Latvia Under-21

Nickname(s)	Sarkanbaltsarkanie (The red-white-reds)
Association	Latvian Football Federation
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach
Captain
Most caps	, (31)
Top scorer	Edgars Gauračs (10)
First colours Second colours
First international
Latvia 0 - 0 Lithuania (Vilnius, Lithuania; 28 October 1992)
Biggest win
Latvia 4 - 0 Estonia (Carnikava, Latvia; 28 April 1994) Latvia 4 - 0 Andorra (Riga, Latvia; 6 June 2009) Latvia 5 - 1 Romania (Riga, Latvia; 9 October 2009) Turkmenistan 0 - 4 Latvia (Saint Petersburg, Russia; 26 January 2013) Latvia 4 - 0 Liechtenstein (Jūrmala, Latvia; 11 June 2013)
Biggest defeat
Latvia 0 - 6 Greece (Athens, Greece; 9 June 1999) Latvia 0 - 6 Slovakia (Jelgava, Latvia; 11 October 2011) Latvia 1 - 7 Switzerland (Lugano, Switzerland; 8 September 2014)

The Latvia national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Latvia and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body of football in Latvia. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. The team is coached by Aleksandrs Basovs and is currently captained by defender Daniels Balodis.

Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, under-21 football teams in Europe were formed, while Latvian team was formed only in 1991, after regaining independence from USSR. The team is exclusively for football players that are aged 21 or under at the start of the two-year campaign of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship meaning a player can represent the national team until the age of 23. Many U-21 players later represent the senior side.

Latvia U-21 have never yet qualified for the European U-21 championships, but has produced many players, who have become regular internationals for the senior side. Oskars Kļava, Deniss Ivanovs, Edgars Gauračs and Artjoms Rudņevs have all played for the U-21 side and are now first eleven players for Latvia internationally.

Latvia U-21 team plays its home matches at the Skonto stadions, which is also the home stadium of Latvia senior side. Before the opening of the Skonto stadions the team played its home matches in many different venues all around the country, including Ozolnieki, Daugavpils and Liepāja.

History[]

As a team, Latvia U-21 was formed in 1992, after regaining independence from the USSR. The team played its first match in Vilnius, Lithuania on October 28, 1992 that ended in a 0-0 draw. The team firstly participated in the European Championship qualification in 1994, playing the first match in Riga against Ireland U-21 on September 6, that ended in a 1-1 draw.^[1] Since 2001 the team also participates in the Baltic Cup, winning in 2008. Since 1992 Latvia have already played more than 100 matches.

Players[]

Current players[]

The following squad has been called up for the 2021 EC qualification match against Poland taking place on 17 November 2020.

Players in bold have represented Latvia on senior level. Data as per LFF.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Nils Toms Puriņš	(1998-08-01) 1 August 1998 (age 23)	7	0	Riga
	1GK	Vjačeslavs Kudrjavcevs	(1998-03-30) 30 March 1998 (age 23)	4	0	Stomil Olsztyn
	1GK	Rūdolfs Oskars Soloha	(2000-03-16) 16 March 2000 (age 21)	0	0	Valmiera
	2DF	Daniels Balodis (captain)	(1998-06-10) 10 June 1998 (age 23)	13	2	Valmiera
	2DF	Vladislavs Soloveičiks	(1999-05-25) 25 May 1999 (age 22)	12	0	Jelgava
	2DF	Ivo Minkevičs	(1999-06-28) 28 June 1999 (age 22)	12	0	Jelgava
	2DF	Emīls Birka	(2000-04-25) 25 April 2000 (age 21)	10	0	Metta
	2DF	Roberts Veips	(2000-02-22) 22 February 2000 (age 22)	7	0	Sampdoria
	2DF	Dmitrijs Litvinskis	(1999-08-17) 17 August 1999 (age 22)	5	0	Ventspils
	2DF	Dāvis Cucurs	(2000-03-19) 19 March 2000 (age 21)	4	0	Daugavpils
	2DF	Dāvis Dāvids Sprūds	(1998-12-28) 28 December 1998 (age 23)	4	0	Victoria Rosport
	2DF	Roberts Ķipsts	(1999-10-21) 21 October 1999 (age 22)	1	0	Metta
	3MF	Jānis Grīnbergs	(1999-02-28) 28 February 1999 (age 22)	17	0	Jelgava
	3MF	Dmitrijs Zelenkovs	(2000-05-15) 15 May 2000 (age 21)	14	2	Empoli
	3MF	Kristaps Liepa	(1998-03-14) 14 March 1998 (age 23)	14	1	Valmiera
	3MF	Maksims Toņiševs	(2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 21)	10	0	Daugavpils
	3MF	Kristers Čudars	(1999-09-03) 3 September 1999 (age 22)	6	0	Liepāja
	3MF	Rihards Ozoliņš	(2001-05-31) 31 May 2001 (age 20)	4	0	Metta
	3MF	Eduards Daškevičs	(2002-07-12) 12 July 2002 (age 19)	3	0	Anderlecht
	3MF	Kristers Lūsiņš	(2000-05-09) 9 May 2000 (age 21)	2	1	Valmiera
	3MF	Renārs Varslavāns	(2001-08-23) 23 August 2001 (age 20)	1	0	RFS
	4FW	Marko Regža	(1999-01-20) 20 January 1999 (age 23)	14	5	Daugavpils
	4FW	Kaspars Kokins	(2000-04-26) 26 April 2000 (age 21)	11	1	Ventspils
	3MF	Daniils Skopenko	(2000-03-23) 23 March 2000 (age 21)	2	0	Valmiera

