Lithuania national football team
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Nickname(s) | Rinktine (National team) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association | Lithuanian Football Federation (Lietuvos futbolo federacija – LFF) | ||
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
Head coach | Valdas Ivanauskas | ||
Captain | Ernestas Šetkus | ||
Most caps | Saulius Mikoliūnas (96) | ||
Top scorer | Tomas Danilevičius (19) | ||
Home stadium | LFF Stadium | ||
FIFA code | LTU | ||
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FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 136 ![]() | ||
Highest | 37 (October 2008) | ||
Lowest | 148 (November 2017) | ||
First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Kaunas, Lithuania; 24 June 1923) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Riga, Latvia; 20 May 1995) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Paris, France; 27 May 1924) |
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.
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 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.[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.
Recent results and upcoming fixtures[]
Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Goalscorer(s) | Captain | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | ||||||
24 March | Pristina, Kosovo | ![]() |
0–4 | Fedor Černych | International friendly | |
28 March | St. Gallen, Switzerland | ![]() |
0–1 | Saulius Mikoliūnas | World Cup 2022 qualifiers | |
31 March | Vilnius, Lithuania | ![]() |
0–2 | Saulius Mikoliūnas | World Cup 2022 qualifiers | |
1 June | Vilnius, Lithuania | ![]() |
0–1 | Saulius Mikoliūnas | 2021 Baltic Cup | |
4 June | Riga, Latvia | ![]() |
1–3 | Paulius Golubickas | Saulius Mikoliūnas | 2021 Baltic Cup |
8 June | Leganés, Spain | ![]() |
0–4 | Saulius Mikoliūnas | International friendly | |
2 September | Vilnius, Lithuania | ![]() |
1–4 | Rolandas Baravykas | Ernestas Šetkus | World Cup 2022 qualifiers |
5 September | Sofia, Bulgaria | ![]() |
0–1 | Ernestas Šetkus | World Cup 2022 qualifiers | |
8 September | Reggio Emilia, Italy | ![]() |
0–5 | Ernestas Šetkus | World Cup 2022 qualifiers | |
9 October | Vilnius, Lithuania | ![]() |
3–1 | Justas Lasickas, Fedor Černych x2 | Ernestas Šetkus | World Cup 2022 qualifiers |
12 October | Vilnius, Lithuania | ![]() |
0–4 | World Cup 2022 qualifiers | ||
12 November | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ![]() |
0–1 | World Cup 2022 qualifiers | ||
15 November | Vilnius, Lithuania | ![]() |
1–1 | Justas Lasickas | International friendly | |
16 November | Minsk, Belarus | ![]() |
cancelled[7] | International friendly |
Coaching staff[]
Position | Name |
---|---|
Manager | ![]() |
Assistant coach | ![]() |
Assistant coach | ![]() |
Fitness coach | ![]() |
Goalkeeping coach | ![]() |
Analyst | ![]() |
Managers history[]
Name | Nat | From | To | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | Win% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Benjaminas Zelkevičius | ![]() |
1990 | 1991 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 33.33 |
Algimantas Liubinskas | ![]() |
1992 | 1994 | 29 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 29 | 48 | 24.14 |
Benjaminas Zelkevičius | ![]() |
1995 | 1997 | 29 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 45 | 41 | 41.38 |
Kęstutis Latoža | ![]() |
1998 | 1999 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 27.78 |
(caretaker) | ![]() |
1999 | 1999 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
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2000 | 2000 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 25.00 | |
(caretaker) | ![]() |
2000 | 2000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0.00 |
Benjaminas Zelkevičius | ![]() |
2001 | 2003 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 20 | 41 | 21.05 |
Algimantas Liubinskas | ![]() |
2003 | 2008 | 50 | 18 | 6 | 26 | 54 | 65 | 36.00 |
José Couceiro | ![]() |
2008 | 2009 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 15 | 40.00 |
Raimondas Žutautas | ![]() |
2010 | 2011 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 22 | 25.00 |
Csaba László | ![]() |
2012 | 2013 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 28 | 12.50 |
Igoris Pankratjevas | ![]() |
2013 | 2015 | 21 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 31 | 23.81 |
Edgaras Jankauskas | ![]() |
2016 | 2018 | 26 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 14 | 50 | 11.54 |
Valdas Urbonas | ![]() |
2019 | 2021 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 49 | 20.83 |
Valdas Ivanauskas | ![]() |
2021 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 14.29 |
Players[]
Current squad[]
The following players were called up for the World Cup 2022 qualifier against Northern Ireland and a friendly game against Kuwait respectively on 12 and 15 November 2021.
All caps and goals as of 15 November 2021 after the match against Kuwait.
