TheSan Marino national football team (Italian:Nazionale di calcio di San Marino) representsSan Marino in men's internationalassociation football competitions. The team is governed by theSan Marino Football Federation and represents the smallest population of anyUEFA member. They are currently the lowest-ranked FIFA-affiliated national football team, having won three matches since their inception.[3]
San Marino's first official match was a 4–0 defeat toSwitzerland in aEuropean Championship qualifier in 1990. An unofficial San Marino team played against theCanada U-23 side in 1986, losing 1–0. Since their competitive debut, San Marino has participated in the qualifiers for every European Championship andFIFA World Cup. Their first competitive win was a 1–0 victory overLiechtenstein on 5 September 2024, in theUEFA Nations League.[4] Their second competitive win was a 3–1 victory against Liechtenstein once more on the 6th matchday, on 18 November 2024. This was the first time they scored more than one goal in a competitive fixture. Subsequently, this win promoted them to League C, the third tier of the Nations League.[5]
Though theSan Marino Football Federation was formed in 1931, the Federation did not establish a national team until 1986, when a team representing the Federation played against theCanada U-23 team in an unofficial international, which ended in a 1–0 defeat. San Marino gained affiliation toFIFA andUEFA in 1988,[6] allowing the team to participate in major championships. Before this, Sammarinese players had been considered Italian in international football contexts.[7]
San Marino's first match in a FIFA-sanctioned competition was againstSwitzerland on 14 November 1990 in a qualifier for the1992 European Championships. San Marino lost 4–0 and would lose all eight of their other qualifiers. The team struggled in away matches, losing all by at least four goals. San Marino scored only one goal, which was apenalty in a 3–1 defeat at home byRomania,[8] and conceded 33 goals in total.[9]
For their first World Cup qualifying campaign, San Marino were drawn in a group withEngland, theNetherlands,Norway,Poland andTurkey. The opening match resulted in a 10–0 defeat to Norway. The return match was less one-sided, finishing 2–0 to the Norwegians. A 4–1 defeat in Turkey saw San Marino score their first goal in a World Cup qualifier (also their first from open play), and a goalless draw against the same opposition on 10 March 1993 gave them their first-ever point. In their final qualifier against England,Davide Gualtieri scored the then-fastest goal in World Cup qualifying history after 8.3 seconds. However, San Marino went on to lose 7–1.[10] San Marino finished the campaign with one point and conceded 46 goals in 10 matches.[11]
The team's qualification campaign forUEFA Euro 1996 followed a similar pattern to the previous European championships as they lost every match. A match away toFinland gave San Marino their first goal away from home in the European Championship qualifiers. Still, the team lost 4–1.[12] Their only other goal came in a 3–1 home defeat by theFaroe Islands; the two wins over San Marino were the only points gained by the Faroe Islands in the group. In the first match, a 3–0 score inToftir is the Faroe Islands' record competitive win.[13]
Even by Sammarinese standards, qualification for the1998 FIFA World Cup was disappointing. Losing every match by three goals or more, San Marino failed to score a single goal.[14] This is the only World Cup qualifying tournament in which they have failed to score. Qualification forEuro 2000 again resulted in defeats in every match. The closest San Marino got to gaining a point was againstCyprus, a 1–0 defeat on 18 November 1998.[15]
In April 2001, San Marino gained their first ever away point, drawing 1–1 withLatvia inRiga.[16] The team ended the2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying group with a new best of three goals, though one of these came in a 10–1 defeat byBelgium. In theUEFA Euro 2004 qualifying, San Marino lost all eight matches, failing to score. The closest result was a 1–0 home defeat by Latvia, with the winner scored in the last minute. Latvia went on to qualify for the final tournament.[17] A 2–2 draw againstLiechtenstein in a friendly in August 2003 saw the team set a new national record for most goals scored in a match; only twice since, in a 2–3 loss to Malta in another friendly nine years later, and again in their most recent victory, 3-1 over Liechtenstein in November 2024’s final match of their UEFA Nations League run, have the team scored multiple goals in a game.
