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Cyprus national football team

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Doh286 (talk | contribs) at 01:38, 29 March 2023 (→Current squad: Updated caps and goals). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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

Cyprus
Shirt badge/Association crest
AssociationCyprus Football Association (CFA)
Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachTemur Ketsbaia
CaptainKostakis Artymatas
Most capsIoannis Okkas (103)
Top scorerMichalis Konstantinou (32)
Home stadiumGSP Stadium
FIFA codeCYP
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 127 Decrease 4 (24 October 2024)[1]
Highest43 (September 2010)
Lowest142 (June 2014)
First international
Unofficial:
 Israel 3–1 Cyprus 
(Tel Aviv, Israel; 30 July 1949)
Official:
 Cyprus 1–1 Israel 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 13 November 1960)
Biggest win
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Limassol, Cyprus; 15 November 2000)
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 16 November 2014)
 Cyprus 5–0 San Marino 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 21 March 2019)
Biggest defeat
 West Germany 12–0 Cyprus 
(Essen, West Germany; 21 May 1969)

The Cyprus national football team (Template:Lang-el) represents Cyprus in international football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association, the governing body for football in Cyprus. Cyprus' home ground is the GSP Stadium in Nicosia and the current coach is Temur Ketsbaia.

History

The team's first match took place on 23 July 1949, one year after becoming a member of the world governing body FIFA: a friendly against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, ending in a 3–3 draw. Seven days later, the team had its first international game: a 3–1 defeat by Israel in the same city.

In November 1960, following independence from British rule, Cyprus drew its first post-independence official match 1–1 against Israel, as part of the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament. Cyprus' first international victory was a 3–1 win over Greece on 27 November 1963 in a friendly. On 17 February 1968, Cyprus recorded their first competitive win, beating Switzerland 2–1 in a European Championship qualifying match in Old GSP Stadium in Nicosia.

In 1974, the national team enjoyed one of their most famous victories when they beat Northern Ireland 1–0 in Nicosia. On 12 February 1983, as part of the Euro 1984 qualifiers, Cyprus held world champions Italy to a 1–1 draw in Tsirio Stadium in Limassol, followed a month later by the same result against Czechoslovakia. Four years later, in the Euro 1988 qualification, Cyprus recorded their first ever point achieved in an away match, against Poland. In 1989 they drew 1–1 with France in the World Cup qualifying match. Despite a number of triumphs on home soil, Cyprus had to wait until 1992 to record their first away win: a 2–0 victory against the Faroe Islands.

Results in qualifying tournaments have also improved considerably in recent times. In the qualifying stages for the 1996 UEFA European Championship, Cyprus drew 1–1 with holders Denmark. Four years later, they missed out on a place in the UEFA Euro 2000 despite 3–2 victories against both Spain and Israel and a 4–0 win over San Marino.

On 15 November 2000, Cyprus scored their biggest win in history by beating Andorra in Limassol 5–0 in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 7 October 2006, as part of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Cyprus caused a major upset by beating the Republic of Ireland 5–2 at GSP Stadium in Nicosia, with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambidis each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis finishing off the match. Just one month later, on 15 November 2006, they caused another surprise by holding the previous World Cup's hosts Germany to a 1–1 draw at home. On 13 October 2007, they beat Wales 3–1 in Nicosia. On 17 October 2007, Cyprus came close to a historic away victory in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland, but the hosts equalised in the last minute of the game and the match ended 1–1. On 3 September 2010, as part of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Cyprus claimed a historic 4–4 draw against Portugal in Guimarães.

During the Euro 2016 qualification phase, Cyprus, managed by Pambos Christodoulou, claimed one of their most historic victories by defeating 2014 World Cup participant Bosnia 2–1 in Zenica. In the last group match, the team faced Bosnia, needing a victory to finish 3rd and rely on Belgium to beat Israel in Brussels. As fate would have it, the Bosnians won the reverse leg 3–2 and qualified to the play-offs at the expense of the home team, who at one point took a 2–1 lead during the first half and for a number of minutes held onto 3rd place and a berth in the play-offs for the first time in history, as Belgium, a soon to be world number 1 side, were comfortably beating Israel at home.[3]

Cyprus would finish behind Estonia and ahead of Gibraltar to place 5th of 6 teams in Group H in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[4] Their qualification run would include an impressive 3–2 home victory over Bosnia.[5]

In the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Cyprus beat San Marino 5-0 but they lost to Belgium and Scotland. Even though they beat Kazakhstan 1–2 away from home, they lost their last three games and finished 4th out of 6 teams in the group, just ahead of Kazakhstan and San Marino.

