Cyprus national football team

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This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Cyprus women's national football team.
Cyprus
AssociationCyprus Football Association (CFA)
Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachNikos Kostenoglou
CaptainKostakis Artymatas
Most capsIoannis Okkas (103)
Top scorerMichalis Konstantinou (32)
Home stadiumGSP Stadium, Nicosia
FIFA codeCYP
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 105 Steady (23 December 2021)[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)

The Cyprus national football team (Greek: Εθνική ομάδα ποδοσφαίρου της Κύπρου) represents Cyprus in international football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association, the governing body for football in Cyprus. Cyprus' home ground is the GSP Stadium in Nicosia and the current coach is Nikos Kostenoglou.

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 against 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 against 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.

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 in New GSP Stadium in Nicosia, with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambidis each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis one goal. Just one month later, on 15 November 2006, they caused another surprise by holding the World Cup bronze-medalists 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 result against Portugal after drawing 4–4 in Guimarães.

During the Euro 2016 qualifying, Cyprus national football team managed by Pambos Christodoulou claimed one of their most historic victories by defeating 2014 World Cup participant Bosnia with 2–1 in Zenica. In the last group match, the team faced Bosnia needing a victory to finish in 3rd and rely on Belgium to beat Israel in Brussels. As fate would have it, the Bosnians won the reverse 3–2 and qualified to play-offs at the expense of the home team, who at one point took a 2–1 lead during first half and for number of minutes held onto 3rd spot and a berth in the play-offs for a first time in history, as Belgium, a soon to be World number 1 side, were comfortably beating Israel at home.[3]

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.[4] Their qualification run would include an impressive 3–2 home victory over Bosnia.[5]

In the EURO 2020 qualifiers Cyprus would beat San Marino 5-0 but they would lose to Belgium and Scotland. Even though they beat Kazakhstan 1–2 away from home they lost the last three games and finished 4th of the 6 teams in the group finishing in front of Kazakhstan and San Marino.

The 20-21 Nations League was a big disappointment for Cyprus. They lost the first three games against Montenegro 0–2, Azerbaijan 0-1 and Luxembourg 2-0 and drew with and Azerbaijan 0–0 in the fourth game. Even though they beat Luxembourg 2–1 at GSP stadium they got crashed by Montenegro 4–0 in the last game and finished last in a group with Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, and Montenegro.

Kit[]

On 7 October 2006, a new kit was made by Diadora. 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 kit was used for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, and was replaced by a kit made by Adidas for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. For 2018 Macron will replace Adidas as part of the UEFA's Kit Assistance Scheme programme.

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[]

Cyprus currently plays home matches at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia. 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 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 for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification to be played at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium. However, Cyprus returned to the GSP Stadium for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying round matches.

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures[]

Main article: Cyprus national football team results (2020–29)

2021[]

24 March 2021 World Cup qualifier Cyprus  0–0  Slovakia Nicosia, Cyprus
20:45 (21:45 UTC+2) Report Stadium: GSP Stadium
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)
27 March 2021 World Cup qualifier Croatia  1–0  Cyprus Rijeka, Croatia
18:00
  • Pašalić Goal 40'
 Report Stadium: Stadion Rujevica
Referee: Kristo Tohver (Estonia)
30 March 2021 World Cup qualifier Cyprus  1–0  Slovenia Nicosia, Cyprus
18:00 (19:00 UTC+3)
  • Pittas Goal 42'
 Report Stadium: GSP Stadium
Referee: Andreas Ekberg (Sweden)
4 June 2021 Friendly Hungary  1–0  Cyprus Budapest, Hungary
20:00 UTC+2
Report Stadium: Szusza Ferenc Stadion
Attendance: 7,500
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
7 June 2021 Friendly Ukraine  4–0  Cyprus Kharkiv, Ukraine
18:00 UTC+3
Report Stadium: Metalist Oblast Sports Complex
Referee: Vitālijs Spasjoņņikovs (Latvia)
1 September 2021 World Cup qualifier Malta  3–0  Cyprus Ta' Qali, Malta
20:45 UTC+2
Report Stadium: National Stadium
Referee: Fabio Maresca (Italy)
4 September 2021 World Cup qualifier Cyprus  0–2  Russia Nicosia, Cyprus
16:00 Report
Stadium: GSP Stadium
Referee: Alejandro Hernández (Spain)
7 September 2021 World Cup qualifier Slovakia  2–0  Cyprus Bratislava, Slovakia
20:45
Report Stadium: Tehelné pole
Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (Azerbaijan)
8 October 2021 World Cup qualifier Cyprus  0–3  Croatia Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45 Report
Stadium: AEK Arena
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)
11 October 2021 World Cup qualifier Cyprus  2–2  Malta Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00
Report
Stadium: AEK Arena
Referee: (Netherlands)
11 November 2021 World Cup qualifier Russia  6–0  Cyprus Saint Petersburg, Russia
19:00
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)		 Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium
Referee: Daniel Stefański (Poland)
14 November 2021 World Cup qualifier Slovenia  2–1  Cyprus Ljubljana, Slovenia
16:00
Report (FIFA)
Report (UEFA)
Stadium: Stožice Stadium
Referee: Sergey Ivanov (Russia)

