The Latvia women's national football team (Latvian: Latvijas sieviešu futbola izlase) represents

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

in international football and is controlled by the

Latvian Football Federation The Latvian Football Federation ( ; LFF ) is the governing body of football in Latvia with its headquarters located in the Rimi Sports Centre in Riga. Its activities include the organizing of the Latvian football championship ( Optibet Virslī ...

, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the major tournament. Latvia, alongside their

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

rivals,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, is also participating in the local sub-regional

Women's Baltic Cup The Women's Baltic Cup is a women's association football tournament contested between the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, usually every year. They can also invite other teams to participate, such as the Faroe Islands. The tourna ...

, which takes place every year. Latvia has won this tournament five times, the first time in 1997. The next moment of triumph had to wait until 2011, and in 2017, 2018 and 2019 Latvia won the trophy three years in a row.

History

In the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

(USSR), women's football was not a recognized sport – in 1972, the Sports Committee of the USSR even banned women's football competitions. That is why women played the first official football matches in Latvia only in 1989, when the first women's team "Latvija" was created. The players were mostly invited from other sports, so the football players had good physical preparation, and several players from Lithuania were also invited to help. In 1990, the team was renamed to RAF Jelgava, participating in the first championship of the highest league of the USSR, where they took eighth place in the competition of 24 teams. RAF played one more season in the top league of the USSR, but another team from Latvia –

Ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...

s "Fortūna" – competed in the first league of the USSR. After the collapse of the USSR, the "RAF" professional team disbanded, and thus women's football in Latvia continued to exist only at the amateur level. On 18 August 1993, The Latvian women's national team made its debut and played its first international match in the European Championship qualification tournament, losing in the first match away to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, which was already one of the most important women's football countries in the world at the time. After the first qualifying tournament, Latvia did not participate anymore in European Championship qualifying tournaments until 2006. Changes had already been introduced in the selection system, by holding the previous preliminary tournament for the weakest European national teams before the qualification, which the Latvian national team never managed to overcome, which meant that Latvia did not have the opportunity to meet the best national women's football teams in Europe for a long time. After participating in the UEFA Women's Euro 1995 qualifying and withdrew from all qualification until the

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in 2009. Latvia's record upon its return to international qualification games was poor. Latvia lost their first two games, against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

by three goals, before losing by one goal to

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Mini-tournaments after the qualification disaster proved no better for Latvia. Finishing last, in December 2008, Latvia lost 0–3 to

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and 0–5 to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

The first victory

Latvia won its first official match on 5 March 2011 over

in the qualifying 2013 European Championship preliminary round with a lone goal by

Jūlija Sokolova Jūlija Sokolova (born 12 December 1991) is a Latvian women's association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker. She was a member of the Latvia women's national football team, Latvian national team.< ...

. However, Latvia lost the other two games against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

and

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

so the team didn't go through.

First World Cup qualification

In 2013, the Latvian women's national team took part in the World Cup qualification tournament for the first time, in the first round of the preliminaries, they drew 0:0 with Luxembourg in their debut match, but then lost 0–2 to Albania and Malta. After four years, the Latvian women's national team won the first victory in the World Cup selection, defeating Estonia 4–0 in the preliminaries, but it was not enough to enter the basic qualification tournament, as the first place in the group was won by the national team of Kazakhstan, with whom Latvian football players played a draw 2–2.

Modern times

The Latvian women's football team won its first World Cup qualification victory against Luxembourg. Latvia won its first World Cup qualification victory on 24 June 2022 over

in the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group D 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA), UEFA Group D of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification competition consisted of six teams: England women's national football team, England, Austria women's national football team, Austria, No ...

with a lone goal by Nelle Treimane. On November 30, 2021, the Latvian national team lost 20–0 to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the

match. After the game, this game received a huge amount of attention, shining a light on the shortcomings of the qualifiers and European women qualifying system. Several experts emphasized that such a game should not have happened. This game again sparked discussions about going back to pre-qualification.

Stadium

In October 2023,

president Vadims Ļašenko said that

Skonto Stadium Skonto Stadium () is a football stadium in Riga, Latvia. The stadium was built in 2000 and currently has 8,087 seats in total (open for spectators & VIP guests on matchdays). It is the 2nd-largest stadium in Latvia, behind Daugava Stadium, also ...

would become the main home of the men's team, with Daugava Stadium serving as a backup and the venue for the women's and youth national teams. Previously, the women's team has played in various grounds, including Arkādija Stadium and the LNK Sports Park in Riga,

Sloka Stadium Jūrmalas pilsētas stadions "Sloka", commonly referred to as Slokas Stadions, is a multi-purpose stadium in the coastal city of Jūrmala, in northwestern Latvia. The stadium holds 2,500 people. Uses It is currently used mostly for association ...

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and is sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach and is the ...

, Zemgale Olympic Center in

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

and others.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. ;Legend

2024

2025

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Manager history

* Viktors Lūkins (1992–1993) * Vladimirs Serbins (1994–1996) * Grigorijs Rožkovs (1996–1998) * Ģirts Marausks (1999–2002) * Agris Bandolis (2003–2010) * Didzis Matīss (2010–2021) * Romāns Kvačovs (2021–2024) * Liene Vāciete (2025-)

Players

Current squad

The following players have been called up for the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League C in May and June 2025. ''Caps and goals are correct as of 16 June 2025.''

Recent call ups

The following players have been called up to the Latvia squad in the past 18 months.

Records

:''*Active players in bold, statistics correct as of 5 June 2025.

Most Capped Players

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''

UEFA Women's Championship