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
16 | GK | Ernestas Šetkus (Captain) | 25 May 1985 | 36 | 0 | ![]() |
12 | GK | Edvinas Gertmonas | 1 June 1996 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
1 | GK | Titas Krapikas | 3 January 1999 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
GK | Ignas Plūkas | 8 December 1999 | 0 | 0 | ![]() | |
8 | DF | Egidijus Vaitkūnas | 8 August 1988 | 60 | 0 | ![]() |
DF | Edvinas Girdvainis | 19 January 1993 | 35 | 0 | ![]() | |
3 | DF | Vytas Gašpuitis | 4 March 1994 | 11 | 0 | ![]() |
6 | DF | Benas Šatkus | 1 April 2001 | 8 | 0 | ![]() |
13 | DF | Dominykas Barauskas | 18 April 1997 | 5 | 0 | ![]() |
11 | MF | Arvydas Novikovas | 18 December 1990 | 77 | 12 | ![]() |
9 | MF | Donatas Kazlauskas | 31 March 1994 | 31 | 2 | ![]() |
17 | MF | Justas Lasickas | 6 October 1997 | 30 | 2 | ![]() |
18 | MF | Ovidijus Verbickas | 4 July 1993 | 30 | 1 | ![]() |
20 | MF | Domantas Šimkus | 10 February 1996 | 24 | 0 | ![]() |
4 | MF | Martynas Dapkus | 16 February 1993 | 16 | 0 | ![]() |
19 | MF | Linas Mėgelaitis | 9 September 1998 | 10 | 0 | ![]() |
10 | MF | Ernestas Veliulis | 22 August 1992 | 5 | 0 | ![]() |
MF | Giedrius Matulevičius | 5 March 1997 | 3 | 0 | ![]() | |
MF | Vilius Armanavičius | 8 May 1995 | 3 | 0 | ![]() | |
FW | Fedor Černych | 21 May 1991 | 71 | 11 | ![]() | |
FW | Karolis Laukžemis | 11 March 1992 | 27 | 2 | ![]() | |
10 | FW | Edgaras Dubickas | 8 July 1998 | 4 | 0 | ![]() |
FW | Armandas Kučys | 27 February 2003 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
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 | Tomas Švedkauskas | 22 June 1994 | 14 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
GK | Deividas Mikelionis | 8 May 1995 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
GK | Lukas Paukštė | 25 September 1998 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
GK | Ignas Driomovas | 27 April 1997 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
GK | Marius Adamonis | 13 May 1997 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Saulius Mikoliūnas INJ | 2 May 1984 | 96 | 5 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Linas Klimavičius | 10 April 1989 | 30 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Rolandas Baravykas | 23 August 1995 | 24 | 2 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Vykintas Slivka INJ | 29 April 1995 | 48 | 2 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Vaidas Slavickas | 26 February 1986 | 22 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Artemijus Tutyškinas | 8 August 2003 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Markas Beneta | 8 July 1993 | 13 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Sigitas Olberkis | 19 April 1997 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Rimvydas Sadauskas | 21 July 1996 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Markus Palionis RET | 12 May 1987 | 14 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Modestas Vorobjovas | 30 December 1995 | 23 | 1 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Edgaras Utkus INJ | 22 June 2000 | 5 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Eligijus Jankauskas | 22 June 1998 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Karolis Uzėla | 11 March 2000 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Deimantas Petravičius | 2 September 1995 | 23 | 1 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Paulius Golubickas | 19 August 1999 | 12 | 1 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Tautvydas Eliošius | 3 November 1991 | 9 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Karolis Šilkaitis | 2 June 1996 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Gratas Sirgėdas INJ | 17 December 1994 | 13 | 5 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Daniel Romanovskij | 19 June 1996 | 6 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
FW | Nerijus Valskis | 4 August 1987 | 25 | 1 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
- 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[]
- As of 15 November 2021[8]
- Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.
Most capped players[]
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Top goalscorers[]
|
Competitive record[]
FIFA World Cup[]
FIFA World Cup record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
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Did not enter | Declined participation | |||||||||||||
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Did not qualify | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | |||||||||
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Did not qualify | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 21 | ||||||||
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10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 8 | |||||||||
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8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 20 | |||||||||
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10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 9 | |||||||||
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10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 11 | |||||||||
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10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 11 | |||||||||
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10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 20 | |||||||||
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8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 19 | |||||||||
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To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
Total | 0/11 | 81 | 18 | 16 | 47 | 63 | 130 |
UEFA European Championship[]
UEFA European Championship record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
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Did not qualify | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 12 | ||||||||
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10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 16 | |||||||||
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8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | |||||||||
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12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 13 | |||||||||
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8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 13 | |||||||||
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10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 18 | |||||||||
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8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 25 | |||||||||
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To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
Total | 0/7 | 66 | 20 | 9 | 37 | 55 | 108 |
UEFA Nations League[]
UEFA Nations League record | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season** | Division | Group | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | P/R | RK |
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C | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 16 | ![]() |
39th |
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C | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | ![]() |
41st |
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C | Future event | ||||||||
Total | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 39th |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- **Group stage played home and away. Flag shown represents host nation for the finals stage.
Baltic Cup[]
Honours[]
Head-to-head record[]
As of 31 March 2021.
Opponent | P | W | D | L |
---|---|---|---|---|
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6 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
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2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
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3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
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3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
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10 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
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2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
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6 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
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7 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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49 | 21 | 8 | 20 |
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9 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
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4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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8 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
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5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
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4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
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7 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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51 | 13 | 11 | 27 |
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6 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
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4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
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3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
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8 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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11 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
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13 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
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4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
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4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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10 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
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10 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
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4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
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6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
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6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
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2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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10 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
See also[]
- Lithuania national under-21 football team
- Lithuania national under-19 football team
- Lithuania national under-17 football team
References[]
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ "MATCHES → international football results of Lithuania". eufootball.info. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ^ "International football MATCH: 13.10.1940 Lithuania v Latvia*". eufootball.info. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ^ "International football MATCH: 27.05.1990 Georgia v Lithuania". eufootball.info. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ FIFA World Cup uefa.com
- ^ "Lithuania canceled football friendlies in Belarus". News read online. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Lithuania - Record International Players". RSSSF.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lithuania national football team. |
- Official website (in Lithuanian)
- Lithuania at FIFA
- Lithuania at UEFA
- All Lithuanian Team Games 1923–1930
- Reports for all matches of Lithuania national team
- Lithuanian football videos Lithuanian Football TV
- Lithuania national football team
- European national association football teams