2022[]

24 March 2022 (2022-03-24) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League play-outs 1st Leg Estonia  v  Cyprus Tallinn, Estonia
Stadium: A. Le Coq Arena
29 March 2022 (2022-03-29) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League play-outs 2nd Leg Cyprus  v  Estonia Larnaca, Cyprus
Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis

Coaching staff[]

Manager Greece Nikos Kostenoglou
Assistant Manager Cyprus Panagiotis Egomitis
Assistant Manager Greece
Goalkeeping Coach Cyprus Nikos Konstantinidis
Physical Trainer Cyprus Pavlos Keenan
Match Analyst Greece Theodoros Antonopoulos

Coaching history[]

As of 15 June 2021.[6][7]

Players[]

Current squad[]

The following 24 players were called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Russia and Slovenia on 11 and 14 November 2021 respectively.
Caps and goals as of 14 November 2021, after the match against Slovenia.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK (1999-02-19) 19 February 1999 (age 22) 0 0 Cyprus AEK Larnaca
12 1GK Demetris Demetriou (1999-01-15) 15 January 1999 (age 22) 7 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
22 1GK Neofytos Michael (1993-12-16) 16 December 1993 (age 28) 10 0 Cyprus APOEL
19 2DF Konstantinos Laifis (1993-05-19) 19 May 1993 (age 28) 42 3 Belgium Standard Liège
2 2DF Andreas Karo (1996-09-09) 9 September 1996 (age 25) 12 0 Cyprus APOEL
3 2DF Marios Antoniades (1990-05-14) 14 May 1990 (age 31) 20 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
4 2DF Nicholas Ioannou (1995-11-10) 10 November 1995 (age 26) 33 2 Italy Como
6 2DF Paris Psaltis (1996-11-12) 12 November 1996 (age 25) 8 0 Cyprus Omonia
5 2DF Marios Demetriou (1992-12-25) 25 December 1992 (age 29) 3 0 Cyprus PAEEK
14 2DF Stelios Andreou (2002-07-24) 24 July 2002 (age 19) 5 0 Belgium Charleroi
16 2DF Constantinos Soteriou (1996-06-21) 21 June 1996 (age 25) 10 0 Cyprus AEL Limassol
8 3MF Matija Špoljarić (1997-04-02) 2 April 1997 (age 24) 13 0 Cyprus Aris Limassol FC
11 3MF Andreas Avraam (1987-06-06) 6 June 1987 (age 34) 48 5 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
14 3MF Fanos Katelaris (1996-08-20) 20 August 1996 (age 25) 11 1 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
15 3MF Fotios Papoulis (1985-01-22) 22 January 1985 (age 36) 24 3 Cyprus Omonia
17 3MF Loizos Loizou (2003-07-18) 18 July 2003 (age 18) 15 1 Cyprus Omonia
18 3MF Kostakis Artymatas (1993-04-15) 15 April 1993 (age 28) 55 1 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
20 3MF Grigoris Kastanos (1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 (age 23) 43 3 Italy Salernitana
21 3MF Marinos Tzionis (2001-07-06) 6 July 2001 (age 20) 13 0 Cyprus Omonia
23 3MF Ioannis Pittas (1996-07-10) 10 July 1996 (age 25) 22 1 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
13 3MF Rafail Mamas (2001-03-04) 4 March 2001 (age 20) 1 0 Cyprus AEK Larnaca
23 4FW Marios Elia (1996-05-19) May 19, 1996 (age 25) 8 1 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna FC
9 4FW Andronikos Kakoullis (2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 20) 6 1 Cyprus Omonia
10 4FW Pieros Sotiriou (1993-01-13) 13 January 1993 (age 28) 51 11 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad

