Luxembourg national football team

The Luxembourg national football team (nicknamed the Red Lions; Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch Foussballnationalequipe, French: Équipe du Luxembourg de football, German: Luxemburgische Fußballnationalmannschaft) is the national football team of Luxembourg, and is controlled by the Luxembourg Football Federation. The team plays most of its home matches at the Stade Josy Barthel in Luxembourg City.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Luxembourg women's national football team.
Luxembourg
Nickname(s)d'Roud Léiwen
Les Lions Rouges
Die Roten Löwen
(The Red Lions)
AssociationLuxembourg Football Federation
(Lëtzebuerger Foussballfederatioun)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachLuc Holtz
CaptainLaurent Jans
Most capsMario Mutsch (102)
Top scorerLéon Mart (16)
Home stadiumStade Josy Barthel
FIFA codeLUX
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 98 (10 December 2020)[1]
Highest82 (September 2018)
Lowest195 (August 2006)
First international
 Luxembourg 1–4 France 
(Luxembourg City; 29 October 1911)
Biggest win
 Luxembourg 6–0 Afghanistan 
(Brighton, United Kingdom; 26 July 1948)
Biggest defeat
 Germany 9–0 Luxembourg 
(Berlin, Germany; 4 August 1936)
 Luxembourg 0–9 England 
(Luxembourg City; 19 October 1960)
 England 9–0 Luxembourg 
(London, United Kingdom; 15 December 1982)

Luxembourg has participated in every FIFA World Cup qualifiers since those for the 1934 World Cup and in UEFA European Championship qualifiers since those for Euro 1964. As of 2018, they have never qualified for any of these major tournaments. Luxembourg is the nation with the most qualifying campaigns in both of these competitions without ever making it to the finals. However, they did compete in six Olympic football events between 1920 and 1952.[2]

History
The Luxembourg national football team in 1920 (above), and in 2015

Luxembourg played their first ever international match on 29 October 1911, in a friendly match against France; it resulted in a 1–4 defeat.[2] Their first victory came on 8 February 1914, also in a match against France, which they won 5–4.[2]

The national side of Luxembourg competed in six Olympic football events between 1920 and 1952, and survived the preliminary round twice (in 1948 and 1952).[2] In between, Luxembourg started participating at qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup, but as of 2018 they still never qualified.

Starting in 1921, the Luxembourg national A-selection would play 239 unofficial international matches until 1981, mostly against other countries' B-teams like those of Belgium, France, Switzerland and West Germany, as well as a team representing South-Netherlands.[3]

The Luxembourg team in 1969, before a World Cup qualifier

After their last Olympic tournament in 1952, the national team also started playing in qualifying groups for UEFA European Championships, but could not reach the major European tournament end stages. The only time that the team was close to qualify was for a European or World Championship was for the Euro 1964. In the first qualification round they defeated the Netherlands with a score of 3–2 on aggregate after two matches. A Dutch newspaper commented this stunt after the second match with "David Luxembourg won with 2–1 [against Goliath Netherlands]".[4] In the round of eight, Luxembourg and Denmark fought for a spot in the final tournament. The winner was decided after three matches; Denmark was the winner with a total aggregate score of 6–5.

When the national team does win a competitive match, they are often celebrated by national media and fans, as was the case after a 2–1 win against Switzerland in 2008.[5]

On 3 September 2017, Luxembourg held France to a 0–0 draw at Stadium Municipal in Toulouse, France.[6] It was the first time France had failed to win against Luxembourg since 1914, when Luxembourg won, 5–4.[7][8] On 10 November 2017, Luxembourg pulled off an upset by defeating Hungary 2–1 in a friendly.[9]

Uniform

Traditionally, the badge on Luxembourg's team outfit displays a shield very similar to Luxembourg's lesser coat of arms, a red lion on a white-blue striped background – hence the team's nickname Red Lions. In modern times, the team played home games in entirely red strips, in accordance with their nickname, and wore white as away colour.

Home stadium
Stade Josy Barthel

The Luxembourg national team normally plays its home matches at the Stade Josy Barthel in Luxembourg City, the national stadium of Luxembourg. At this location, the national team played 235 games by August 2015, including unofficial games.[10] It is also used for rugby union and athletics.

