Luxembourg national football team

Luxembourg
Nickname(s) d'Roud Léiwen
Les Lions Rouges
Die Roten Löwen
(The Red Lions)
Association Luxembourg Football Federation
(Lëtzebuerger Foussballfederatioun)
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Luc Holtz
Captain Laurent Jans
Most caps Mario Mutsch (100)
Top scorer Léon Mart (16)
Home stadium Stade Josy Barthel
FIFA code LUX
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 82 Increase 3 (20 September 2018)
Highest 82 (September 2018)
Lowest 195 (August 2006)
Elo ranking
Current 112 (11 September 2018)
Highest 69 (13 May 1945)
Lowest 190 (12 October 2005)
First international
 Luxembourg 1–4 France 
(Luxembourg City; October 29, 1911)
Biggest win
 Luxembourg 6–0 Afghanistan 
(Brighton, United Kingdom; July 26, 1948)
Biggest defeat
Nazi Germany Germany 9–0 Luxembourg 
(Berlin, Germany; 4 August 1936)
 Luxembourg 0–9 England 
(Luxembourg City; 19 October 1960)
 England 9–0 Luxembourg 
(London, United Kingdom; 15 December 1982)

The Luxembourg national football team (nicknamed the Red Lions; Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch Foussballnationalequipe, French: Équipe du Luxembourg de football, German: Luxemburgische Fußballnationalmannschaft) is the national football team of Luxembourg, and is controlled by the Luxembourg Football Federation. The team plays most of its home matches at the Stade Josy Barthel in Luxembourg City.

Luxembourg has participated in every FIFA World Cup qualifiers since those for the 1934 World Cup and in UEFA European Championship qualifiers since those for Euro 1964. As of 2018, they never qualified for any of these major tournaments. Luxembourg is the nation with the most qualifying campaigns in both of these competitions without ever making it to the finals. The national side of Luxembourg did compete in six Olympic football events between 1920 and 1952.[1]

History

The Luxembourg national football team in 1920 (above), and in 2015

Luxembourg played their first ever international match on 29 October 1911, in a friendly match against France; it resulted in a 1–4 defeat.[1] Their first victory came on 8 February 1914, also in a match against France, which they won 5–4.[1]

The national side of Luxembourg competed in six Olympic football events between 1920 and 1952, and survived the preliminary round twice (in 1948 and 1952).[1] In between, Luxembourg started participating at qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup, but as of 2018 they still never qualified.

Starting in 1921, the Luxembourg national A-selection would play 239 unofficial international matches until 1981, mostly against other country's B-teams like those of Belgium, France, Switzerland and West Germany, as well as a team representing South-Netherlands.[2]

After their last Olympic tournament in 1952, the national team also started playing in qualifying groups for UEFA European Championships, but could not reach the major European tournament end stages. The only time that the team was close to qualify was for a European or World Championship was for the Euro 1964. In the first qualification round they defeated the Netherlands with a score of 3–2 on aggregate after two matches. A Dutch newspaper commented this stunt after the second match with "David Luxembourg won with 2–1 [against Goliath Netherlands]".[3] In the round of eight, Luxembourg and Denmark fought for a spot in the final tournament. The winner was decided after three matches; Denmark was the winner with a total aggregate score of 6–5.

When the national team does win a competitive match, they are often celebrated by national media and fans, as was the case after a 2–1 win against Switzerland in 2008.[4]

On 3 September 2017, Luxembourg held France to a 0–0 draw at Stadium Municipal in Toulouse, France.[5] It was the first time France had failed to win against Luxembourg since 1914, when Luxembourg won 5–4.[6][7] On 10 November 2017, Luxembourg pulled off an upset by defeating Hungary 2–1 in a friendly.[8]

Uniform

Traditionally, the badge on Luxembourg's team outfit displays a shield very similar to Luxembourg's lesser coat of arms, a red lion on a white-blue striped background – hence the team's nickname Red Lions. In modern times, the team played home games in entirely red strips, in accordance with their nickname, and wore white as away colour.

Home stadium

Stade Josy Barthel

The Luxembourg national team normally plays its home matches at the Stade Josy Barthel in Luxembourg City, the national stadium of Luxembourg. At this location, the national team played 235 games by August 2015, including unofficial games.[9] It is also used for rugby union and athletics.

Originally called Stade Municipal after its construction in 1928–1931, it was entirely rebuilt in 1990. Since July 1993, it has carried the name of Josy Barthel, the 1500m gold medalist at the 1952 Olympics and Luxembourg's only Olympic gold medal winner.[10] The stadium is also home to the biggest athletics club in the country, CAL Spora Luxembourg. The spectator capacity is 8,000;[11] some seats are under cover, some in the open air.

