Lithuania national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Lithuania women's national football team.

Lithuania

Nickname(s)	Rinktinė (National team) Trispalvės (Tricolours)
Association	Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Edgaras Jankauskas
Captain	Fedor Černych
Most caps	Saulius Mikoliūnas (101)
Top scorer	Tomas Danilevičius (19)
Home stadium	Darius and Girėnas Stadium
FIFA code	LTU
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	142 (19 December 2024)[1]
Highest	37 (October 2008)
Lowest	149 (December 2017)
First international
Lithuania 0–5 Estonia  (Kaunas, Lithuania; 24 June 1923)
Biggest win
Lithuania 7–0 Estonia  (Riga, Latvia; 20 May 1995)
Biggest defeat
Egypt 10–0 Lithuania  (Paris, France; 27 May 1924)
Baltic Cup
Appearances	30 (first in 1928)
Best result	Champions (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 national team played their home matches at the LFF Stadium in Vilnius.
From 2022, the national team plays their home matches at the Darius and Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas.

History

Lithuanian football team at the 1924 Summer Olympics

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

Main article: Lithuania national football team results (2020–present)

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

Gibraltar  v  Lithuania

21 March 2024 Nations League play-out	Gibraltar	0–1	Lithuania	Faro/Loulé, Portugal
20:45 UTC+1		Report	Kučys 60'	Stadium: Estádio Algarve Attendance: 207 Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)

Lithuania  v  Gibraltar

26 March 2024 Nations League play-out	Lithuania	1–0 (2–0 agg.)	Gibraltar	Kaunas, Lithuania
19:00 UTC+2	Černych 51'	Report		Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Attendance: 6,102 Referee: Duje Strukan (Croatia)
Note: Lithuania won 2–0 on aggregate and remained in League C, while Gibraltar were relegated to League D.

Latvia  v  Lithuania

8 June 2024 2024 Baltic Cup	Latvia	0–2	Lithuania	Liepāja, Latvia
16:00 UTC+3		Report	Kučys 49' Dolžnikov 72'	Stadium: Daugava Stadium Attendance: 3,505 Referee: Juri Frischer (Estonia)

Lithuania  v  Estonia

11 June 2024 2024 Baltic Cup	Lithuania	1–1 (3–4 p)	Estonia	Kaunas, Lithuania
19:00 UTC+3	Matulevicius 84'	Report	Lepik 82'	Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)
	Penalties
	Lasickas Černych Tutyškinas Novikovas Klimavičius		Mets Lepik Palumets Sorga Vetkal

Lithuania  v  Cyprus

6 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Lithuania	0–1	Cyprus	Marijampole, Lithuania
20:45		Report	Pittas 34'	Stadium: Sūduva Stadium Attendance: 4,905 Referee: Igor Pajac (Croatia)

Romania  v  Lithuania

9 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Romania	3–1	Lithuania	Bucharest, Romania
21:45	Mihăilă 4' Marin 87' (pen.) Mitriță 90+2'	Report	Kučys 34'	Stadium: Steaua Stadium Attendance: 28,168 Referee: Rade Obrenovic (Slovenia)

Lithuania  v  Kosovo

12 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Lithuania	1–2	Kosovo	Kaunas, Lithuania
16:00	Golubickas 84'	Report	Zhegrova 20' E. Krasniqi 65'	Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Attendance: 7,554 Referee: Ondřej Berka (Czech Republic)

Lithuania  v  Romania

15 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Lithuania	1–2	Romania	Kaunas, Lithuania
21:45	Kučys 7' (pen.)	Report	R. Marin 18' (pen.) Drăguș 65'	Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Attendance: 2,585 Referee: Nick Walsh (Scotland)

Cyprus  v  Lithuania

15 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Cyprus	2–1	Lithuania	Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45	Kastanos 18' Tzionis 63'	Report	Gineitis 47'	Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis Attendance: 1,733 Referee: Nenad Minaković (Serbia)

Kosovo  v  Lithuania

18 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Kosovo	1–0	Lithuania	Pristina, Kosovo
20:45	Jashari 5'	Report		Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium Attendance: 12,856 Referee: Kristoffer Hagenes (Norway)

2025

Poland  v  Lithuania

21 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Poland	v	Lithuania	Poland
20:45		Report

Lithuania  v  Finland

24 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Lithuania	v	Finland	Lithuania
21:45		Report

Malta  v  Lithuania

7 June 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Malta	v	Lithuania	Malta
18:00		Report

Lithuania  v  Malta

4 September 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Lithuania	v	Malta	Lithuania
21:45		Report

Lithuania  v  Spain/ Netherlands

7 September 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Lithuania	v	Spain/ Netherlands	Lithuania
21:45 or 19:00		Report