The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was a big disappointment for Cyprus. They lost their first three games against Montenegro 0–2, Azerbaijan 0–1 and Luxembourg 2–0 and drew with Azerbaijan 0–0 in the fourth game. Even though they beat Luxembourg 2–1 at home, they were crushed 4–0 by Montenegro in their last game and finished last in their group. This meant that they had to face Estonia in the relegation play-offs. They defeated Estonia 2–0 on aggregate, with goals from Marinos Tzionis and Pieros Sotiriou.

Kit

On 7 October 2006, Diadora unveiled Cyprus' new kit. It outlines a map of Cyprus in amber from the shoulder to the sleeve, with a green line running down the middle to indicate the division of the island. This controversial kit was used for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying phase. Then, Adidas made Cyprus' kits for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification phases. In 2018, Macron replaced Adidas as part of UEFA's Kit Assistance Scheme.

Kit provider Period
Italy Lotto 0000–2000
Italy Errea 2000–2002
England Umbro 2002–2006
Italy Diadora 2006–2008
Germany Adidas 2008–2018
Italy Macron 2018–2022
Italy Errea 2022–present

Home stadium

Cyprus currently play their home matches at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia or the AEK Arena in Larnaca. Home matches had previously been staged at different stadiums all around the country. Until 1974, Cyprus used either the old GSP Stadium in central Nicosia or the GSE Stadium in Famagusta. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, some matches were played at the Tsirion Stadium in Limassol and the Makario Stadium in Nicosia. In 1999, the building of the New GSP Stadium in Nicosia provided a new home for the national team but in 2008, a change of sponsorship forced home fixtures of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification phase to be played at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca. However, Cyprus returned to the GSP Stadium for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase.

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

Main article: Cyprus national football team results (2020–29)

2022

24 March 2022 (2022-03-24) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League play-outs 1st Leg Estonia  0–0  Cyprus Tallinn, Estonia
Stadium: A. Le Coq Arena
Attendance: 5,366
Referee: Willie Collum (Scotland)
29 March 2022 (2022-03-29) 2020–21 UEFA Nations League play-outs 2nd Leg Cyprus  2–0
(2–0 agg.)		  Estonia Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00
Report Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis
Attendance: 2,464
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)
2 June 2022 2022–23 Nations League Cyprus  0–2  Kosovo Larnaca, Cyprus
20:45 Report
Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis
Attendance: 1,550
Referee: Jérôme Brisard (France)
5 June 2022 2022–23 Nations League Cyprus  0–0  Northern Ireland Larnaca, Cyprus
18:00 Report Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis
Attendance: 1,663
Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania)
9 June 2022 2022–23 Nations League Greece  3–0  Cyprus Volos, Greece
18:00
Report Stadium: Panthessaliko Stadium
Attendance: 12,418
Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)
12 June 2022 2022–23 Nations League Northern Ireland  2–2  Cyprus Belfast, Northern Ireland
14:00 BST
Report
Stadium: Windsor Park
Attendance: 16,454
Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (Spain)
24 September 2022 2022–23 Nations League Cyprus  1–0  Greece Larnaca, Cyprus
14:00
Report Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis
Attendance: 4,548
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus)
27 September 2022 2022–23 Nations League Kosovo  5–1  Cyprus Pristina, Kosovo
14:00 Muslija 22'
Rrudhani 45+1'
Rashani 47'
Muriqi 52', 84'		 Report Roberge 81' Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium
Attendance: 10,400
Referee: Kristo Tohver (Estonia)
16 November 2022 Friendly Cyprus  0–2  Bulgaria Larnaca, Cyprus
20:45 UTC+2 Report
Stadium: AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (Malta)
20 November 2022 Friendly Israel  2–3  Cyprus Petah Tikva, Israel
18:45 UTC+2
Report
Stadium: HaMoshava Stadium
Attendance: 7.352
Referee: Arda Kardeşler (Turkey)

2023

25 March 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Scotland  3–0  Cyprus Glasgow, Scotland
15:00
Report Stadium: Hampden Park
Attendance: 48,195
Referee: Duje Strukan (Croatia)
28 March 2023 Friendly Armenia  v  Cyprus Yerevan, Armenia
20:00 UTC+4 Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium
17 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Cyprus  v  Georgia TBD, Cyprus
20:45 Report Stadium: TBD
20 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Norway  v  Cyprus Oslo, Norway
20:45 Report Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion
8 September 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Cyprus  v  Scotland TBD, Cyprus
20:45 Report Stadium: TBD
11 September 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Spain  v  Cyprus TBD, Spain
20:45 Report Stadium: TBD
12 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Cyprus  v  Norway TBD, Cyprus
20:45 Report Stadium: TBD
15 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Georgia  v  Cyprus Tbilisi, Georgia
15:00 Report Stadium: Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena
16 November 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Cyprus  v  Spain TBD, Cyprus
20:45 Report Stadium: TBD
19 November 2023 Friendly Cyprus  v  Lithuania TBD, Cyprus
Stadium: TBD

