Lithuania national football team

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.

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

Lithuania
Nickname(s)Rinktine (National team)
AssociationLithuanian Football Federation
(Lietuvos futbolo federacija – LFF)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachValdas Urbonas
CaptainFedor Černych
Most capsAndrius Skerla, Saulius Mikoliūnas (84)
Top scorerTomas Danilevičius (19)
Home stadiumLFF Stadium
FIFA codeLTU
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 131 (16 July 2020)[1]
Highest37 (October 2008)
Lowest148 (November 2017)
First international
Lithuania 0–5 Estonia 
(Kaunas, Lithuania; 24 June 1923)
Biggest win
Lithuania 7–0 Estonia 
(Riga, Latvia; 20 May 1995)
Biggest defeat
 Egypt 10–0 Lithuania
(Paris, France; 27 May 1924)

Although Lithuania has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, nor the UEFA European Championship, they have successfully participated in the local sub-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. Despite this Lithuania holds the record for winning the most consecutive Baltic Cup championships, four titles in a row from 1996 to 2000.

Since 2012 the national team has 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.[2] 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.[3]

Lithuania's first game following the declaration of independence in 1990 was a 2–2 draw against Georgia in Tbilisi on 27 May 1990.[4] 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."[5] It was followed by another successful 2–0 performance against Austria in Marijampolė on 10 September 2008.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup record
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 Did not qualify 1 0 0 1 0 2
1938 2 0 0 2 3 9
1950 Occupied by the  Soviet Union Occupied by the  Soviet Union
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994 Did not qualify 12 2 3 7 8 21
1998 10 5 2 3 11 8
2002 8 0 2 6 3 20
2006 10 2 4 4 8 9
2010 10 4 0 6 10 11
2014 10 3 2 5 9 11
2018 10 1 3 6 7 20
2022 To be determined To be determined
2026
Total 0/10 73 17 16 40 59 111

UEFA European Championship record
UEFA European Championship record UEFA European Championship qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D * L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1960 Occupied by the  Soviet Union Occupied by the  Soviet Union
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996 Did not qualify 10 5 1 4 13 12
2000 10 3 2 5 8 16
2004 8 3 1 4 7 11
2008 12 5 1 6 11 13
2012 8 1 2 5 4 13
2016 10 3 1 6 7 18
2020 8 0 1 7 5 25
2024 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/7 66 20 9 37 55 108

Recent results and upcoming fixtures
Main article: Lithuania national football team results
DateVenueOpponentResultGoalscorer(s)CaptainCompetition
2019
7 September 2019Vilnius, Lithuania Ukraine0–3Fedor ČernychUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
10 September 2019Vilnius, Lithuania Portugal1–5Vytautas AndriuškevičiusErnestas ŠetkusUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
11 October 2019Kharkiv, Ukraine Ukraine2–0Saulius MikoliūnasUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
14 October 2019Vilnius, Lithuania Serbia1–2Donatas KazlauskasSaulius MikoliūnasUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
14 November 2019Faro, Portugal Portugal6–0Saulius MikoliūnasUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
17 November 2019Vilnius, Lithuania New Zealand1–0Arvydas NovikovasSaulius MikoliūnasInternational friendly
2020
27 March 2020Almaty, Kazakhstan KazakhstancanceledInternational friendly
3 June 2020Vilnius, Lithuania Estonia2020 Baltic Cup
6 June 2020Latvia Latvia2020 Baltic Cup
4 September 2020Vilnius, Lithuania Kazakhstan2020–21 UEFA Nations League
7 September 2020Tirana, Albania Albania2020–21 UEFA Nations League
7 October 2020Tallinn, Estonia EstoniaInternational friendly
11 October 2020Vilnius, Lithuania Belarus2020–21 UEFA Nations League
14 October 2020Vilnius, Lithuania Albania2020–21 UEFA Nations League
11 November 2020Vilnius, Lithuania Faroe IslandsInternational friendly
15 November 2020Minsk, Belarus Belarus2020–21 UEFA Nations League
18 November 2020Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan Kazakhstan2020–21 UEFA Nations League

FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying
Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group F

{{2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group F|show_matches=yes|showteam=LTU}}

