 1991 | 67 | 3 | ![]() |
11 | FW | Dennis Salanović | 26 February 1996 | 41 | 4 | ![]() |
9 | FW | Yanik Frick | 27 May 1998 | 11 | 1 | ![]() |
10 | FW | Noah Frick | 16 October 2001 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
Recent call-ups
The following players were called up in the last 12 months.
Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK | Claudio Majer | 23 March 1996 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Daniel Kaufmann | 22 December 1990 | 57 | 1 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Fabian Eberle | 27 July 1992 | 7 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Sandro Wieser | 3 February 1993 | 53 | 2 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Simon Kühne | April 30, 1994 | 22 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
Notes:
- PRE = Preliminary squad
- INJ = Injured
Player history
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- As of 18 November 2019
Most capped players
Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Years |
---|---|---|---|---|
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 | Martin Büchel | 82 | 2 | 2004– |
7 | Daniel Hasler | 81 | 1 | 1993–2007 |
8 | Michele Polverino | 79 | 6 | 2007–2019 |
9 | Martin Telser | 73 | 1 | 1996–2007 |
10 | Ronny Büchel | 72 | 0 | 1998–2010 |
Top goalscorers
Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Years |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mario Frick | 125 | 16 | 1993–2015 |
2 | Franz Burgmeier | 112 | 9 | 2001–2018 |
3 | Michele Polverino | 79 | 6 | 2007–2019 |
4 | Martin Stocklasa | 113 | 5 | 1996–2014 |
Thomas Beck | 92 | 5 | 1998–2013 | |
6 | Dennis Salanović | 41 | 4 | 2014– |
7 | Nicolas Hasler | 67 | 3 | 2010– |
8 | Martin Büchel | 82 | 2 | 2004– |
Michael Stocklasa | 71 | 2 | 1998–2012 | |
Sandro Wieser | 53 | 2 | 2008– | |
Fabio D'Elia | 50 | 2 | 2001–2010 | |
Mathias Christen | 36 | 2 | 2008–2014 | |
Sandro Wolfinger | 33 | 2 | 2013– | |
Benjamin Fischer | 23 | 2 | 2005–2011 |
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.[8]
References
- "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- Ltd, Allied Newspapers. "Malta beat Liechtenstein 7-1". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- "Liechtenstein and Finland football teams played to a 1:1 draw, 9 September 2009". eu-football.info. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- "Liechtenstein missing goal hero Philippe Erne". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- UEFA.com. "UEFA Nations League - Standings". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- "UEFA league D4".
- https://www.lfv.li/fileadmin/user_upload/Dateien/Nationalmannschaften/A-Nationalmannschaft/Aufgebote-Nationalmannschaft/2019/Aufgebot_WOF-November.pdf
- Stamping Grounds : Exploring Liechtenstein and its World Cup Dream. 2014-06-11. ISBN 9780349141121.
External links
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