Football In Latvia
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Football In Latvia
Football is the number one sport based on participation, but the third sport in Latvia after ice hockey and basketball based on popularity. Many other sports are also more popular than football in Latvia, but in recent years it has gained more popularity. The Latvian Football Federation () is the sport's national governing body. There is a league system, with the Higher League and First League serving as the top leagues in Latvia. There is the Latvian Second League also, where mostly amateur teams play. There are also national cup competitions, with the Latvian Cup being the most notable. History The Latvian Football Federation was founded in 1921. In 1922 The Latvian Football Federation joined FIFA. In 1940-1991, Latvia was part of the USSR and as an independent state did not take part in the World Cup and European championships. After gaining independence in 1992, membership was restored. Domestic Football Skonto FC were the most popular and successful football team in L ...
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Latvian Football Federation
The Latvian Football Federation (LFF) ( lv, Latvijas Futbola federācija) is the governing body of football in Latvia with its headquarters located in the capital Rimi Sports Centre in Riga. Its activities include the organizing of the Latvian football championship ( Optibet Virslīga), the Latvian First League, the Latvian Second League, as well as lower league championships and the Latvian Football Cup. The federation also manages the Latvia national football team. 1918—1940 The LFF was established on June 19, 1921 as the Latvian Football Union ( lv, Latvijas Futbola savienība) and was active until 1940 when it was closed down after the Soviet occupation of Latvia. A British national Harold Trevenen Hall was appointed the first chairman of the Latvian Football Union. In 1922, the Latvian Championship organized by Latvian Football Union consisted of 12 associations, 22 teams and 479 football players. A year earlier, rules of football were published in Latvian for the fi ...
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Skonto FC
Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Latvia national football team. With those 14 national championships in a row, they set a European record, men and women's football combined, until the women of Faroese club KÍ Klaksvík won their 14th championship in a row in 2013. Following financial problems, the club was demoted to the Latvian First League in 2016 and went bankrupt in December of that year. History Fourteen titles in a row (1991–2004) Skonto FC was founded in 1991, and immediately started to win league championships, 14 in a row, until finishing second to FK Liepājas Metalurgs in 2005. In 2006, Skonto finished third in a close contest with FK Liepājas Metalurgs and FK Ventspils. Skonto also won the Latvian Cup on eight occasions, most recently in 2012. Skonto had to ...
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Latvian Football Cup
The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Game Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company William Hill. The tournament was launched in 1937, replacing the previous knockout tournament – the Riga Football Cup. The competition is a knockout (single elimination) tournament. From 1937 to 2008 and again since 2017, all of the games of the tournament are played within the year. During the Soviet occupation ( 1940–1941, 1944–1991) it served as a qualification tournament for the Soviet Cup. The competition was also fully played once during the German occupation of the Baltic states, in 1943. List of finals The results of the finals are: Total titles won The following 34 clubs have won the Latvian Football Cup. * Bold clubs play in top flight. * ''Italic'' clubs dissolved or merged. References External linksOfficial websi ...
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Latvian Women's League
The Latvian Women's League (Latvian: Sieviešu futbola līga) is the top level women's Association football, football league of Latvia. The winning team of the league qualifies for a spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League. As participation is optional, no Latvian team competed in the competition until 2011/12 when SK Liepājas Metalurgs entered European territory. 2022 teams *FK Auda (women), Auda *FK Iecava (women), Iecava *FS Metta (women), Metta *AFA Olaine (women), AFA Olaine *Rigas FS *SFK Rīga *SK Super Nova, Super Nova List of champions Champions so far are: * 1992: Fortūna-Rego *1993-2003?: *2004: FC Skonto/Cerība-46.vsk., Cerība-46.vsk. *2005: Saldus FK - Lutriņi *2006: FC Skonto/Cerība-46.vsk., Cerība-46.vsk. *2007: FK Lutriņi *2008: FC Skonto/Cerība-46.vsk., Skonto / Cerība *2009: FC Skonto/Cerība-46.vsk., Skonto / Cerība *2010: FK Liepājas Metalurgs, SK Liepājas Metalurgs *2011: FC Skonto/Cerība-46.vsk., Skonto / Cerība *2012 Latvian Women's Le ...
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Latvia Women's National Football Team
The Latvia women's national football team ( lv, Latvijas sieviešu futbola izlase) is governed by the Latvian Football Federation (LFF). It played its first international match in August 1993 against Sweden. After participating in the UEFA Women's Euro 1995 qualifying, Latvia withdrew from all qualification until the qualification for the European Championships in 2009. Latvia's record in international qualification games is poor. In their competitive games, Latvia lost their first two games, against Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina by three goals, before losing by one goal to Armenia. Mini-tournaments after the qualification disaster proved no better for Latvia. Finishing last, in December 2008, Latvia lost 0–3 to Croatia and 0–5 to Turkey. Latvia won its first official match on 5 March 2011 over Lithuania in the qualifying 2013 European Championship preliminary round with a lone goal by Jūlija Sokolova. However, Latvia lost the other two games against Luxembourg and M ...
