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Lithuania national football team

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

Lithuania
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Nacionalinė komanda (National team)
Trispalvės (Tricolours)
AssociationLithuanian Football Federation
(LFF)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachEdgaras Jankauskas
CaptainFedor Černych
Most capsSaulius Mikoliūnas (101)
Top scorerTomas Danilevičius (19)
Home stadiumDarius and Girėnas Stadium
FIFA codeLTU
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 141 Decrease 2 (24 October 2024)[1]
Highest37 (October 2008)
Lowest149 (December 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)
Baltic Cup
Appearances30 (first in 1928)
Best resultChampions (1930, 1935, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2010)

The Lithuania national football team (Lithuanian: Lietuvos nacionalinė futbolo rinktinė) represents Lithuania in men's 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 10 times out of 29 appearances, and 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

[edit]
Lithuanian football team at the 1924 Summer Olympics

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

[edit]
Main article: Lithuania national football team results (2020–present)

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

[edit]
16 November 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Montenegro  2–0  Lithuania Podgorica, Montenegro
20:45 UTC+1
Report Stadium: Podgorica City Stadium
Attendance: 3,647
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)
19 November 2023 Friendly Cyprus  1–0  Lithuania Limassol, Cyprus
18:00 UTC+2
Report Stadium: Alphamega Stadium
Referee: Marcel Birsan (Romania)

2024

[edit]
21 March 2024 Nations League play-out Gibraltar  0–1  Lithuania Faro/Loulé, Portugal
20:45 UTC+1 Report
Stadium: Estádio Algarve
Attendance: 207
Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)
26 March 2024 Nations League play-out Lithuania  1–0
(2–0 agg.)		  Gibraltar Kaunas, Lithuania
19:00 UTC+2
Report Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium
Attendance: 6,102
Referee: Duje Strukan (Croatia)
Note: Lithuania won 2–0 on aggregate and remained in League C, while Gibraltar were relegated to League D.
8 June 2024 2024 Baltic Cup Latvia  0–2  Lithuania Liepāja, Latvia
16:00 UTC+3 Report
Stadium: Daugava Stadium
Attendance: 3,505
Referee: Juri Frischer (Estonia)
11 June 2024 2024 Baltic Cup Lithuania  1–1
(3–4 p)		  Estonia Kaunas, Lithuania
19:00 UTC+3 Matulevicius 84' Report Lepik 82' Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium
Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)
Penalties
6 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League Lithuania  0–1  Cyprus Kaunas, Lithuania
20:45 Report
Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium
Attendance: 4,905
Referee: Igor Pajac (Croatia)
9 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League Romania  3–1  Lithuania Bucharest, Romania
21:45
Report
Stadium: Steaua Stadium
Attendance: 28,168
Referee: Rade Obrenovic (Slovenia)
12 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League Lithuania  1–2  Kosovo Kaunas, Lithuania
16:00
Report
Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium
Attendance: 7,554
Referee: Ondřej Berka (Czech Republic)
15 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League Lithuania  1–2  Romania Kaunas, Lithuania
21:45
Report
Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium
Attendance: 2,585
Referee: Nick Walsh (Scotland)
15 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League Cyprus  v  Lithuania Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45 Report Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis
18 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League Kosovo  v  Lithuania Prishtina, Kosovo
20:45 Report Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium

Coaching staff

[edit]
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

[edit]
Name Nat From To Games Won Drawn Lost GF GA Win%
Benjaminas Zelkevičius Lithuania 1990 1991 3 1 2 0 7 4 033.33
Algimantas Liubinskas Lithuania 1992 1994 29 7 8 14 29 48 024.14
Benjaminas Zelkevičius Lithuania 1995 1997 29 12 6 11 45 41 041.38
Kęstutis Latoža Lithuania 1998 1999 18 5 4 9 15 24 027.78
Robertas Tautkus (caretaker) Lithuania 1999 1999 1 0 0 1 0 3 000.00
Stasys Stankus Lithuania 2000 2000 8 2 0 6 8 18 025.00
Julius Kvedaras (caretaker) Lithuania 2000 2000 1 0 0 1 1 6 000.00
Benjaminas Zelkevičius Lithuania 2001 2003 19 4 3 12 20 41 021.05
Algimantas Liubinskas Lithuania 2003 2008 50 18 6 26 54 65 036.00
José Couceiro Portugal 2008 2009 15 6 3 6 17 15 040.00
Raimondas Žutautas Lithuania 2010 2011 16 4 3 9 11 22 025.00
Csaba László Hungary 2012 2013 16 2 4 10 12 28 012.50
Igoris Pankratjevas Lithuania 2013 2015 21 5 5 11 14 31 023.81
Edgaras Jankauskas Lithuania 2016 2018 26 3 5 18 14 50 011.54
Valdas Urbonas Lithuania 2019 2021 24 5 4 15 17 49 020.83
Valdas Ivanauskas Lithuania 2021 2022 13 2 1 10 6 29 015.38
Reinhold Breu (interim) Germany 2022 2022 4 0 2 2 1 4 000.00
Edgaras Jankauskas Lithuania 2023 present 18 4 5 9 16 24 022.22

