Latvia

Introduction: The Latvian national football team is the national football team of Latvia. It is managed by the Latvian Football Federation. The Latvian national team's first match was in 1922 against the Estonian national football team. The match ended 1-1. During World War II, Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union, and her football team was unable to participate in international competitions independently for the next half century. After Latvia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the Latvian national team participated in international competitions again. Latvia is the only team among the three Baltic countries that has advanced to the European Nations Cup finals. In the 2004 European Cup of Nations, Latvia upset Türkiye, which had just won the third place in the 2002 World Cup, in the qualifying play-offs, making a historic advance to the finals week. Although they were eliminated in the first round of the group stage, they were able to force a draw with Germany. They have also won the Baltic Cup 19 times.