Recent calls up[]

The following players have been capped in the past 12 months and are still eligible to represent.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Roberts Krists Jaunarājs-Janvāris	(2000-01-05) 5 January 2000 (age 22)	0	0	Tukums
MF	Raivis Ķiršs	(2000-01-15) 15 January 2000 (age 22)	2	0	Daugavpils
MF	Matīss Zēģele	(2000-09-24) 24 September 2000 (age 21)	0	0	Metta

Staff[]

Head Coach	Aleksandrs Basovs
Assistant Coach	Anatolijs Čebans
Assistant Coach	Sergejs Golubevs
Goalkeeping Coach	Aleksandrs Proskurņins
Fitness Coach	Andrés Carrillo Fernández
General manager	Ilvars Grīslis
Doctor	Boriss Novikovs
Physiotherapist	Dmitrijs Jefremenkovs

Recent results[]

Recent and forthcoming matches[]

Date	Tournament	Location	Opponent	Result	Latvia scorers
6 September 2019	2021 EC qualification	Jelgava	Poland	0:1
10 September 2019	2021 EC qualification	Novi Sad	Serbia	1:1	Marko Regža
11 October 2019	2021 EC qualification	Pärnu	Estonia	1:2	Marko Regža
15 October 2019	2021 EC qualification	Rīga	Bulgaria	0:0
15 November 2019	2021 EC qualification	Rostov	Russia	0:2
4 September 2020	2021 EC qualification	Jelgava	Serbia	2:2	Kristaps Liepa, Marko Regža
8 September 2020	2021 EC qualification	Jelgava	Estonia	1:1	Marko Regža
9 October 2020	2021 EC qualification	Sofia	Bulgaria	0:1
13 October 2020	2021 EC qualification	Rīga	Russia	1:4	Kristers Lūsiņš
17 November 2020	2021 EC qualification	Łódź	Poland	1:3	Marko Regža

Most capped players[]

Only official matches against U-21 national teams, not including against clubs or any other matches.

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1.	Endijs Šlampe	2014–2016	31	0
	Reinis Flaksis	2013–2016	31	1
3.	Dmitrijs Klimaševičs	2014–2016	30	4
4.	Andrejs Kiriļins	2014–2016	29	0
	Vladislavs Gutkovskis	2014–2016	29	6
	Antonijs Černomordijs	20??–2018	29	1
7.	Jevgēņijs Kazačoks	20??–2016	27	5
	Eduards Tīdenbergs	20??–2016	27	2
9.	Edgars Vardanjans	2011–2014	25	1
	Kaspars Svārups	20??–2016	25	3

Players in bold are still available to play for the U-21 National team.

Best goalscorers[]

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1.	Edgars Gauračs	2009–2009	9	10
2.	Deniss Rakels	2011–2013	13	6
	Vladislavs Gutkovskis	2014–2016	29	6
4.	Jevgēņijs Kazačoks	2013–2016	27	5
	Marko Regža	2018-	14	5
6.	Artjoms Rudņevs	2009–2009	10	4
	Dmitrijs Klimaševičs	2014–2016	30	4

See also[]

• Latvia football team
• Latvia U-19
• Latvia U-17

References[]

External links[]

• www.lff.lv