Coaching staff

Manager Georgia (country) Temur Ketsbaia
Assistant Manager Georgia (country) Mamuka Chakvetadze
Assistant Manager Georgia (country) Aleksandre Chanturishvili
Goalkeeping Coach Georgia (country) Irakli Kuchava
Physical Trainer Georgia (country) Giorgi Papunashvili
Match Analyst Georgia (country) Davit Arveladze

Coaching history

As of 12 July 2022.[6][7]

Players

Current squad

The following players were called for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against Scotland on 25 March 2023 and the friendly match against Armenia on 28 March 2023.[8]

  • Caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2022, after the match against Armenia.
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Constantinos Panagi (1994-10-08) 8 October 1994 (age 30) 27 0 Cyprus Omonia
12 1GK Demetris Demetriou (1999-01-15) 15 January 1999 (age 25) 9 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
22 1GK Alexander Špoljarić (1995-11-28) 28 November 1995 (age 28) 0 0 Cyprus Karmiotissa
2 2DF Andreas Karo (1996-09-09) 9 September 1996 (age 28) 14 1 Cyprus APOEL
3 2DF Marios Antoniades (1990-05-14) 14 May 1990 (age 34) 24 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
4 2DF Nicholas Ioannou (1995-11-10) 10 November 1995 (age 29) 43 2 Italy Como
13 2DF Ioannis Kousoulos (1996-06-14) 14 June 1996 (age 28) 31 4 Cyprus Omonia
14 2DF Valentin Roberge (1987-06-09) 9 June 1987 (age 37) 4 1 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
15 2DF Minas Antoniou (1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 (age 30) 16 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
19 2DF Konstantinos Laifis (1993-05-19) 19 May 1993 (age 31) 50 3 Belgium Standard Liège
2DF Andreas Panayiotou (1995-05-31) 31 May 1995 (age 29) 5 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
2DF Nikolas Panayiotou (2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 24) 10 0 Cyprus Omonia
5 3MF Charalambos Charalambous (2002-04-04) 4 April 2002 (age 22) 5 1 Cyprus Omonia
6 3MF Alex Gogić (1994-04-13) 13 April 1994 (age 30) 19 0 Scotland St Mirren
8 3MF Michalis Ioannou (2000-06-30) 30 June 2000 (age 24) 5 1 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
10 3MF Charalambos Kyriakou (1995-02-09) 9 February 1995 (age 29) 49 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
16 3MF Danilo Špoljarić (1999-07-14) 14 July 1999 (age 25) 6 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol
18 3MF Kostakis Artymatas (1993-04-15) 15 April 1993 (age 31) 64 1 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
20 3MF Grigoris Kastanos (1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 (age 26) 52 3 Italy Salernitana
7 4FW Georgios Efrem (1989-07-05) 5 July 1989 (age 35) 51 5 Cyprus APOEL
9 4FW Demetris Christofi (1988-09-28) 28 September 1988 (age 36) 66 9 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
11 4FW Andronikos Kakoullis (2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 23) 15 4 Cyprus Omonia
17 4FW Loizos Loizou (2003-07-18) 18 July 2003 (age 21) 23 1 Cyprus Omonia
21 4FW Marinos Tzionis (2001-07-16) 16 July 2001 (age 23) 23 1 United States Sporting Kansas City
23 4FW Ioannis Pittas (1996-07-10) 10 July 1996 (age 28) 30 2 Cyprus Apollon Limassol

