Latvia national futsal team

The Latvian national futsal team is governed by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for futsal in Latvia and represents the country in international futsal competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships.

Latvia will make their international futsal debut at the UEFA Futsal Euro in 2026 as co-host alongside Lithuania national futsal team.

The president of the Latvian Football Federation, Vadims Ļašenko, also played for the Latvia national futsal team for several years, making 42 appearances.

Futsal in Latvia was officially organized and played according to international rules only after the country regained its independence.

In 1992, the Latvian national futsal team was established and participated in an international tournament in Moscow, where they lost to teams from the Commonwealth of Independent States and Italy but secured a victory against Slovakia.

In December 1998, Latvia made its debut in the UEFA European Championship qualification tournament in Belgium. Their first match ended in a 0–0 draw against Azerbaijan, followed by a 2–3 loss to the hosts, Belgium. The Latvian national team has participated in the UEFA European Championship qualification tournament 11 times, advancing past the preliminary round on five occasions. In total, Latvia has played 49 matches in European Championship qualification, recording 16 wins, 7 draws, and 26 losses. The team secured its first victory in an official qualification match in January 2007, defeating Bulgaria (2-0) and later England (5-1). In 2009, Latvia advanced past the preliminary round for the first time, overcoming Estonia, Armenia, and Bulgaria. However, in the main qualification round, the team did not secure a spot in the final tournament.

In January 2000, Latvia participated in the FIFA Futsal World Cup qualification tournament for the first time, suffering defeats in all four matches (against Russia, Poland, Belgium, and North Macedonia). A significant milestone for Latvian futsal came in November 2003 when the FIFA World Cup qualification tournament was held at the Riga Sports Arena (Rīgas Nacionālā sporta manēža). During this event, Latvia put up a respectable performance against the reigning world champions, Spain, losing by a narrow 1–3 margin.

In October 2011, playing in Jelgava, Latvia advanced past the first round of the FIFA World Cup preliminary qualifiers for the first time, defeating England and San Marino while drawing against Cyprus. However, in the main qualification round, Latvia was unable to progress beyond the group stage, drawing with Hungary and Kazakhstan but losing to Russia, which later qualified for the final tournament.

Latvia's national futsal team is the most successful team in the Baltic Futsal Cup, winning six out of the nine tournaments held. The competition traditionally includes futsal teams from Lithuania and Estonia.^[3]

The first head coach of the Latvian national futsal team in 1992 was Sergejs Jablokovs.

From 2003 until the end of 2021, the team's head coach was Artūrs Šketovs, who spent most of his playing career in traditional football but also briefly played for the Latvia national futsal team toward the end of his career.

At the beginning of 2022, a coaching change took place, with Portuguese coach Orlando Duarte taking over. However, after six months, he was replaced by Montenegrin specialist Vasko Vujović, who signed a contract under a 1+1 year system.

In the summer of 2024, as part of preparations for UEFA Futsal Euro 2026, Italian futsal specialist Massimiliano Bellarte was appointed as the head coach.

The main futsal competition in Latvia is the Virslīga Championship, which has been held since 1997. The Virslīga consists of a regular season followed by playoff matches, where the two best teams compete in the final series, played in a best-of-five format.

In the 2024/2025 season, ten teams participated in the Virslīga.

Currently, Riga-based clubs FK RFS Futsal and Riga FC Futsal Futsal traditionally dominate the competition. However, over the years, teams from Daugavpils, Jūrmala, Jelgava, Ventspils, Rēzekne, Spuņciems, and Jēkabpils have also won medals in the league.^[4]

Since 2011, the Latvian Football Federation (LFF) has awarded the title of the Best Latvian Futsal Player of the Year.

The most frequent recipient of this honor is forward Maksims Seņs, who has won the award four times, including three consecutive years (2011 and 2013–2015). Seņs has also been the top scorer of the Latvian Virslīga six times, playing for both of Latvia's strongest futsal clubs—RABA and Nikars. Aigars Bondars is the most capped player in the history of the Latvian national futsal team, having played 86 matches and received the best futsal player award in 2012.

Germans Matjušenko – three-time recipient (2018, 2019, 2021). Andrejs Aleksejevs – two-time recipient (2016, 2017). Miks Babris – awarded in 2020 and 2022. Artjoms Kozlovskis – named the best player in 2023. Edgars Tarakanovs – received the title for the first time in 2024.

The most successful futsal club in Latvia was FK Nikars, a Riga-based football club that won the Latvian championship title 12 consecutive times (2008–2019). During this period, Portuguese futsal specialist Orlando Duarte (Orlando Francisco Alves Duarte), who had previously won FIFA Futsal World Cup medals with Portugal national futsal team, coached Nikars for seven years.

FK Nikars also competed in the UEFA Futsal Cup for 11 seasons, advancing past the main qualification round five times to reach the Elite Round, where the top 16 teams in the tournament compete. In 2017, Nikars achieved its highest European ranking, placing 7th in the UEFA futsal rankings. However, in 2019, due to financial difficulties, the club withdrew from the Latvian Virslīga. One year later, Nikars returned to top-level Latvian futsal as part of the FC RFS Futsal structure.

The second most successful Latvian futsal team is RABA, another Riga-based club, which has won the Latvian championship three times. In 2021, RABA reclaimed the championship title after a 15-year gap. Additionally, RABA has finished as runners-up in the Latvian championship ten times.

Updated 21 February 2025

As of 21 February 2025. Players in bold are still active with Latvia.

• Official website (Latvian)