Finland  v  Lithuania

9 October 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Finland	v	Lithuania	Finland
21:45		Report

Lithuania  v  Poland

12 October 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Lithuania	v	Poland	Lithuania
21:45		Report

Spain /Netherlands  v  Lithuania

17 November 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Spain /Netherlands	v	Lithuania	Spain/Netherlands
20:45		Report

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	20	4	5	11	17	27	020.00

Players

Current squad

• The following players were called up for the international matches in November 2024.^[8]
• Caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2024, after the match against  Kosovo.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Mantas Bertašius	(2000-05-03) 3 May 2000 (age 24)	1	0	Banga
12	1GK	Edvinas Gertmonas	(1997-05-13) 13 May 1997 (age 27)	16	0	Universitatea Cluj
16	1GK	Deividas Mikelionis	(1995-05-08) 8 May 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Kauno Žalgiris
2	2DF	Rokas Lekiatas	(1998-11-07) 7 November 1998 (age 26)	13	0	FC U Craiova 1948
3	2DF	Artemijus Tutyškinas	(2003-08-08) 8 August 2003 (age 21)	13	0	ŁKS Łódź
3	2DF	Klaudijus Upstas	(1994-10-30) 30 October 1994 (age 30)	7	0	Hegelmann
4	2DF	Edvinas Girdvainis	(1993-01-19) 19 January 1993 (age 31)	56	1	SV Sandhausen
5	2DF	Kipras Kažukolovas	(2000-11-20) 20 November 2000 (age 24)	13	0	Astana
13	2DF	Justas Lasickas (vice-captain)	(1997-10-06) 6 October 1997 (age 27)	57	2	Olimpija Ljubljana
17	2DF	Pijus Širvys	(1998-04-01) 1 April 1998 (age 26)	22	3	Maribor
19	2DF	Edgaras Utkus	(2000-06-22) 22 June 2000 (age 24)	16	0	Cercle Brugge
21	2DF	Dominykas Barauskas	(1997-04-18) 18 April 1997 (age 27)	11	0	Górnik Łęczna
6	3MF	Modestas Vorobjovas	(1995-12-30) 30 December 1995 (age 28)	40	1	İstanbulspor
7	3MF	Tomas Kalinauskas	(2000-04-27) 27 April 2000 (age 24)	5	0	Burton Albion
8	3MF	Giedrius Matulevičius	(1997-03-05) 5 March 1997 (age 27)	10	1	Žalgiris
10	3MF	Fedor Černych (captain)	(1991-05-21) 21 May 1991 (age 33)	97	15	Kauno Žalgiris
11	3MF	Matas Vareika	(2000-01-27) 27 January 2000 (age 24)	2	0	Hegelmann
14	3MF	Vykintas Slivka	(1995-04-29) 29 April 1995 (age 29)	71	3	Sagan Tosu
15	3MF	Gvidas Gineitis	(2004-04-15) 15 April 2004 (age 20)	18	0	Torino
18	3MF	Domantas Antanavičius	(1998-11-19) 19 November 1998 (age 26)	3	0	Hegelmann
20	3MF	Titas Milašius	(2000-12-12) 12 December 2000 (age 24)	8	0	Pogoń Siedlce
22	3MF	Paulius Golubickas	(1999-08-19) 19 August 1999 (age 25)	30	2	Žalgiris
23	3MF	Artūr Dolžnikov	(2000-06-06) 6 June 2000 (age 24)	15	1	Kauno Žalgiris
7	4FW	Valdas Paulauskas	(2001-02-04) 4 February 2001 (age 23)	2	0	Banga
9	4FW	Gytis Paulauskas	(1999-09-27) 27 September 1999 (age 25)	19	2	Kolos Kovalivka
11	4FW	Romualdas Jansonas	(2005-06-23) 23 June 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Žalgiris

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	Lukas Paukštė	(1998-09-25) 25 September 1998 (age 26)	0	0	Šiauliai	Estonia, 11 June 2024
GK	Emilijus Zubas	(1990-07-10) 10 July 1990 (age 34)	19	0	Unattached	Gibraltar, 26 March 2024^INJ
GK	Gustas Baliutavičius	(2000-08-27) 27 August 2000 (age 24)	0	0	Šiauliai	Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
GK	Vytautas Černiauskas	(1989-03-12) 12 March 1989 (age 35)	6	0	Panevėžys	Gibraltar, 21 March 2024
DF	Linas Klimavičius^RET	(1989-04-10) 10 April 1989 (age 35)	43	0	Panevėžys	Romania, 9 September 2024
DF	Markas Beneta	(1993-11-08) 8 November 1993 (age 31)	23	0	Panevėžys	Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
MF	Ovidijus Verbickas	(1993-07-04) 4 July 1993 (age 31)	36	1	Žalgiris	Romania, 9 September 2024
MF	Daniel Romanovskij	(1996-06-19) 19 June 1996 (age 28)	12	0	Šiauliai	Romania, 9 September 2024
MF	Arvydas Novikovas	(1990-12-18) 18 December 1990 (age 34)	96	12	Transinvest	Estonia, 11 June 2024
MF	Ernestas Gudelevičius	(2005-01-14) 14 January 2005 (age 19)	0	0	Fiorentina U19	Estonia, 11 June 2024
MF	Eligijus Jankauskas	(1998-06-22) 22 June 1998 (age 26)	9	0	Šiauliai	Cyprus, 19 November 2023
FW	Armandas Kučys^INJ	(2003-02-27) 27 February 2003 (age 21)	13	4	Celje	Romania, 15 October 2024
FW	Faustas Steponavičius	(2004-06-08) 8 June 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Septemvri Sofia	Cyprus, 1 November 2023
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 20 November 2024^[9]