Euro 2020 qualification
Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Ukraine 8 6 2 0 17 4 +13 20 Qualify for final tournament — 2–1 5–0 1–0 2–0
2  Portugal 8 5 2 1 22 6 +16 17 0–0 — 1–1 3–0 6–0
3  Serbia 8 4 2 2 17 17 0 14 2–2 2–4 — 3–2 4–1
4  Luxembourg 8 1 1 6 7 16 −9 4 1–2 0–2 1–3 — 2–1
5  Lithuania 8 0 1 7 5 25 −20 1 0–3 1–5 1–2 1–1 —
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Personnel

Current coaching staff
Position Name
Head coach Valdas Urbonas
Assistant coach Andrius Skerla
Fitness coach Šarūnas Bičiušas
Goalkeeping coach Justinas Gasiūnas
Analyst Lukas Žėkas

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match against Portugal on 14 November and the Friendly Match against New Zealand on 17 November 2019.[6]

Caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2019, after the game against New Zealand.
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
16 1GK Ernestas Šetkus (1985-05-25) 25 May 1985 30 0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
1 1GK Emilijus Zubas (1990-07-10) 10 July 1990 14 0 Bnei Yehuda
12 1GK Vytautas Černiauskas (1989-03-12) 12 March 1989 6 0 CSKA Sofia
13 2DF Saulius Mikoliūnas (Vice-captain) (1984-05-02) 2 May 1984 84 5 Žalgiris
8 2DF Egidijus Vaitkūnas (1988-08-08) 8 August 1988 44 0 Kauno Žalgiris
19 2DF Vytautas Andriuškevičius (1990-10-08) 8 October 1990 34 1 Tobol
2 2DF Linas Klimavičius (1989-04-10) 10 April 1989 27 0 Dinamo București
4 2DF Edvinas Girdvainis (1993-01-19) 19 January 1993 22 0 RFS
23 2DF Rolandas Baravykas (1995-08-23) 23 August 1995 19 1 Žalgiris
5 2DF Algis Jankauskas (1982-09-27) 27 September 1982 13 0 Sūduva
3 2DF Markus Palionis (1987-05-12) 12 May 1987 9 0 Jahn Regensburg
6 2DF Benas Šatkus (2001-04-01) 1 April 2001 1 0 1.FC Nürnberg
11 3MF Arvydas Novikovas (1990-12-18) 18 December 1990 58 8 Legia Warsaw
21 3MF Vykintas Slivka (1995-04-29) 29 April 1995 39 2 Hibernian
17 3MF Mantas Kuklys (1987-06-10) 10 June 1987 38 0 Zhetysu
18 3MF Donatas Kazlauskas (1994-03-31) 31 March 1994 14 1 Riteriai
14 3MF Justas Lasickas (1997-10-06) 6 October 1997 11 0 Voždovac
20 3MF Domantas Šimkus (1996-02-10) 10 February 1996 9 0 Žalgiris
10 3MF Paulius Golubickas (1999-08-19) 19 August 1999 7 0 Sūduva
15 3MF Giedrius Matulevičius (1997-03-05) 5 March 1997 3 0 Sūduva
7 3MF Julius Kasparavičius (1995-04-03) 3 April 1995 0 0 Narva Trans
22 4FW Fedor Černych (Captain) (1991-05-21) 21 May 1991 55 9 Orenburg
9 4FW Deivydas Matulevičius (1989-04-08) 8 April 1989 40 5 Kauno Žalgiris
21 4FW Nerijus Valskis (1987-08-04) 4 August 1987 24 1 Jamshedpur

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 Džiugas Bartkus (1989-11-07) 7 November 1989 5 0 Ironi Kiryat Shmona v.  Serbia, 14 October 2019
GK Marius Adamonis (1997-05-13) 13 May 1997 0 0 Catanzaro 1929 v.  Serbia, 14 October 2019
GK Tomas Švedkauskas (1994-06-22) 22 June 1994 1 0 Lommel v.  Ukraine, 7 September 2019 PRE
DF Vytas Gašpuitis (1994-03-04) 4 March 1994 0 0 Panevėžys v.  Ukraine, 7 September 2019 PRE
MF Artūras Žulpa (1990-06-10) 10 June 1990 39 1 Tobol v.  Portugal, 14 November 2019 INJ
MF Modestas Vorobjovas (1995-12-30) 30 December 1995 17 0 Žalgiris v.  Portugal, 14 November 2019 INJ
MF Ovidijus Verbickas (1993-07-04) 4 July 1993 16 1 Sūduva v.  Serbia, 14 October 2019
MF Deimantas Petravičius (1995-09-02) 2 September 1995 15 1 unattached v.  Portugal, 10 September 2019
FW Karolis Laukžemis (1992-03-11) 11 March 1992 12 1 Istra 1961 v.  Serbia, 14 October 2019
FW Matas Vareika (2000-01-27) 27 January 2000 0 0 Žalgiris v.  Ukraine, 7 September 2019 PRE

INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary / standby.
RET Player retired from the national team.
SUS Player is serving suspension.
WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Statistics

Top 10 Lithuania goalscorers

As of 17 November 2019, the ten highest scorers for Lithuania are:

# Player Career Goals (Caps) Avg/game
1 Tomas Danilevičius 1998–2012 19 0 (71) 0.267
2 Antanas Lingis 1928–1938 12 0 (33) 0.363
3 Edgaras Jankauskas 1991–2008 10 0 (56) 0.178
4 Virginijus Baltušnikas 1990–1998 9 0 (42) 0.214
Fedor Černych 2012– 9 0 (55) 0.164
6 Jaroslavas Citavičius 1926–1933 8 0 (24) 0.333
Valdas Ivanauskas 1990–2000 8 0 (28) 0.285
Darius Maciulevičius 1991–2005 8 0 (38) 0.210
Robertas Poškus 1999–2011 8 0 (48) 0.166
Arvydas Novikovas 2010– 8 0 (58) 0.138
  • Bold denotes players still playing international football.

Top 10 most capped Lithuania players

As of 17 November 2019, the ten players with the most caps for Lithuania are:

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Saulius Mikoliūnas 2004– 84 5
Andrius Skerla 1996–2011 84 1
3 Deividas Šemberas 1996–2013 82 0
4 Tomas Danilevičius 1998–2012 71 19
5 Žydrūnas Karčemarskas 2003–2013 66 0
6 Aurelijus Skarbalius 1991–2005 65 5
Marius Stankevičius 2001–2013 65 5
8 Deividas Česnauskis 2001–2018 64 4
9 Gintaras Staučė 1992–2004 61 0
10 Arvydas Novikovas 2010– 58 8
  • Bold denotes players still playing international football.

All-time head-to-head record

As of 17 November 2019.

List of managers
Name Nat From To Games Won Drawn Lost GF GA Win%
Benjaminas Zelkevičius 19901991 3 1 2 0 7 4 033.33
Algimantas Liubinskas 19921994 29 7 8 14 29 48 024.14
Benjaminas Zelkevičius 19951997 29 12 6 11 45 41 041.38
Kęstutis Latoža 19981999 18 5 4 9 15 24 027.78
Robertas Tautkus (caretaker) 19991999 1 0 0 1 0 3 000.00
Stasys Stankus 20002000 8 2 0 6 8 18 025.00
Julius Kvedaras (caretaker) 20002000 1 0 0 1 1 6 000.00
Benjaminas Zelkevičius 20012003 19 4 3 12 20 41 021.05
Algimantas Liubinskas 20032008 50 18 6 26 54 65 036.00
José Couceiro 20082009 15 6 3 6 17 15 040.00
Raimondas Žutautas 20102011 16 4 3 9 11 22 025.00
Csaba László 20122013 16 2 4 10 12 28 012.50
Igoris Pankratjevas 20132015 21 5 5 11 14 31 023.81
Edgaras Jankauskas 20162018 26 3 5 18 14 50 011.54
Valdas Urbonas 2019Present 10 1 2 7 6 25 010.00
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See also

References
  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  2. "MATCHES → international football results of Lithuania". eufootball.info. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  3. "International football MATCH: 13.10.1940 Lithuania v Latvia*". eufootball.info. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  4. "International football MATCH: 27.05.1990 Georgia v Lithuania". eufootball.info. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  5. FIFA World Cup uefa.com
  6. LFF.lt (in Lithuanian). Lithuanian Football Federation. 2 October 2019 https://lff.lt/news/8341/paskelbta-sudetis-rungtynems-su-portugalija-ir-naujaja-zelandija/. Retrieved 2 October 2019. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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