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Latvia National Under-17 Football Team
The Latvia national under-17 football team or Latvia U-17 represents Latvia in association football at the under-17 youth level, and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation. The team is for Latvian players aged 17 or under at the start of a two-year UEFA European Under-17 Championship cycle, so players appearing for the team can actually be up to 19 years of age. It is considered a feeder team of the Latvian under-19 and under-21 teams. Competition history Prior to Latvia's independence in 1991, Latvian players were eligible for selection to the Soviet Union U-16 team. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Latvian Football Federation was admitted to UEFA as a full member in 1992, and the Latvia U-16 team played their first competitive matches in the first phase of the qualifying tournament for the 1994 European U-16 Championship. The team's competitive debut came on 18 September 1993 against Russia U-16 and they finished their first qualifying campaign as ...
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Latvia National Under-19 Football Team
The Latvia national under-19 football team is the national under-19 football team of Latvia and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ..., held every year. Coaching staff Players Current squad * The following players were called up for the 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification matches. * Match dates: 22–28 March 2023 * Opposition: , and *Caps and goals correct as of: 22 March 2023, after the match against Recent call-ups The following players have been called up for the team within the last twelve months and are still available for selection See also * Latvia football team * Latvia U-21 * Lat ...
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Latvia National Under-21 Football Team
The Latvia national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Latvia and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body of football in Latvia. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. The team is coached by Aleksandrs Basovs and is currently captained by defender Daniels Balodis. Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, under-21 football teams in Europe were formed, while Latvian team was formed only in 1991, after regaining independence from USSR. The team is exclusively for football players that are aged 21 or under at the start of the two-year campaign of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship meaning a player can represent the national team until the age of 23. Many U-21 players later represent the senior side. Latvia U-21 have never yet qualified for the European U-21 championships, but has produced many players, who have become regular internationals for t ...
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Baltic States
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea are sometimes referred to as the "Baltic nations", less often and in historical circumstances also as the "Baltic republics", the "Baltic lands", or simply the Baltics. All three Baltic countries are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain a very high Human Development Index. The three governments engage in intergovernmental and parliamentary cooperation. There is also frequent cooperation in foreign and security policy, defence, energy, and transportation. The term "Baltic states" ("countries", "nations", or similar) cannot be used unambiguously in the context of cultural areas, national identity, or language. While the majority ...
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UEFA Euro 2004
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The final tournament was hosted for the first time in Portugal, from 12 June to 4 July 2004. A total of 31 matches were played in ten venues across eight cities – Aveiro, Portugal, Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Guimarães, Faro, Portugal, Faro/Loulé, Leiria, Lisbon, and Porto. As in UEFA Euro 1996, 1996 and UEFA Euro 2000, 2000, the final tournament was contested by 16 teams: the hosts plus the 15 teams that came through the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying, qualifying tournament, which began in September 2002. Latvia national football team, Latvia secured their first participation in a major tournament after overcoming Turkey national football team, Turkey in the UEFA ...
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Latvian Third League
The Latvian Third League ( lv, 3. līga), currently known for sponsorship reasons as Dali Dali 3.līga, is the fourth tier of association football, football in Latvia and is organised by the Latvian Football Federation. History In 2019, the Latvian Football Federation changed the Latvian football league system by expanding it to a fourth tier, the Third League. The aim was to greatly reduce the number of teams in the Latvian Second League, Second League and increase the prestige of the higher levels of the league system. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia, the inaugural 2020 season did not fully proceed as planned, and the first edition of the Third League held in accordance with the newly established format took place in 2021. Competition format Regional stage There are four regional divisions (West, Center, North, and East) in the Third League, each containing an approximated 10 teams (though the exact number in each division varies by season), which must play home and awa ...
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2022 Latvian Higher League
The 2022 Latvian Higher League, known as the Optibet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st season of top-tier football in Latvia. The season began on 11 March 2022 and ended on 12 November 2022. RFS were the defending champions after winning the league the previous season. Teams No teams were relegated at the end of the previous season. The league consists of 7 clubs from the previous season, joined by 3 teams from 1. līga - champions FK Auda, second place Tukums and third place SK Super Nova all were promoted. Managers Managerial changes League table Fixtures and results Rounds 1–18 Rounds 19–36 Statistics Top goalscorers Hat-tricks Notes(H) – Home team(A) – Away team Play-offs See also * 2022 Latvian Football Cup References External links * {{2022–23 in European football (UEFA) Latvian Higher League seasons 1 Latvia Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of ...
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