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 Andreas Paraskevas (1998-09-15) 15 September 1998 (age 23) 0 0 Cyprus AEK Larnaca v.  Ukraine, 7 June 2021
DF Thomas Ioannou (1995-07-19) 19 July 1995 (age 26) 5 0 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna v.  Malta, 11 October 2021
DF Nikolas Panayiotou (2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 21) 3 0 Cyprus Omonia v.  Malta, 11 October 2021
DF Ioannis Kousoulos (1996-06-14) 14 June 1996 (age 25) 27 4 Cyprus Omonia v.  Ukraine, 7 June 2021
DF (2001-10-22) 22 October 2001 (age 20) 0 0 Cyprus Nea Salamis Famagusta v.  Ukraine, 7 June 2021
DF Christos Shelis (2000-02-02) 2 February 2000 (age 21) 4 0 Bulgaria Levski Sofia v.  Slovakia, 24 March 2021
MF Alex Gogić (1994-04-13) 13 April 1994 (age 27) 8 0 Scotland Hibernian v.  Malta, 11 October 2021
MF Michalis Ioannou (2000-06-30) 30 June 2000 (age 21) 3 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Malta, 11 October 2021
MF Hector Kyprianou (2001-05-27) 27 May 2001 (age 20) 0 0 England Leyton Orient v.  Ukraine, 7 June 2021
MF Minas Antoniou (1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 (age 27) 9 0 Cyprus AEL Limassol v.  Slovenia, 30 March 2021
FW Panagiotis Zachariou (1996-02-26) 26 February 1996 (age 25) 9 1 Cyprus Omonia v.  Slovakia, 7 September 2021
FW Onisiforos Roushias (1992-07-15) 15 July 1992 (age 29) 9 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Slovakia, 7 September 2021
FW (2000-10-25) 25 October 2000 (age 21) 0 0 Cyprus Ethnikos Achna v.  Ukraine, 7 June 2021
FW Andreas Katsantonis (2000-02-16) 16 February 2000 (age 21) 0 0 Cyprus APOEL v.  Hungary, 4 June 2021
  • INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
  • PRE Preliminary squad.
  • RET Retired from international football.
  • SUS Suspended

Player records[]

As of 7 September 2021[8]
Players in bold are still active with Cyprus.

Competitive Record[]

All-time record[]

As of 30 March 2021.
Competition Played Won Draw Lost GF GA
FIFA World Cup qualification 122 16 15 91 90 311
European Championship qualification 114 19 15 80 98 288
Friendly matches 129 35 32 62 134 194
UEFA Nations League 12 2 3 7 7 19
TOTAL 377 72 65 239 329 812

FIFA World Cup record[]

2012 Cyprus national football team in Bulgaria.
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Declined participation
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
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
Total 0/22 124 16 15 93 91 320

UEFA European Championship record[]

UEFA European Championship record Qualifying record
Year Result GP W D* L GS GA GP W D* L GS GA
France 1960 Did not enter Did not enter
Spain 1964
Italy 1968 Did not qualify 6 1 0 5 3 25
Belgium 1972 6 0 0 6 2 26
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 6 0 0 6 0 16
Italy 1980 6 0 1 5 2 19
France 1984 8 0 2 6 4 21
West Germany 1988 8 0 1 7 3 16
Sweden 1992 8 0 0 8 2 25
England 1996 10 1 4 5 6 20
Belgium Netherlands 2000 8 4 0 4 12 21
Portugal 2004 8 2 2 4 9 18
Austria Switzerland 2008 12 4 2 6 17 24
Poland Ukraine 2012 8 0 2 6 7 20
France 2016 10 4 0 6 16 17
Europe 2020 10 3 1 6 13 17
Germany 2024 To be determined To be determined
Total - - - - - - - 114 19 15 80 96 285

UEFA Nations League record[]

UEFA Nations League record
Season Division Group Pld W D L GF GA P/R Rank
Portugal 2018–19 C 3 6 1 2 3 5 9 Same position 36th
Italy 2020–21 C 1 6 1 1 4 2 10 TBD 46th
2022–23 To be determined
Total 12 2 3 7 7 19 36th

Head-to-head record[]

As of 30 March 2021.

References[]

Notes
Citation
  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 26 December 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  3. ^ uefa.com (13 October 2015). "Bosnia and Herzegovina in play-offs, Cyprus out". Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  4. ^ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Qualifiers - Europe". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015.
  5. ^ "Cyprus vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina - Football Match Summary - August 31, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  6. ^ "Cyprus Football Association – Εθνική Ανδρών: Προπονητές". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  7. ^ "Cyprus National Team Coaches". www.rsssf.com.
  8. ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Cyprus - Record International Players". RSSSF.

External links[]

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