In April 2004, San Marino gained their first win after more than 70 attempts, a 1–0 victory over Liechtenstein in a friendly on 28 April 2004 courtesy of a fifth-minute goal byAndy Selva. The match wasMartin Andermatt's debut as Liechtenstein manager.[18] Results during qualification for the2006 World Cup followed a similar vein to previous qualifying groups. Matches were generally one-sided defeats, except for single-goal defeats at home byLithuania and Belgium.[19]
San Marino's openingUEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match resulted in a record 13–0 defeat at home byGermany on 6 September 2006.[20] They scored only twice and conceded fifty-seven goals in losing all twelve matches. However, the home matches againstIreland,Cyprus andWales were each lost by a single goal.[21]
In thequalification campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, they lost all ten matches and failed to qualify. They conceded 47 goals in those fixtures, including 10 in a defeat byPoland, which became Poland's highest scoring victory of all time,[22] and scored just once, in a 3–1 defeat bySlovakia.[23] TheUEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers started in a similar way, the first nine matches all being defeats with an aggregate of 49 goals conceded and none scored, their best result being a one-goal loss toFinland at home, with the worst being a heavy 11–0 loss to the Netherlands, which became the Netherlands' highest scoring victory of all time and San Marino's worst-ever away defeat.[24] This was then followed up by two lighter defeats, a 5–0 home loss againstSweden,[25] before completing the campaign with a 4–0 away loss toMoldova.[26]
On 10 September 2013,Alessandro Della Valle scored San Marino's first competitive goal in five years. With the score 1–0 to Poland in theStadio Olimpico, Della Valle headed in a free-kick in the 22nd minute, beating goalkeeperArtur Boruc at his front post. Poland then regained the lead a minute later and eventually won 5–1.[27] It was the first international goal of any kind scored by San Marino since the national team lost 3–2 at home to Malta in 2012.[28]
On 15 November 2014, San Marino drew 0–0 at home againstEstonia.[29] It was the first time in ten years that the team had not lost a match, ending a 61–match losing streak,[29] and securing the country's first-ever point in a European Championship qualifier.[29]
In October 2016,Mattia Stefanelli scored for San Marino in their 4–1 loss to Norway.[30]
On 13 October 2020, San Marino recorded their fourth competitive draw and their first since 2014, after theirUEFA Nations League match withLiechtenstein ended 0–0.[32] A month later they made history by holdingGibraltar to a goalless draw, surviving with ten men after Davide Simoncini was sent off. This heralded several firsts for them: the first major tournament in which they had gained more than one point, the first time they had gained more than one point in a calendar year, and the first time that they had gone unbeaten without conceding a single goal in two consecutive competitive matches.[33]
On 7 December 2020, San Marino was drawn intoGroup I for the2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The team failed to get a single point and lost all their matches, including a 0–10 home defeat againstEngland, and with a record of one goal scored, at home againstPoland in a 1–7 loss, against 46 conceded.
On 28 March 2022, San Marino played the first official match in its history against a non-European team in a friendly game againstCape Verde played on a neutral venue in Spain, the result being a 2–0 loss.[34] San Marino then took on a second African side with a much lower standard than the previous one, the 198th rankedSeychelles, whom they hosted in a friendly atStadio Olimpico on 21 September 2022. San Marino ended an 18-game losing streak with a goalless draw but disappointed overall, failing to capitalize on their chances and win at home against an opponent within its reach, who played defensively in a 4–5–1 formation.[35][36][37] The2022–2023 edition of the UEFA Nations League saw the selection again in Group B of League D composed of three teams, but they lost their four games without scoring a goal.
On 17 October 2023, San Marino scored their first competitive goal in two years againstDenmark in a 1–2 loss duringUEFA Euro 2024 qualifying. They would score again againstKazakhstan on 17 November 2023, losing 3–1, and just three days later they scored again in a 2–1 loss toFinland. This marked the first time San Marino scored in three consecutive games.
