The Latvia national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and is controlled by the

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 ...

, the governing body of football in Latvia. The team competes in the

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

, held every two years. The team is coached by Aleksandrs Basovs and is currently captained by defender Daniels Balodis. Following the realignment of

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

's youth competitions in 1976, under-21 football teams in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

were formed, while Latvian team was formed only in 1991, after regaining independence from

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. The team is exclusively for football players that are aged 21 or under at the start of the two-year campaign of the

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 the senior side.

Oskars Kļava Oskars Kļava (born 8 August 1983) is a Latvian football coach and a former defender. He is the manager of Spartaks Jūrmala. Career Club Kļava was born in Liepāja. As a youth player he played for his local club Liepājas Metalurgs, makin ...

, Deniss Ivanovs, Edgars Gauračs and

Artjoms Rudņevs Artjoms Rudņevs (born 13 January 1988) is a Latvian former professional footballer who played as a striker for Daugava Daugavpils in his home country, for Zalaegerszegi TE in Hungary, for Lech Poznań in Poland, and for Bundesliga clubs Hamb ...

have all played for the U-21 side and are now first eleven players for

internationally. Latvia U-21 team plays its home matches at the Skonto stadions, which is also the home stadium of

senior side. Before the opening of the Skonto stadions the team played its home matches in many different venues all around the country, including Ozolnieki, Daugavpils and

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Planning Region, Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after R ...

History

As a team, Latvia U-21 was formed in 1992, after regaining independence from the

. The team played its first match in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

on October 28, 1992 that ended in a 0-0 draw. The team firstly participated in the European Championship qualification in 1994, playing the first match in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

against Ireland U-21 on September 6, that ended in a 1-1 draw. Since 2001 the team also participates in the Baltic Cup, winning in 2008. Since 1992 Latvia have already played more than 100 matches.

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Results and fixtures

Players

Current squad

* The following players were called up for the 2022 Under-21 Baltic Cup. * Match dates: 18 and 20 November 2022 * Opposition: and * Caps and goals correct as of: 27 September 2022, after the match against

Recent call-ups

The following players have been capped in the past 12 months and are still eligible to represent.

Staff

Most capped players

Only official matches against U-21 national teams, not including against clubs or any other matches. :''Players in bold are still available to play for the U-21 National team.''

Best goalscorers

References

External links

www.lff.lv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latvia National Under-21 Football Team *Under-21 European national under-21 association football teams