Originally called Stade Municipal after its construction in 1928–1931, it was entirely rebuilt in 1990. Since July 1993, it has carried the name of Josy Barthel, the 1500m gold medalist at the 1952 Olympics and Luxembourg's only Olympic gold medal winner.[11] The stadium is also home to the biggest athletics club in the country, CAL Spora Luxembourg. The spectator capacity is 8,000;[12] some seats are under cover, some in the open air.

Management

The following managers have been in charge of Luxembourg's national squad:

Current staff
Current Luxembourg manager Luc Holtz

The crew that guides the Luxembourg national team includes following members:[14]

Position Name
ManagerLuc Holtz
Goalkeeping coachFrank Thieltges
Physical coachClaude Origer
Technical directorReinhold Breu
Team doctorsMarc Reuter
Robert Huberty
PhysiotherapistsYannick Zenner
Ben Moes

Players
Main article: List of Luxembourg international footballers

In 2004, the Luxembourg Football Federation selected Louis Pilot as their Golden Player, Luxembourg's greatest player of the past 50 years.[15]

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly against Austria on 11 November 2020, and the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League matches against Cyprus on 14 November 2020 and Azerbaijan on 17 November 2020.[16]

Caps and goals as of 17 November 2020 after the match against Azerbaijan.
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Anthony Moris (1990-04-29) 29 April 1990 34 0 Union Saint-Gilloise
12 1GK Ralph Schon (1990-01-20) 20 January 1990 13 0 Wiltz 71
23 1GK Tim Kips (2000-11-01) 1 November 2000 0 0 F91 Dudelange
7 2DF Lars Krogh Gerson (1990-02-05) 5 February 1990 82 4 IFK Norrköping
18 2DF Laurent Jans (Captain) (1992-08-05) 5 August 1992 72 1 Standard Liège
13 2DF Dirk Carlson (1998-04-01) 1 April 1998 30 0 Karlsruher SC
3 2DF Enes Mahmutovic (1997-05-22) 22 May 1997 13 0 Lviv
22 2DF Marvin da Graça (1995-02-17) 17 February 1995 12 1 Casa Pia
5 2DF Vahid Selimović (1997-04-03) 3 April 1997 7 1 OFI
17 2DF Mica Pinto (1993-06-04) 4 June 1993 5 0 Sparta Rotterdam
2 2DF Seid Korac (2001-10-20) 20 October 2001 1 0 Nürnberg
11 3MF Vincent Thill (2000-02-04) 4 February 2000 36 3 Nacional
9 3MF Danel Sinani (1997-04-05) 5 April 1997 29 6 Waasland-Beveren
16 3MF Leandro Barreiro (2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 24 1 Mainz 05
19 3MF Aldin Skenderovic (1997-06-28) 28 June 1997 20 0 Progrès Niederkorn
6 3MF Florian Bohnert (1997-11-09) 9 November 1997 19 1 Mainz 05
15 3MF Sébastien Thill (1993-12-29) 29 December 1993 10 1 Sheriff Tiraspol
8 3MF Timothé Rupil (2003-06-12) 12 June 2003 1 0 Mainz 05 II
4 3MF Mathias Olesen (2001-03-21) 21 March 2001 0 0 Köln
14 4FW Stefano Bensi (1988-08-11) 11 August 1988 55 5 Fola Esch
21 4FW Maurice Deville (1992-07-31) 31 July 1992 47 3 Saarbrücken
10 4FW Gerson Rodrigues (1995-06-20) 20 June 1995 31 5 Dynamo Kyiv
20 4FW Edvin Muratović (1997-02-15) 15 February 1997 5 1 F91 Dudelange

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Luxembourg squad during last 12 months and are still eligible for selection.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Emanuel Cabral (1996-08-02) 2 August 1996 0 0 Fola Esch v.  Portugal, 17 November 2019
DF Chris Philipps (1994-03-08) 8 March 1994 55 0 Lommel v.  Portugal, 17 November 2019
DF Christopher Martins (1997-02-19) 19 February 1997 40 1 Young Boys v.  Montenegro, 13 October 2020
DF Maxime Chanot (1989-11-21) 21 November 1989 39 3 New York City v.  Portugal, 17 November 2019
DF Kevin Malget (1991-01-15) 15 January 1991 35 2 Swift Hesperange v.  Montenegro, 13 October 2020
DF Tim Hall (1997-05-15) 15 May 1997 4 0 Gil Vicente v.  Montenegro, 13 October 2020
MF Olivier Thill (1996-12-17) 17 December 1996 27 2 Vorskla Poltava v.  Montenegro, 13 October 2020
FW Alessio Curci (2002-02-16) 16 February 2002 0 0 Mainz 05 v.  Montenegro, 8 September 2020
FW Daniel da Mota (1985-09-11) 11 September 1985 99 7 Racing-Union v.  Portugal, 17 November 2019
FW David Turpel (1992-10-19) 19 October 1992 52 6 Swift Hesperange v.  Portugal, 17 November 2019

RET Player retired from the national team.