Players in bold are still active with Lithuania.

Most appearances

Saulius Mikoliūnas is Lithuania's most capped player with 101 appearances.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Saulius Mikoliūnas	101	5	2004–2022
2	Fedor Černych	97	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	Tomas Danilevičius	71	19	1998–2012
	Vykintas Slivka	71	3	2015–present
7	Žydrūnas Karčemarskas	66	0	2003–2013
8	Aurelijus Skarbalius	65	5	1991–2005
	Marius Stankevičius	65	5	2001–2013

Top goalscorers

Tomas Danilevičius is Lithuania's top scorer with 19 goals.

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Tomas Danilevičius	19	71	0.27	1998–2012
2	Fedor Černych	15	97	0.16	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	To be determined									To be determined
2030
2034
Total		0/11								81	18	16	47	63	130

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	To be determined
Total			20	4	3	13	12	37	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

Main article: Baltic Cup (football)

Head-to-head record

Main article: Lithuanian national football team head to head

As of 18 November 2024.

Opponent	P	W	D	L
Albania	6	3	1	2
Andorra	2	2	0	0
Argentina	1	0	1	0
Armenia	4	2	0	2
Austria	3	1	0	2
Azerbaijan	3	1	1	1
Belarus	10	1	4	5
Belgium	2	0	2	0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	6	1	1	4
Brazil	1	0	0	1
Bulgaria	5	2	1	2
Chile	1	0	0	1
Croatia	2	0	1	1
Cyprus	6	1	0	5
Czech Republic	7	1	0	6
Denmark	2	0	1	1
Egypt	1	0	0	1
England	4	0	0	4
Estonia	52	21	8	23
Faroe Islands	11	7	2	2
Finland	4	2	0	2
France	4	0	0	4
Georgia	8	3	1	4
Germany	2	0	1	1
Gibraltar	2	2	0	0
Greece	4	1	1	2
Hungary	7	0	2	5
Iceland	5	1	2	2
Indonesia	1	1	0	0
Iran	1	0	0	1
Israel	5	0	1	4
Italy	8	0	2	6
Jordan	1	0	0	1
Kazakhstan	3	1	1	1
Kuwait	2	0	1	1
Kosovo	3	0	0	3
Latvia	53	14	11	28
Liechtenstein	6	4	1	1
Luxembourg	6	1	1	4
North Macedonia	3	2	0	1
Mali	1	0	0	1
Malta	5	2	2	1
Moldova	8	2	4	2
Montenegro	4	0	1	3
New Zealand	1	1	0	0
Northern Ireland	4	0	1	3
Norway	2	0	0	2
Poland	11	2	4	5
Portugal	4	0	0	4
Republic of Ireland	5	0	1	4
Romania	15	1	0	14
Russia	4	0	1	3
San Marino	5	5	0	0
Saudi Arabia	1	0	1	0
Scotland	10	1	3	6
Serbia	11	1	0	10
Slovakia	4	0	2	2
Slovenia	6	2	2	2
Spain	7	0	1	6
Sri Lanka	2	1	1	0
Sweden	5	0	0	5
Switzerland	5	0	0	5
Turkmenistan	1	1	0	0
Turkey	2	0	0	2
Ukraine	10	2	1	7
United Arab Emirates	1	0	1	0

Honours

Regional

• Baltic Cup
  • Champions (10): 1930, 1935, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2010
  • Runners-up (8)
  • Third place (9)

See also

• Lithuania national under-21 football team
• Lithuania national under-19 football team
• Lithuania national under-18 football team
• Lithuania national under-17 football team

References

1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
2. Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
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 Tautų lygos finišui".
9. Mamrud, Roberto. "Lithuania - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2024.

External links

• Official website (in Lithuanian)
• Lithuania at FIFA
• Lithuania at UEFA
• All Lithuanian Team Games 1923–1930
• Reports for all matches of Lithuania national team
• Lithuanian football videos Lithuanian Football TV