Latvia, alongside their Baltic rivals, Lithuania and Estonia, have also participated in the local sub-regional Baltic Cup tournament, which takes place every two years. Latvia has won the Baltic Cup championship a record 13 times, more than any other country in the history of the tournament, most recently in 2018.
Latvia's current home ground is the Daugava Stadium in Riga, although since the autumn of 2022 most games have been held at Skonto Stadium.
History
Early years
Latvia played their first match in 1922, a game against Estonia, which finished in a 1–1 draw. Latvia have won the Baltic Cup 12 times, and played 99 official games during its pre-war period from 1922 to 1940.[4][5]
In 1937, the Latvian team participated in the first qualification tournament for the 1938 World Cup. Latvia were placed in Group 8, alongside Austria and Lithuania.[6] Latvia beat Lithuania 4–2 in Riga, after a Fricis Kaņeps hat-trick and an Iļja Vestermans goal.[6] In Kaunas, they won 5–1, after two goals each from Kaņeps, Vaclavs Borduško, and Vestermans,[6] but lost 1–2 in the decisive away match against Austria, despite an early goal from Vestermans.[6] In April 1938, the Austrian Anschluss made the Austrian team unable to participate, however, despite being the group's runner-up, Latvia was not invited to the tournament by FIFA to replace Austria.[7]
In September 2003, Latvia surprisingly finished second, ahead of Poland, in their qualifying group for Euro 2004.[9] This meant they qualified for the play-offs, where they were drawn against Turkey. Latvia won the first leg 1–0, through top goalscorer, Māris Verpakovskis.[10] The second leg finished in a 2–2 draw, with Latvia winning 3–2 on aggregate, thus qualifying for the tournament.[11][12] This resulted in Latvia being the first and only Baltic team, as well as being the second former-Soviet state in Europe at the time (after Russia) to qualify for a European Championship.[11][12] At Euro 2004, Latvia were drawn in Group D, alongside Germany, Czech Republic, and Netherlands.[13] Latvia faced Czech Republic in their opening match on 15 June 2004, with Verpakovskis scoring before half-time.[14] However, the Czechs would later come back to win the game 2–1.[14] Four days later, Latvia earned a respectable 0–0 draw against Germany to earn their first point in a major tournament.[15] They lost their final match with 3–0 against Netherlands,[16] and were eliminated, finishing fourth, with one point from their draw and two losses.[17]
Latvia have since failed to qualify for another major tournament, although they came close to qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. After eight qualifying matches, Latvia were level on points with their next opponent, second-placed Greece, but a 5–2 defeat virtually ended all hopes of qualification and Latvia finished third in UEFA Group 2. Recent years have seen a sharp decline with many losses. In the EURO 2020 qualifiers, Latvia lost 9 out of 10 games, including a woeful 0–5 home loss to Slovenia.
Latvia's kit is traditionally a carmine red jersey with white trim, carmine red shorts and socks, whilst their current away kit is all predominantly white. Latvia's kits have been produced by various manufacturers.
Crest
Until July 2018, the team crest consisted of the Latvian Football Federation logo, when it was switched to a shield with a football in the colors of the Latvian flag and 'LATVIJA' written above. A similar crest with a head of a howling wolf was also unveiled as a secondary logo for use in souvenirs etc. as part of the #11vilki (#11wolves) brand.[18]
All Latvian matches are currently broadcast with full commentary on the Go3 web streaming service, owned by TV3 Group. Since the 1990s, LTV7 (initially LTV2) was the broadcaster of all of the team games, before the All Media Baltics conglomerate took over broadcasting rights in September 2018.[19] Games were broadcast on the group's TV6 channel and the TVPlay and Viaplay streaming platforms. All Media Baltics later became TV3 Group.
From the 2022 season until the 2028 season, Latvia's home and away qualifiers, and friendlies both home and away were broadcast live exclusively by Swedish Viaplay Group on their web streaming service. On 20 July 2023, Viaplay announced that it will leave the market of the Baltic states.[20][21] Upon exiting, all sports licences owned by Viasat - including the Baltic broadcasting rights for the Baltic Cup, UEFA Champions League, Premier League, Formula 1 and the NHL - were acquired by TV3 Group.[22] This means that the matches of the Latvian national football team are returning LTV7, in September 2024.[23][24]
Stadium
In recent years, the home venue of the team has fluctuated between Skonto Stadium and the Daugava Stadium in Riga. Daugava was the main venue of the team from 1992 to 2000, when Skonto Stadium was unveiled as a temporary location due to the planned renovation of the Daugava. However, the renovation of the complex only began in 2017, with the first stage completed a year later.
The team then returned to the Daugava after an 18-year absence in the summer of 2018 with a game against Estonia on June 2nd.[25] However, since mid-2022 home matches were once again temporarily moved to Skonto Stadium due to problems with the grass pitch and other issues. Works on replacing and upgrading the pitch began in October 2023.[26] At the time, Latvian Football Federation president Vadims Ļašenko said that Skonto would become the main home of the men's team, with Daugava serving as a backup and the venue for the women's and youth national teams.[27]
In the interwar era between 1921 and 1940, games were held in various locations such as the Army Sports Club Stadium in Riga and others.
Home venues record
The following table provides a summary of Latvia's results at home venues since 1992.
^"1992. gads". Latvian Football Federation (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 30 December 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
^"How they qualified: Latvia". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 May 2004. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
^ ab"Joyful Latvia make history". Unions of European Football Associations. 20 November 2003. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
^ ab"Latvia claim historic win". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 19 November 2003. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
^"Euro 2004 draw". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
^ ab"Czech Rep 2–1 Latvia". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 15 June 2004. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
^"Latvia 0–0 Germany". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 19 June 2004. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
^"Holland 3–0 Latvia". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 23 June 2004. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
^"Group D". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 May 2004. Archived from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