Team picture of the San Marino national football team before their match againstSlovakia (2024)
On 20 March 2024, San Marino scored in four straight games for the first time in their history after taking a 1–0 lead againstSaint Kitts and Nevis, eventually losing 3–1. On 24 March 2024, San Marino ended a 12-game losing run with a 0–0 draw against Saint Kitts.
San Marino played Liechtenstein at home in the first round of the2024–25 UEFA Nations League on 5 September. After a disallowed goal for Liechtenstein in the 30th minute,Nicko Sensoli stole the ball from the Liechtenstein defence and scored to make it 1–0 in the 53rd minute. The Sammarinese then held on to claim a 1–0 victory, their first competitive win since joining FIFA and UEFA.[38] A later loss away to Gibraltar and a 1–1 draw salvaged in stoppage time by aNicola Nanni penalty against the same side left San Marino second in the table, with the ability to advance directly to League C should they beat Liechtenstein away (by virtue of their opponents's two draws).
On 18 November 2024, San Marino played Liechtenstein inVaduz. Despite being the more dangerous side in the first half, they were heading into the break 0–1 because of anAron Sele 40th minute goal. After the break, they swiftly equalized with a right-wing attack culminating inLorenzo Lazzari getting past the defence and beating the goalkeeper. In the 66th minute, San Marino won a penalty and Nanni smoothly converted it for an improbable 2–1 lead. Stunningly, just 10 minutes later,Alessandro Tosi found himself on the left side of the Liechtenstein goal and passed to substituteAlessandro Golinucci, who hit a first-time strike into the net to make it 3–1. In the end, the result stood, which meant San Marino was to be promoted to League C. It was the first time San Marino had scored more than one goal in a competitive fixture, the first time that San Marino had scored more than two goals in any fixture, the first time that San Marino had won a match from a losing position, the first time San Marino won an away match, and the first time San Marino was promoted in a major international competition.[39]
San Marino play home matches at theSan Marino Stadium, a municipally owned stadium inSerravalle, which also hosts the matches of club sideSan Marino Calcio.[40] It has a capacity of 7,000.[41] Crowds are low but there is always a fan group called "Brigata Mai 1 Gioia", mainly composed of Italians fromEmilia-Romagna. On occasion, traveling supporters outnumber the Sammarinese support. For example, in the fixture against the Republic of Ireland in February 2007, 2,500 of the 3,294 crowd were Irish supporters.[42][43]
San Marino has the smallest population of any UEFA country.[41] A 1–0 friendly win against Liechtenstein in 2004 and two UEFA Nations League wins in 2024, again over Liechtenstein, are their only victories to date.[45]
The national side is mainly composed of amateur players. Only a small number of players are at least semi-professionals, as many hold second jobs outside of the sport. Their 13–0 defeat at home against Germany was a European Championship record[20] until France eclipsed this in 2023 with a14–0 victory over Gibraltar.[46] They have conceded ten goals on seven other separate occasions.[47]
In theFIFA World Rankings, San Marino traditionally has the lowest rank of any UEFA country. Since the creation of FIFA rankings in 1992, San Marino's average position has been 176th.[48]
San Marino held the record for the fastest goal in FIFA World Cup qualifying history for 22 years when they stunned England with a goal after only 8.3 seconds in 1993.[10] England went on to win the match 7–1.
In 2001,Latvia managerGary Johnson resigned after failing to beat San Marino in a World Cup qualifier.[49] TheRepublic of Ireland's 2–1 win over San Marino in February 2007 (from a last-second goal) resulted in scathing press criticism for the Irish team.[50]
San Marino set a European record when they went over 20 matches without scoring between October 2008 and August 2012.[51] On 8 September 2015, San Marino scored its first away goal in 14 years whenMatteo Vitaioli scored against Lithuania inEuro 2016 qualification.[52][53]
An interesting result of San Marino's weaknesses is that many people see them as football's biggestunderdogs; as a result, they have gained a substantial following online from across the world, including a Twitter account dedicated to covering their games.[54]
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad / standby RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Player withdrew from the squad due to a non-injury issue.
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