Previous squads

Most capped players
See also: List of Luxembourg international footballers

As of 17 November 2020 after the match against Azerbaijan.[17]

# Player Caps Period
1 Mario Mutsch 102 2005–2019
2 Daniel da Mota 99 2007–
3 Jeff Strasser 98 1993–2010
4 René Peters 93 2000–2013
5 Jonathan Joubert 90 2006–2017
6 Eric Hoffmann 89 2002–2014
7 Carlo Weis 87 1978–1998
8 Lars Krogh Gerson 82 2008–
9 Aurélien Joachim 80 2005–2019
10 François Konter 77 1955–1969

Top goalscorers

As of 17 November 2020 after the match against Azerbaijan.[17]

# Player Goals Period
1 Léon Mart 16 1933–1945
2 Gustave Kemp 15 1938–1945
2 Aurélien Joachim 15 2005–2019
4 Camille Libar 14 1938–1947
5 Nicolas Kettel 13 1946–1959
6 François Müller 12 1949–1954
7 Léon Letsch 11 1947–1963
8 Gilbert Dussier 9 1971–1978

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1930 Did not enter Did not enter
1934 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 2 15
1938 2 0 0 2 2 7
1950 2 0 0 2 4 8
1954 4 0 0 4 1 19
1958 4 0 0 4 3 19
1962 4 1 0 3 5 21
1966 6 0 0 6 6 20
1970 6 0 0 6 4 24
1974 6 1 0 5 2 14
1978 6 0 0 6 2 22
1982 8 0 0 8 1 23
1986 8 0 0 8 2 27
1990 8 0 1 7 3 22
1994 8 0 1 7 2 17
1998 8 0 0 8 2 22
2002 10 0 0 10 4 28
2006 12 0 0 12 5 48
2010 10 1 2 7 4 25
2014 10 1 3 6 7 26
2018 10 1 3 6 8 26
2022 To be determined To be determined
2026
Total — 0/21 — — — — — — 134 5 10 119 69 433

UEFA European Championship
UEFA European Championship record UEFA European Championship qualifying record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1960 Did not enter Declined participation
1964 Did not qualify 5 1 3 1 8 8
1968 6 0 1 5 1 18
1972 6 0 1 5 1 23
1976 6 0 0 6 7 28
1980 6 0 1 5 2 17
1984 8 0 0 8 5 36
1988 8 0 1 7 2 23
1992 6 0 0 6 2 14
1996 10 3 1 6 3 21
2000 8 0 0 8 2 23
2004 8 0 0 8 0 21
2008 12 1 0 11 2 23
2012 10 1 1 8 3 21
2016 10 1 1 8 6 27
2020 8 1 1 6 7 16
2024 To be determined To be determined
Total — 0/16 — — — — — — 111 8 11 98 51 319

UEFA Nations League
UEFA Nations League record
Year Division Group Pos Pld W D L GF GA P/R RK
2018–19 D 2 2nd631211444th
2020–21 C 1 2nd63127539th
2022–23 C TBA To be determined
Total2/21262418939th

Olympic Games
Hectic phase during the goal-rich Olympic defeat against Belgium in 1928 (5–3)
Olympic Games record of the Luxembourg national football team[2]
Edition Round Pld W D L GF GA
1920Round 1100103
1924Round 2100102
1928Round 1100135
1936Round 1100109
1948Round 1210176
1952Round 1210165
Total—82061630

Minor tournaments
Luxembourg minor tournaments record[18]
Year Round Pos Pld* W D L GF GA
1980 Marah Halim CupSemi-finals4th7313811
*Two of these seven matches, played against the Indonesian clubs Pardedetex and NIAC Mitra (that ended in 1–0 and 2–1 wins for Luxembourg, respectively) are not regarded as full internationals by the Luxembourg Football Federation.

