Lithuania national football team

Lithuania
Nickname(s)Rinktinė (National team)
Trispalvės (Tricolours)
AssociationLithuanian Football Federation
(LFF)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachEdgaras Jankauskas
CaptainFedor Černych
Most capsSaulius Mikoliūnas (101)
Top scorerTomas Danilevičius (19)
Home stadiumDarius and Girėnas Stadium
FIFA codeLTU
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 143 1 (3 April 2025)[1]
Highest37 (October 2008)
Lowest149 (December 2017)
First international
  0–5 Estonia 
(Kaunas, Lithuania; 24 June 1923)
Biggest win
  7–0 Estonia 
(Riga, Latvia; 20 May 1995)
Biggest defeat
 Egypt 10–0  
(Paris, France; 27 May 1924)
Baltic Cup
Appearances30 (first in 1928)
Best resultChampions (1930, 1935, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2010)

The Lithuania national football team (Lithuanian: Lietuvos nacionalinė futbolo rinktinė) represents Lithuania in men's 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 10 times out of 29 appearances, and only Latvia has won it more frequently. Despite this Lithuania holds the record for winning the most consecutive Baltic Cup championships, four titles in a row from 1996 to 2000.

From 2012 until 2022, the team played their home matches at the LFF Stadium in Vilnius. Since 2022, they have played their home matches at the Darius and Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas.

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.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2024

6 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League   0–1  Cyprus Marijampolė, Lithuania
20:45 Report
  • Pittas 34'
Stadium: Sūduva Stadium
Attendance: 4,905
Referee: Igor Pajac (Croatia)
9 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League Romania  3–1   Bucharest, Romania
21:45
Report
Stadium: Steaua Stadium
Attendance: 28,168
Referee: Rade Obrenovic (Slovenia)
12 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League   1–2  Kosovo Kaunas, Lithuania
16:00 Report Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium
Attendance: 7,554
Referee: Ondřej Berka (Czech Republic)
15 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League   1–2  Romania Kaunas, Lithuania
21:45
Report
Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium
Attendance: 2,585
Referee: Nick Walsh (Scotland)
15 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League Cyprus  2–1   Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45
Report Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis
Attendance: 1,733
Referee: Nenad Minaković (Serbia)
18 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League Kosovo  1–0   Pristina, Kosovo
20:45 Report Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium
Attendance: 12,856
Referee: Kristoffer Hagenes (Norway)

2025

21 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Poland  1–0   Warsaw, Poland
20:45 Report Stadium: Stadion Narodowy
Attendance: 55,738
Referee: Tasos Sidiropoulos (Greece)
24 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification   2–2  Finland Kaunas, Lithuania
21:45
Report Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium
Attendance: 10,421
Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium)
7 June 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Malta  0–0   Ta' Qali, Malta
18:00 Report Stadium: National Stadium
Attendance: 2,785
Referee: Marian Barbu (Romania)
10 June 2025 Friendly Denmark  5–0   Odense, Denmark
19:00 UTC+3
Report Stadium: Odense Stadium
Attendance: 13,087
Referee: Rohit Saggi (Norway)
4 September 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification   v  Malta Kaunas, Lithuania
21:45 Report Stadium: Darius and Girenas Stadium
9 October 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Finland  v   Helsinki, Finland
21:45 Report Stadium: Helsinki Olympic Stadium
12 October 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification   v  Poland Kaunas, Lithuania
21:45 Report Stadium: Darius and Girenas Stadium
17 November 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Netherlands  v   Amsterdam, Netherlands
20:45 Report Stadium: Johan Cruyff Arena

Coaching staff

Position[7] Name
Manager Edgaras Jankauskas
Assistant coach Andrius Velička
Assistant coach Vaidas Sabaliauskas
Fitness coach Georgas Freidgeimas
Goalkeeping coach Audrius Paškevičius
Analyst Rokas Pranaitis

