List of Andorra international footballers

A man with short dark hair wearing a blue jersey with yellow stripes.
Ildefons Lima is the most capped player in Andorran history and is also the nation's record goalscorer.

The Andorra national football team has represented Andorra in international association football since 1996. Although the nation declared independence in March 1993, the national team was forced to wait three years before making its official debut until the side became members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).[1] Andorra played their first official international fixture on 13 November 1996, suffering a 6–1 defeat to Estonia in the Andorran capital city Andorra la Vella.[2] The team is governed by the Andorran Football Federation (AFF) and compete as a member of UEFA,[1] which encompasses the countries of Europe and Israel. As of October 2018, Andorra have played 153 matches, winning 6, drawing 17 and losing 130.[2] Andorra have played more matches against Estonia than any other international side, losing all 12 meetings between the teams.[2][3] In global and continental competitions, the team has competed in qualification groups for both the FIFA World Cup, since 2002, and the UEFA European Championship, since 2000, but have failed to qualify for any tournament finals.[2]

Spanish-born defender Ildefons Lima is the nation's most capped player, accumulating 116 caps as of October 2018,[4] having made his international debut in June 1997 against Estonia.[5] He broke the record held by Óscar Sonejee on 16 August 2017 after playing in a friendly match against Qatar.[6] Lima and Sonejee are the only players to have achieved 100 caps for the Andorran national side.[4] Despite playing as a defender, Lima is also the nation's leading goalscorer of all time, scoring eleven goals as of October 2018, and is the only player to have scored ten or more goals for the side.[4][7]

The first player to reach 25 caps for Andorra was Txema Garcia, on 2 September 2000 in a 3–2 defeat to Cyprus.[8] Óscar Sonejee became the first Andorran player to accumulate 100 caps, reaching the tally on 6 June 2015 in a 1–0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea. He went on to finish his international career with 106 caps,[9] holding the caps record until 2017 when Lima overtook him.[5] Koldo is the most capped goalkeeper in Andorra's history having gained 78 caps during an eleven-year spell with the national side. He was later named as his country's "golden player" by the AFF during the UEFA Jubilee Awards in 2004 as Andorra's "single most outstanding player".[10] A year after announcing his retirement, he was appointed manager of the national side.[11]

As of October 2018, 35 players have accumulated 25 caps or more for Andorra at international level,[4] including the nation's oldest (Juli Sánchez, 39 years and 348 days)[12] and youngest internationals (Sergi Moreno, 16 years and 125 days).[13][lower-alpha 1]

List

Appearances and goals are composed of FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship and each competition's required qualification matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches. Players are listed by number of caps. If the number of caps is equal, the players are then listed alphabetically. Statistics updated following match played on 13 October 2018.

Key
*
 Still active for the national team[lower-alpha 2]
=
 Player is tied for the number of caps
GK Goalkeeper
DF Defender
MF Midfielder
FW Forward
A man with dark hair wearing a red, blue and yellow jersey.
Óscar Sonejee held the all time appearance record until 2017.[6]
A man with dark hair wearing a dark tracksuit jacket.
Koldo is the most capped goalkeeper in Andorra's history and has been manager of the side since 2010.
Andorra national team footballers with at least 25 appearances[4][18]
No. Name Position National team
career		 Caps Goals Notes
1 Ildefons Lima* DF 1997–2018 116 11
2 Óscar Sonejee MF 1997–2015 106 4
3= Josep Ayala* DF 2002–2017 84 1
Márcio Vieira* MF 2005–2018 84 0
5 Marc Pujol* MF 2000–2018 80 2
6 Manolo Jiménez Soria* MF 1998–2012 79 1
7 Koldo GK 1998–2009 78 0 Manager[lower-alpha 3]
8 Txema Garcia DF 1997–2009 71 0
9 Juli Sánchez* FW 1996–2018 70 2
10 Justo Ruiz MF 1998–2008 67 2
11 Jordi Escura MF 1998–2011 65 0
12 Antoni Lima DF 1997–2009 64 1
13 Sergi Moreno* MF 2004–2018 61 0
14 Marc Vales* DF 2008–2018 54 0
15 Fernando Silva FW 2002–2013 51 2
16= Josep Gómes* GK 2006–2018 50 0
Cristian Martínez* MF 2009–2018 50 2
18 Emili García* DF 2008–2018 43 1
19 Jordi Rubio* DF 2006–2018 42 2
20= Marc García* MF 2010–2018 40 0
Gabi Riera* FW 2004–2018 40 1
22= Genís García MF 1997–2010 37 0
Emiliano González Arqués FW 1998–2002 37 2
24 Juli Fernández DF 1998–2009 36 1
25 Moisés San Nicolás* DF 2012–2018 35 0
26= Marc Bernaus DF 2000–2013 32 1
Francesc Ramirez MF 1997–2004 32 1
28 Sebastián Gómez* MF 2008–2018 31 0
29 Roberto Jonas DF 1999–2005 30 0
30 Jesús Julián Lucendo DF 1996–2003 29 3
31= Ludovic Clemente* MF 2010–2018 28 0
Iván Lorenzo* MF 2003–2016 28 0
Agusti Pol MF 1996–2003 28 1
34 Ferran Pol* GK 2010–2018 26 0
35 Xavi Andorrà* FW 2006–2013 25 0

Notes

  1. ↑ 11v11.com credits Emili García with an appearance against Finland in 2004, that would make him the youngest, but the appearance was actually made by Txema Garcia.[14][15] 11v11.com also lists Moreno's debut as 5 June 2004 against Spain, however he appeared in a friendly on 14 April 2004 against China.[16][17]
  2. ↑ Players who are still active for the national team are players who have not retired from international football and are, subsequently, eligible to be called up.
  3. ↑ Koldo is the current manager of the Andorra national team.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 "Encouraging Andorran Advancements". UEFA. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Di Maggio, Roberto. "Andorra – List of International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  3. ↑ "Andorra national football team statistics and records: all-time record". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Mamrud, Roberto. "Andorra – Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  5. 1 2 Mamrud, Roberto. "Ildefons Lima Solá – Century of International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Ildefons Lima: l'home rècord" [Ildefons Lima: the record man]. El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Catalan). 17 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Andorra most capped players". eu-football.info. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  8. ↑ "Txema Garcia". eu-football.info. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  9. ↑ Mamrud, Roberto. "Oscar Sonejee Masand – Century of International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  10. ↑ "Golden Players take centre stage". UEFA. 29 November 2003. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  11. ↑ Manchón, Martín (12 September 2018). "Where Iceland can pick from 10 we can only choose one". as.com. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  12. ↑ "Andorra national football team statistics and records: oldest players". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  13. ↑ "Andorra national football team statistics and records: youngest players". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  14. ↑ "Finland 3–0 Andorra". eu-football.info. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  15. ↑ "Finland 3–0 Andorra". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  16. ↑ "Sergio Moreno". eu-football.info. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  17. ↑ "Sergi Moreno". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  18. ↑ "Andorra". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  19. ↑ "Koldo". eu-football.info. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
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