Players

[edit]

Current squad

[edit]

The following players were called up for the international matches in October 2024.[8]

Caps and goals correct as of 15 October 2024, after the match against  Romania.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
12 1GK Edvinas Gertmonas (1997-05-13) 13 May 1997 (age 27) 15 0 Romania Universitatea Cluj
16 1GK Deividas Mikelionis (1995-05-08) 8 May 1995 (age 29) 0 0 Lithuania FK Kauno Žalgiris
1 1GK Mantas Bertašius (2000-05-03) 3 May 2000 (age 24) 0 0 Lithuania FK Banga
13 2DF Justas Lasickas (1997-10-06) 6 October 1997 (age 27) 55 2 Slovenia Olimpija
4 2DF Edvinas Girdvainis (1993-01-19) 19 January 1993 (age 31) 54 1 Germany SV Sandhausen
17 2DF Pijus Širvys (1998-04-01) 1 April 1998 (age 26) 20 3 Slovenia NK Maribor
20 2DF Rokas Lekiatas (1998-11-07) 7 November 1998 (age 26) 13 0 Romania FC U Craiova 1948
5 2DF Kipras Kažukolovas (2000-11-20) 20 November 2000 (age 23) 12 0 Kazakhstan FC Astana
3 2DF Artemijus Tutyškinas (2003-08-08) 8 August 2003 (age 21) 12 0 Poland ŁKS Łódź
21 2DF Dominykas Barauskas (1997-04-18) 18 April 1997 (age 27) 11 0 Poland GKS Górnik Łęczna
7 2DF Klaudijus Upstas (1994-10-30) 30 October 1994 (age 30) 7 0 Lithuania FC Hegelmann
10 3MF Fedor Černych (1991-05-21) 21 May 1991 (age 33) 95 15 Lithuania FK Kauno Žalgiris
14 3MF Vykintas Slivka (1995-04-29) 29 April 1995 (age 29) 69 3 Japan Sagan Tosu
6 3MF Modestas Vorobjovas (1995-12-30) 30 December 1995 (age 28) 38 1 Turkey İstanbulspor AŞ
22 3MF Paulius Golubickas (1999-08-19) 19 August 1999 (age 25) 28 2 Lithuania FK Žalgiris
15 3MF Gvidas Gineitis (2004-04-15) 15 April 2004 (age 20) 16 0 Italy Torino FC
23 3MF Artūr Dolžnikov (2000-06-06) 6 June 2000 (age 24) 14 1 Lithuania FK Kauno Žalgiris
8 3MF Giedrius Matulevičius (1997-03-05) 5 March 1997 (age 27) 9 1 Lithuania FK Žalgiris
2 3MF Titas Milašius (2000-12-12) 12 December 2000 (age 23) 6 0 Poland MKP Pogoń Siedlce
10 3MF Tomas Kalinauskas (2000-04-27) 27 April 2000 (age 24) 4 0 England Burton Albion
22 3MF Domantas Antanavičius (1998-11-19) 19 November 1998 (age 25) 3 0 Lithuania FC Hegelmann
9 4FW Gytis Paulauskas (1999-09-27) 27 September 1999 (age 25) 17 2 Ukraine FC Kolos Kovalivka
14 4FW Armandas Kučys (2003-02-27) 27 February 2003 (age 21) 13 4 Slovenia NK Celje
19 4FW Valdas Paulauskas (2001-02-04) 4 February 2001 (age 23) 2 0 Lithuania FK Banga