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Cyprus squad within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Andreas Christodoulou (1997-03-26) 26 March 1997 (age 27) 1 0 Cyprus APOEL v.  Israel, 20 November 2022
GK Ioakeim Toumbas (1999-02-19) 19 February 1999 (age 25) 0 0 Cyprus AEK Larnaca v.  Kosovo, 27 September 2022
GK Neofytos Michael (1993-12-16) 16 December 1993 (age 30) 15 0 Cyprus APOEL v.  Northern Ireland, 12 June 2022
DF Fanos Katelaris (1996-08-26) 26 August 1996 (age 28) 19 1 Belgium Oostende v.  Israel, 20 November 2022
DF Stelios Andreou (2002-07-24) 24 July 2002 (age 22) 9 0 Belgium Charleroi v.  Israel, 20 November 2022
DF Christos Shelis (2000-02-02) 2 February 2000 (age 24) 5 0 Greece Volos v.  Israel, 20 November 2022
DF Pavlos Correa (1998-07-14) 14 July 1998 (age 26) 2 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Israel, 20 November 2022
DF Paris Psaltis (1996-11-12) 12 November 1996 (age 28) 8 0 Cyprus Omonia v.  Estonia, 29 March 2022
DF Constantinos Soteriou (1996-06-21) 21 June 1996 (age 28) 10 0 Israel Hapoel Haifa v.  Estonia, 29 March 2022
MF Matija Špoljarić (1997-04-02) 2 April 1997 (age 27) 15 0 Cyprus Aris Limassol v.  Israel, 20 November 2022
MF Rafail Mamas (2001-03-04) 4 March 2001 (age 23) 2 0 Cyprus AEK Larnaca v.  Israel, 20 November 2022
MF Fotis Papoulis (1985-01-22) 22 January 1985 (age 39) 27 3 Cyprus Omonia v.  Kosovo, 27 September 2022
MF Andreas Avraam (1987-06-06) 6 June 1987 (age 37) 48 5 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Northern Ireland, 12 June 2022
MF Giannis Satsias (2002-12-28) 28 December 2002 (age 21) 0 0 Cyprus APOEL v.  Northern Ireland, 12 June 2022
FW Pieros Sotiriou (1993-01-13) 13 January 1993 (age 31) 58 12 Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima v.  Kosovo, 27 September 2022
  • INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
  • PRE Preliminary squad.
  • RET Retired from international football.
  • SUS Suspended

Player records

As of 7 September 2021[9]
Players in bold are still active with Cyprus.

Competitive record

All-time record

As of 28 March 2023.
Competition Played Won Draw Lost GF GA
FIFA World Cup qualification 124 16 15 93 91 320
European Championship qualification 115 19 15 81 98 291
Friendly matches 132 36 33 63 139 200
UEFA Nations League 20 4 6 10 13 31
TOTAL 391 75 69 247 341 842

FIFA World Cup record

2012 Cyprus national football team in Bulgaria.
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Declined participation
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 2 7
England 1966 4 0 0 4 0 19
Mexico 1970 6 0 0 6 2 35
West Germany 1974 6 1 0 5 1 14
Argentina 1978 6 0 0 6 3 24
Spain 1982 8 0 0 8 4 29
Mexico 1986 6 0 0 6 3 18
Italy 1990 8 0 1 7 6 20
United States 1994 10 2 1 7 8 18
France 1998 8 3 1 4 10 15
South Korea Japan 2002 10 2 2 6 13 31
Germany 2006 10 1 1 8 8 20
South Africa 2010 10 2 3 5 14 16
Brazil 2014 10 1 2 7 4 15
Russia 2018 10 3 1 6 9 18
Qatar 2022 10 1 2 7 4 21
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/22 124 16 15 93 91 320

UEFA European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record Qualifying record
Year Result GP W D* L GS GA GP W D* L GS GA
France 1960 Did not enter Did not enter
Spain 1964
Italy 1968 Did not qualify 6 1 0 5 3 25
Belgium 1972 6 0 0 6 2 26
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 6 0 0 6 0 16
Italy 1980 6 0 1 5 2 19
France 1984 8 0 2 6 4 21
West Germany 1988 8 0 1 7 3 16
Sweden 1992 8 0 0 8 2 25
England 1996 10 1 4 5 6 20
Belgium Netherlands 2000 8 4 0 4 12 21
Portugal 2004 8 2 2 4 9 18
Austria Switzerland 2008 12 4 2 6 17 24
Poland Ukraine 2012 8 0 2 6 7 20
France 2016 10 4 0 6 16 17
Europe 2020 10 3 1 6 13 17
Germany 2024 To be determined To be determined
Total - - - - - - - 114 19 15 80 96 285

UEFA Nations League record

UEFA Nations League record
Season Division Group Pld W D L GF GA P/R Rank
2018–19 C 3 6 1 2 3 5 9 Same position 36th
2020–21 C 1 8 2 2 4 4 10 Same position 46th
2022–23 C 2 To be determined 45th
Total 14 3 4 7 9 19 36th

Head-to-head record

As of 28 March 2023.

  Positive record   Neutral record   Negative record

References

Notes
Citation
  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  3. ^ uefa.com (13 October 2015). "Bosnia and Herzegovina in play-offs, Cyprus out". Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  4. ^ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Qualifiers - Europe". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015.
  5. ^ "Cyprus vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina - Football Match Summary - August 31, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  6. ^ "Cyprus Football Association – Εθνική Ανδρών: Προπονητές". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  7. ^ "Cyprus National Team Coaches". RSSSF.
  8. ^ "Η κλήση της Εθνικής Ανδρών για τους αγώνες με Σκωτία και Αρμενία" (in Greek). Cyprus Football Association. 17 March 2023.
  9. ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Cyprus - Record International Players". RSSSF.
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