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The Latvian national football team (Izlase in Latvian) is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia and represents the country in international football competitions, such as World Cup and the European Championships.
[edit] History
Latvia played their first match in 1922, a game against Estonia; the result was a 1-1 draw. Latvia are the only Baltic team that has qualified for a European Championship and have won the Baltic Cup 19 times. Latvia in its pre-war period from 1922 to 1940 played 99 official games.
In 1937, the Latvian team participated in the first qualification tournament for the FIFA World Cup 1938. Latvia was seeded in Group 8 with Austria and Lithuania. Latvia won Lithuania 4-2 in Riga (Goals: Fricis Kaņeps 9', 52', 83'; Iļja Vestermans 50' - Gudelis 79', Pavilionis 90') and than later 5-1 in Kaunas (Kaņeps 4', 45' (penalty); Vaclavs Borduško 11', 30'; Vestermans 67' - Pavilionis 72'), but lost 1-2 in the decisive match with Austria. Goals by Iļja Vestermans at the 6th minute for Latvia, and by Binder at 33' and Jerusalem at 15'. In April 1938 the Austrian Anschluss relegated the Austrian team, but the team of Latvia was not invited by FIFA as the group's runner-up.
In 1940, Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1991 and played their first match as a new nation against Estonia on November 16 of that year in the Baltic Cup, and their first FIFA-recognized match against Romania on April 8, 1992, a 0-2 loss at Bucharest.
Latvia were surprise qualifiers for the 2004 European Football Championship. After coming second in their qualifying group (ahead of Poland they defeated 2002 World Cup semi-finalists Turkey in a playoff to reach the final tournament. They were drawn into group D with Germany, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. On June 15, 2004, Latvia played Czech Republic and took half-time lead with a goal from Māris Verpakovskis. The Czechs would later come back to win the game 2-1. Four days later Latvia earned a respectable draw 0-0 against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament. Latvia later lost to the Netherlands 3-0 and were eliminated with one point from their draw and two losses.
In the qualifying for World Cup 2006, Latvia were in group 3 with Portugal, Slovakia, Russia, Estonia, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg. Latvia were considered as a small threat for the playoff spot. However, they failed to show any surprises as they did in Euro 2004 and failed to qualify for World Cup 2006 finishing fifth with 15 points from four wins, three draws and five losses.
Vitālijs Astafjevs has played for Latvia more times than anyone else, with 144 caps currently. Māris Verpakovskis is the nation's top goal scorer with 25. Marians Pahars has 15 goals.
[edit] World Cup record
[edit] European Championship record
[edit] Results and fixtures
[edit] Forthcoming fixtures
[edit] Recent results
| Date |
Tournament |
Location |
Opponent |
Result |
Scorers |
| 1 April, 2009 |
World Cup 2010 |
 Riga |
 Luxembourg |
2:0 |
Jurijs Žigajevs, Māris Verpakovskis |
| 28 March, 2009 |
World Cup 2010 |
Luxembourg |
Luxembourg |
4:0 |
Ģirts Karlsons, Aleksandrs Cauņa, Aleksejs Višņakovs, Andrejs Perepļotkins |
| 11 February, 2009 |
Friendly |
 Limassol |
 Armenia |
0:0 |
|
| 12 November, 2008 |
Friendly |
 Tallinn |
Estonia |
1:1 |
Kristaps Grebis |
| 15 October, 2008 |
World Cup 2010 |
Riga |
 Israel |
1:1 |
Vladimirs Koļesņičenko |
| 11 October, 2008 |
World Cup 2010 |
 St. Gallen |
Switzerland |
1:2 |
Deniss Ivanovs |
| 10 September, 2008 |
World Cup 2010 |
Riga |
 Greece |
0:2 |
|
| 6 September, 2008 |
World Cup 2010 |
 Tiraspol |
Moldova |
2:1 |
Ģirts Karlsons, Vitālijs Astafjevs |
| 20 August, 2008 |
Friendly |
 Urziceni |
Romania |
0:1 |
|
| 1 June, 2008 |
Baltic Cup 2008 |
Riga |
 Lithuania |
2:1 |
Kaspars Gorkšs, Vidas Alunderis (o.g.) |
| 30 May, 2008 |
Baltic Cup 2008 |
Riga |
Estonia |
1:0 |
Juris Laizāns |
[edit] Top Latvia goalscorers
[edit] Latvia coaches
[edit] Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches vs Luxembourg, that took place on March 28 and April 1, 2009
Caps and goals are correct as of June 28, 2009.
[edit] Goalkeepers
[edit] Defenders
[edit] Midfielders
[edit] Forwards
[edit] Recent call-up
The following players have been called-up for Latvia squad within last 12 month.
| Pos. |
Player |
DoB (Age) |
Caps |
Goals |
Club |
Latest call-up |
| DF |
Roberts Mežeckis |
January 29, 1981 (1981-01-29) (age 28) |
1 |
0 |
 Cork City |
Friendly vs Armenia, February 11, 2009 |
| DF |
Igors Savčenkovs |
November 3, 1982 (1982-11-03) (age 26) |
3 |
0 |
Ventspils |
Friendly vs Estonia, November 12, 2008 |
| FW |
Andrejs Butriks |
December 20, 1982 (1982-12-20) (age 26) |
4 |
0 |
Ventspils |
Friendly vs Estonia, November 12, 2008 |
| MF |
Oļegs Laizāns |
March 28, 1987 (1987-03-28) (age 22) |
0 |
0 |
Skonto |
Friendly vs Estonia, November 12, 2008 |
| DF |
Raivis Hščanovičs |
February 15, 1987 (1987-02-15) (age 22) |
0 |
0 |
Skonto |
Friendly vs Estonia, November 12, 2008 |
| MF |
Vladimirs Volkovs |
August 10, 1984 (1984-08-10) (age 24) |
0 |
0 |
Dinaburg |
Friendly vs Estonia, November 12, 2008 |
| MF |
Kristaps Blanks |
January 30, 1986 (1986-01-30) (age 23) |
19 |
0 |
Skonto |
Friendly vs Estonia, November 12, 2008 |
| DF |
Igors Stepanovs |
January 21, 1976 (1976-01-21) (age 33) |
99 |
4 |
RFS/Olimps |
Israel, October 15, 2008 |
|
[edit] External links
Sweden 12 - 2 Latvia 
Revaz Dzodzuashvili
Gary Johnson