Recent call-ups

[edit]

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 Lukas Paukštė (1998-09-25) 25 September 1998 (age 26) 0 0 Lithuania FA Šiauliai  Estonia, 11 June 2024
GK Emilijus Zubas INJ (1990-07-10) 10 July 1990 (age 34) 19 0 without club  Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
GK Gustas Baliutavičius (2000-08-27) 27 August 2000 (age 24) 0 0 Lithuania FA Šiauliai  Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
GK Vytautas Černiauskas (1989-03-12) 12 March 1989 (age 35) 6 0 Lithuania FK Panevėžys  Gibraltar, 21 March 2024
DF Linas Klimavičius RET (1989-04-10) 10 April 1989 (age 35) 43 0 Lithuania FK Panevėžys  Romania, 9 September 2024
DF Markas Beneta (1993-11-08) 8 November 1993 (age 31) 23 0 Lithuania FK Panevėžys  Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
DF Edgaras Utkus INJ (2000-06-22) 22 June 2000 (age 24) 15 0 Belgium Cercle Brugge KSV  Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
MF Ovidijus Verbickas (1993-07-04) 4 July 1993 (age 31) 36 1 Lithuania FK Žalgiris  Romania, 9 September 2024
MF Daniel Romanovskij (1996-06-19) 19 June 1996 (age 28) 12 0 Lithuania FA Šiauliai  Romania, 9 September 2024
MF Matas Vareika (2000-01-27) 27 January 2000 (age 24) 2 0 Lithuania FC Hegelmann  Romania, 9 September 2024
MF Arvydas Novikovas (1990-12-18) 18 December 1990 (age 33) 96 12 Lithuania FK Transinvest  Estonia, 11 June 2024
MF Ernestas Gudelevičius (2005-01-14) 14 January 2005 (age 19) 0 0 Italy ACF Fiorentina U-19  Estonia, 11 June 2024
MF Eligijus Jankauskas (1998-06-22) 22 June 1998 (age 26) 9 0 Lithuania FA Šiauliai  Cyprus,19 November 2023
FW Faustas Steponavičius (2004-06-08) 8 June 2004 (age 20) 2 0 Bulgaria PFC Septemvri Sofia  Cyprus, 1 November 2023
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

[edit]
As of 12 June 2024[9]
Players in bold are still active with Lithuania.

Most appearances

[edit]
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 96 12 2010–present
3 Fedor Černych 95 15 2012–present
4 Andrius Skerla 84 1 1996–2011
5 Deividas Šemberas 82 0 1996–2013
6 Tomas Danilevičius 71 19 1998–2012
7 Vykintas Slivka 69 3 2015–present
8 Žydrūnas Karčemarskas 66 0 2003–2013
9 Aurelijus Skarbalius 65 5 1991–2005
Marius Stankevičius 65 5 2001–2013

Top goalscorers

[edit]
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 Fedor Černych 15 95 0.16 2012–present
3 Antanas Lingis 12 33 0.36 1928–1938
Arvydas Novikovas 12 96 0.13 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

[edit]

FIFA World Cup

[edit]
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 Declined invitation
Italy 1934 Did not qualify 1 0 0 1 0 2
France 1938 2 0 0 2 3 9
Brazil 1950 to Italy 1990 Part of the  Soviet Union Part of the  Soviet Union
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
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/11 81 18 16 47 63 130

UEFA European Championship

[edit]
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 8 1 3 4 8 14
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 2028 To be determined To be determined
Italy Turkey 2032
Total 0/8 74 21 12 41 63 122

UEFA Nations League

[edit]
UEFA Nations League record
Season** Division Group Pld W D* L GF GA P/R RK
2018–19 C 4 6 0 0 6 3 16 Same position 39th
2020–21 C 4 6 2 2 2 5 7 Same position 41st
2022–23 C 1 8 2 1 5 4 14 Same position 47th
2024–25 C 2 To be determined
Total 20 4 3 13 12 37 39th
*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

[edit]
Main article: Baltic Cup (football)

Head-to-head record

[edit]
Main article: Lithuanian national football team head to head

As of 15 October 2024.

Honours

[edit]

Regional

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 16 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  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 vyrų rinktinės sudėtis Tautų lygos rungtynėms Kaune".
  9. ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Lithuania - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
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