Managers history

Name Nat From To Games Won Drawn Lost GF GA Win%
Benjaminas Zelkevičius 1990 1991 3 1 2 0 7 4 033.33
Algimantas Liubinskas 1992 1994 29 7 8 14 29 48 024.14
Benjaminas Zelkevičius 1995 1997 29 12 6 11 45 41 041.38
Kęstutis Latoža 1998 1999 18 5 4 9 15 24 027.78
Robertas Tautkus (caretaker) 1999 1999 1 0 0 1 0 3 000.00
Stasys Stankus 2000 2000 8 2 0 6 8 18 025.00
Julius Kvedaras (caretaker) 2000 2000 1 0 0 1 1 6 000.00
Benjaminas Zelkevičius 2001 2003 19 4 3 12 20 41 021.05
Algimantas Liubinskas 2003 2008 50 18 6 26 54 65 036.00
José Couceiro 2008 2009 15 6 3 6 17 15 040.00
Raimondas Žutautas 2010 2011 16 4 3 9 11 22 025.00
Csaba László 2012 2013 16 2 4 10 12 28 012.50
Igoris Pankratjevas 2013 2015 21 5 5 11 14 31 023.81
Edgaras Jankauskas 2016 2018 26 3 5 18 14 50 011.54
Valdas Urbonas 2019 2021 24 5 4 15 17 49 020.83
Valdas Ivanauskas 2021 2022 13 2 1 10 6 29 015.38
Reinhold Breu (interim) 2022 2022 4 0 2 2 1 4 000.00
Edgaras Jankauskas 2023 present 23 4 7 12 19 30 017.39

Players

Current squad

  • The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification fixtures against Poland and Finland in March 2025.[8]
  • Caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2025, after the match against Malta.
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Edvinas Gertmonas (1997-05-13) 13 May 1997 19 0 Universitatea Cluj
12 1GK Tomas Švedkauskas (1994-06-22) 22 June 1994 14 0 FK Kauno Žalgiris
21 1GK Džiugas Bartkus (1989-11-07) 7 November 1989 12 0 Al-Bukiryah FC

2 2DF Artemijus Tutyškinas (2003-08-08) 8 August 2003 15 0 NK Celje
3 2DF Edgaras Utkus (2000-06-22) 22 June 2000 19 0 Cercle Brugge KSV
4 2DF Edvinas Girdvainis (1993-01-19) 19 January 1993 57 1 SV Sandhausen
5 2DF Kipras Kažukolovas (2000-11-20) 20 November 2000 16 0 FC Astana
13 2DF Justas Lasickas (1997-10-06) 6 October 1997 60 2 NK Olimpija
17 2DF Rokas Lekiatas (1998-11-07) 7 November 1998 13 0 no club
19 2DF Klaudijus Upstas (1994-10-30) 30 October 1994 8 0 FC Hegelmann

6 3MF Modestas Vorobjovas (1995-12-30) 30 December 1995 41 1 İstanbulspor AŞ
7 3MF Artūr Dolžnikov (2000-06-06) 6 June 2000 18 1 SK Sigma Olomouc
8 3MF Gratas Sirgėdas (1994-12-17) 17 December 1994 22 5 FK Kauno Žalgiris
10 3MF Fedor Černych (1991-05-21) 21 May 1991 100 15 FK Kauno Žalgiris
14 3MF Vykintas Slivka (1995-04-29) 29 April 1995 71 3 Sagan Tosu
15 3MF Gvidas Gineitis (2004-04-15) 15 April 2004 21 2 Torino FC
16 3MF Domantas Antanavičius (1998-11-19) 19 November 1998 4 0 FC Hegelmann
18 3MF Deividas Šešplaukis (1998-02-02) 2 February 1998 3 0 FA Šiauliai
20 3MF Titas Milašius (2000-12-12) 12 December 2000 10 0 MKP Pogoń Siedlce
22 3MF Paulius Golubickas (1999-08-19) 19 August 1999 33 2 RKS Radomiak Radom

9 4FW Gytis Paulauskas (1999-09-27) 27 September 1999 23 2 Dinamo Batumi
11 4FW Romualdas Jansonas (2005-06-23) June 23, 2005 3 0 FK Kauno Žalgiris
23 4FW Manfredas Ruzgis (1997-01-05) 5 January 1997 2 0 KF Vora

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 Mantas Bertašius (2000-05-03) 3 May 2000 1 0 FK Banga  Finland, 24 March 2025
GK Marius Adamonis (1997-05-13) 13 May 1997 1 0 FC Südtirol  Finland, 24 March 2025
GK Deividas Mikelionis (1995-05-08) 8 May 1995 0 0 FK Kauno Žalgiris  Kosovo, 18 November 2024

DF Pijus ŠirvysWD (1998-04-01) 1 April 1998 24 3 NK Maribor  Malta, 7 June 2025
DF Dominykas Barauskas INJ (1997-04-18) 18 April 1997 11 0 GKS Górnik Łęczna  Finland, 24 March 2025
DF Linas Klimavičius RET (1989-04-10) 10 April 1989 43 0 FK Panevėžys  Romania, 9 September 2024

