The

Malta national football team The Malta national football team ( mt, Tim nazzjonali tal-futbol ta' Malta) represents Malta in international football and is controlled by the Malta Football Association, the governing body for football in Malta. The first official game pl ...

represents the country of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in international

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and is controlled by the

Malta Football Association The Malta Football Association (MFA; mt, Assoċjazzjoni tal-Futbol ta' Malta) is the governing body of football in Malta. The Association organises the Maltese Football League and several other competitions, including a knockout competition ...

(MFA), the local governing body of football which was founded in 1900. The MFA became a member of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA) in 1959 and a year later joined the Union of European Football Associations (

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 ...

). Prior to that, on 24 February 1957, the team played its first official international match at the Empire Stadium against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, suffering a 3–2 defeat. The first goal was scored by Tony Cauchi. As of September 2021, Malta has played 418 international fixtures, winning 54, drawing 70 and losing 294. The team's most frequent opponent has been

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, meeting the side 15 times, winning 3, drawing 1 and losing 11. In global and continental competitions, Malta has competed in qualification groups for both the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

, since 1962, and the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, since 1974, but has failed to qualify for any tournament finals.

Michael Mifsud Michael Mifsud (born 17 April 1981) is a Maltese professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Maltese Premier League side Mosta F.C., Mosta. He scored 42 goals in 143 games for the Malta ...

is Malta's most

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

player, accumulating 143 appearances as of November 2020. He made his debut on 10 February 2000 in a 1–0 defeat against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. He broke the record previously held by David Carabott of 122 appearances on 15 November 2016 against Iceland. Mifsud is also Malta's leading goalscorer with 42 goals as of November 2020. He surpassed Carmel Busuttil's record of 23 goals on 3 March 2010. Since 1957, more than 300 players have made at least one international appearance for the team. Of these, seven have achieved more than 100 caps. Carmel Busuttil was the first to reach this milestone on 6 February 2000 against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

Key

Players

References and notes

Notes

References

Additional references

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External links

All-time appearances list
{{Association football players Association football player non-biographical articles