Results and forthcoming fixtures
Main article: Luxembourg national football team results

As of 17 November 2020 after the match against Azerbaijan, the Luxembourg national team playing record is as follows:[2]

PlayedWonDrawnLostForAgainst
41139503222581115

Recent results and fixtures are as follows:

2019
14 November 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Serbia  3–2  Luxembourg Belgrade, Serbia
20:45 CET
Report
Stadium: Red Star Stadium
Attendance: 500
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands)
17 November 2019 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Luxembourg  0–2  Portugal Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
15:00 CET Report
Stadium: Stade Josy Barthel
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

2020
1 September 2020 (2020-09-01) Hybrid Friendly Luxembourg  0–0 1. FC Saarbrücken Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
19:00 CEST Report Stadium: Stade Josy Barthel
5 September 2020 (2020-09-05) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League Azerbaijan  1–2  Luxembourg Baku, Azerbaijan
20:00 AZT
Report
Stadium: Bakcell Arena
Attendance: 0
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (England)
8 September 2020 (2020-09-08) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League Luxembourg  0–1  Montenegro Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
20:45 CEST Report
Stadium: Stade Josy Barthel
Attendance: 0
Referee: Lawrence Visser (Belgium)
7 October 2020 (2020-10-07) Friendly Luxembourg  1–2  Liechtenstein Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
20:15
Report
Stadium: Stade Josy Barthel
Attendance: 0
Referee: Alexandre Boucaut (Belgium)
10 October 2020 (2020-10-10) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League Luxembourg  2–0  Cyprus Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
15:00 CEST
Report Stadium: Stade Josy Barthel
Referee: Don Robertson (Scotland)
13 October 2020 (2020-10-13) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League Montenegro  1–2  Luxembourg Podgorica, Montenegro
20:45 CEST
Report
Stadium: City Stadium
Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Germany)
11 November 2020 (2020-11-11) Friendly Luxembourg  0–3  Austria Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
20:30 Report
Stadium: Stade Josy Barthel
Attendance: 0
Referee: Amaury Delerue (France)
14 November 2020 (2020-11-14) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League Cyprus  2–1  Luxembourg Nicosia, Cyprus
21:45 EET
Report
Stadium: GSP Stadium
Referee: Mattias Gestranius (Finland)
17 November 2020 (2020-11-17) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League Luxembourg  0–0  Azerbaijan Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
20:45 CET Report Stadium: Stade Josy Barthel
Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)

Head to head records

As of 17 November 2020 after the match against Azerbaijan.

Footnotes

    See also

    References
    1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
    2. Barrie Courney (4 Dec 2014). "Luxembourg – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
    3. Barrie Courtney (8 Mar 2005). "Luxembourg – List of Unofficial International matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
    4. "Schwartz' droombeeld werd nachtmerrie voor publiek". Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 31 Oct 1963. Retrieved 23 Aug 2015.
    5. "RTL Lëtzebuerg". De Journal. 7 September 2008.
    6. "World Cup qualifying recap as France are held by Luxembourg and Belgium qualify for Russia 2018". Mirror. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
    7. Luxembourg vs. France 5–4, date 08/02/1914
    8. "France coach Didier Deschamps was left "infuriated" by his side's failures in front of goal in their goalless draw with Luxembourg, a result labelled "historic" by his opposite number". BBC Sport. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
    9. https://www.chicago-fire.com/post/2017/11/09/nikolic-scores-hungary-falls-2-1-luxembourg-international-friendly
    10. "Stade Josy Barthel, Lëtzebuerg". eu-football.info. Retrieved 23 Aug 2015.
    11. "Unique person for a unique place" (PDF). GSSE News – The Official Newspaper of the Games of the Small States of Europe in Luxembourg 2013. Luxembourg. 27 May 2013. p. 3. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
    12. https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/FirstDiv/uefaorg/Publications/01/67/03/93/1670393_DOWNLOAD.pdf
    13. "Les entraîneurs nationaux du Luxembourg" (in French). profootball.lu. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
    14. "Cadre". Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football. Retrieved 12 Sep 2015.
    15. "Golden Players take centre stage". UEFA. Archived from the original on 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
    16. "Joueurs sélectionnés" [Selected players]. FLF.lu (in French). Luxembourg Football Federation. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
    17. Mamrud, Roberto. "Luxembourg - Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
    18. "Marah Halim Cup (Medan, Indonesia)". RSSSF. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.