MF Giedrius Matulevičius (1997-03-05) 5 March 1997 12 1 FK Žalgiris  Finland, 24 March 2025
MF Matijus Remeikis (2003-03-28) 28 March 2003 4 0 PFK Botev  Finland, 24 March 2025
MF Matas Vareika INJ (2000-01-27) 27 January 2000 3 0 FC Pyunik  Finland, 24 March 2025
MF Tomas Kalinauskas (2000-04-27) 27 April 2000 5 0 Burton Albion FC  Kosovo, 18 November 2024
MF Ovidijus Verbickas (1993-07-04) 4 July 1993 36 1 FK Žalgiris  Romania, 9 September 2024
MF Daniel Romanovskij (1996-06-19) 19 June 1996 12 0 FA Šiauliai  Romania, 9 September 2024

FW Armandas Kučys INJ (2003-02-27) 27 February 2003 15 5 NK Celje  Finland, 24 March 2025
FW Valdas Paulauskas (2001-02-04) 4 February 2001 1 0 FK Kauno Žalgiris  Kosovo, 18 November 2024

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 7 June 2025[9]
Players in bold are still active with Lithuania.

Most appearances

Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1 Saulius Mikoliūnas 101 5 2004–2022
2 Fedor Černych 100 15 2012–present
3 Arvydas Novikovas 96 12 2010–present
4 Andrius Skerla 84 1 1996–2011
5 Deividas Šemberas 82 0 1996–2013
6 Vykintas Slivka 72 3 2015–present
7 Tomas Danilevičius 71 19 1998–2012
8 Žydrūnas Karčemarskas 66 0 2003–2013
9 Aurelijus Skarbalius 65 5 1991–2005
Marius Stankevičius 65 5 2001–2013

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Tomas Danilevičius 19 71 0.27 1998–2012
2 Fedor Černych 15 100 0.15 2012–present
3 Antanas Lingis 12 33 0.36 1928–1938
Arvydas Novikovas 12 96 0.13 2010–present
5 Edgaras Jankauskas 10 56 0.18 1991–2008
6 Virginijus Baltušnikas 9 42 0.21 1990–1998
7 Jaroslavas Citavičius 8 24 0.33 1926–1933
Valdas Ivanauskas 8 28 0.29 1992–2000
Darius Maciulevičius 8 38 0.21 1991–2005
Robertas Poškus 8 48 0.17 1999–2011

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1930 Did not enter Declined invitation
1934 Did not qualify 1 0 0 1 0 2
1938 2 0 0 2 3 9
1950 to 1990 Part of the  Soviet Union Part of the  Soviet Union
1994 Did not qualify 12 2 3 7 8 21
1998 10 5 2 3 11 8
2002 8 0 2 6 3 20
2006 10 2 4 4 8 9
2010 10 4 0 6 10 11
2014 10 3 2 5 9 11
2018 10 1 3 6 7 20
2022 8 1 0 7 4 19
2026 Qualification in progress 3 0 2 1 2 3
2030 To be determined To be determined
2034
Total 0/11 84 18 18 48 65 133

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record Qualifying record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1960 Part of the  Soviet Union Part of the  Soviet Union
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996 Did not qualify 10 5 1 4 13 12
2000 10 3 2 5 8 16
2004 8 3 1 4 7 11
2008 12 5 1 6 11 13
2012 8 1 2 5 4 13
2016 10 3 1 6 7 18
2020 8 0 1 7 5 25
2024 8 1 3 4 8 14
2028 To be determined To be determined
2032
Total 0/8 74 21 12 41 63 122

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season** Division Group Pld W D* L GF GA P/R RK
2018–19 C 4 6 0 0 6 3 16 39th
2020–21 C 4 6 2 2 2 5 7 41st
2022–23 C 1 8 2 1 5 4 14 47th
2024–25 C 2 6 0 0 6 4 11 48th
Total 26 4 3 19 16 48 39th
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
**Group stage played home and away. Flag shown represents host nation for the finals stage.

Baltic Cup

Head-to-head record

As of 10 June 2025.

Honours

Regional

See also

References

  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 3 April 2025. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 6 July 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  3. ^ "MATCHES → international football results of Lithuania". eufootball.info. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  4. ^ "International football MATCH: 13.10.1940 Lithuania v Latvia*". eufootball.info. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  5. ^ "International football MATCH: 27.05.1990 Georgia v Lithuania". eufootball.info. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  6. ^ FIFA World Cup Archived 30 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine uefa.com
  7. ^ "Įvyko LFF Vykdomojo komiteto posėdis". LFF (in Lithuanian). 30 January 2023. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Patvirtinta vyrų rinktinės sudėtis".
  9. ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Lithuania - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2024.