Management

The following managers have been in charge of Luxembourg's national squad:

Current staff

Current Luxembourg manager Luc Holtz

The crew that guides the Luxembourg national team includes following members:[13]

Position Name
ManagerLuc Holtz
Goalkeeping coachFrank Thieltges
Physical coachClaude Origer
Technical directorReinhold Breu
Team doctorsMarc Reuter
Robert Huberty
PhysiotherapistsYannick Zenner
Ben Moes

Players

In 2004, the Luxembourg Football Federation selected Louis Pilot as their Golden Player, Luxembourg's greatest player of the past 50 years.[14]

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League matches against Belarus on 12 October and San Marino on 15 October 2018.[15]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Anthony Moris (1990-04-29) 29 April 1990 15 0 Belgium Virton
1GK Ralph Schon (1990-01-20) 20 January 1990 7 0 Luxembourg Strassen
1GK Tim Kips (2000-11-01) 1 November 2000 0 0 Germany 1. FC Magdeburg
2DF Mario Mutsch (Captain) (1984-09-03) 3 September 1984 100 4 Luxembourg Progrès Niederkorn
2DF Chris Philipps (1994-03-08) 8 March 1994 48 0 Poland Legia Warsaw
2DF Kevin Malget (1991-01-15) 15 January 1991 30 2 Luxembourg F91 Dudelange
2DF Maxime Chanot (1989-11-21) 21 November 1989 28 3 United States New York City FC
2DF Dirk Carlson (1998-04-01) 1 April 1998 12 0 Switzerland Grasshoppers II
2DF Enes Mahmutovic (1997-05-22) 22 May 1997 9 0 England Yeovil Town
3MF Lars Gerson (1990-02-05) 5 February 1990 65 4 Sweden IFK Norrköping
3MF Mathias Jänisch (1990-08-27) 27 August 1990 57 1 Luxembourg Differdange 03
3MF Laurent Jans (Captain) (1992-08-05) 5 August 1992 50 0 France Metz
3MF Christopher Martins (1997-02-19) 19 February 1997 31 1 France Bourg-Péronnas
3MF Vincent Thill (2000-02-04) 4 February 2000 17 1 France Pau
3MF Gerson Rodrigues (1995-06-20) 20 June 1995 14 0 Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol
3MF Danel Sinani (1997-04-05) 5 April 1997 9 2 Luxembourg F91 Dudelange
3MF Olivier Thill (1997-12-17) 17 December 1997 9 2 Russia FC Ufa
3MF Leandro Barreiro (2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 4 0 Germany Mainz 05
4FW Daniel da Mota (1985-09-11) 11 September 1985 89 7 Luxembourg Racing FC
4FW Aurélien Joachim (1986-08-10) 10 August 1986 76 15 Belgium Virton
4FW David Turpel (1992-10-19) 19 October 1992 39 2 Luxembourg F91 Dudelange
4FW Maurice Deville (1992-07-31) 31 July 1992 36 3 Germany SV Waldhof Mannheim
4FW Florian Bohnert (1997-11-09) 9 November 1997 11 1 Germany Schalke 04 II

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Luxembourg squad during last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Youn Czekanowicz (2000-08-08) 8 August 2000 0 0 Belgium Gent II v.  Georgia, 5 June 2018
DF Aldin Skenderovic (1997-06-28) 28 June 1997 9 0 Germany SV Elversberg v.  Georgia, 5 June 2018
DF Marvin da Graça (1995-02-17) 17 February 1995 4 1 Luxembourg Jeunesse Esch v.  Georgia, 5 June 2018
DF Tim Hall (1997-04-15) 15 April 1997 1 0 Luxembourg Progrès Niederkorn v.  Austria, 27 March 2018
DF Ricardo Delgado (1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 10 0 Luxembourg Jeunesse Esch v.  Hungary, 10 November 2017
MF Jan Ostrowski (1999-04-14) 14 April 1999 2 0 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt II v.  Georgia, 5 June 2018
MF Dwayn Holter (1995-06-15) 15 June 1995 15 0 Luxembourg Differdange 03 v.  Hungary, 10 November 2017
MF Eric Veiga (1997-02-18) 18 February 1997 2 0 Germany Eintracht Braunschweig II v.  Hungary, 10 November 2017

Previous squads

Most capped players

As of 12 October 2018 after the match against Belarus.

# Player[16] Caps Period
1 Mario Mutsch 100 2005–
2 Jeff Strasser 98 1993–2010
3 René Peters 93 2000–2013
4 Jonathan Joubert 90 2006–2017
5 Eric Hoffmann 89 2002–2014
5 Daniel Da Mota 89 2007–
7 Carlo Weis 87 1978–1998
8 François Konter 77 1955–1969
9 Aurélien Joachim 76 2005–
10 Roby Langers 73 1980–1998
10 Ben Payal 73 2006–2016

Top goalscorers

# Player[16] Goals Period
1 Léon Mart 16 1933–1945
2 Gustave Kemp 15 1938–1945
2 Aurélien Joachim 15 2005–
4 Camille Libar 14 1938–1947
5 Nicolas Kettel 13 1946–1959
6 François Müller 12 1949–1954
7 Léon Letsch 11 1947–1963

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

The Luxembourg team in 1969, before a World Cup qualifier
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Did not enter
Italy 1934 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 2 15
France 1938 2 0 0 2 2 7
Brazil 1950 2 0 0 2 4 8
Switzerland 1954 4 0 0 4 1 19
Sweden 1958 4 0 0 4 3 19
Chile 1962 4 1 0 3 5 21
England 1966 6 0 0 6 6 20
Mexico 1970 6 0 0 6 4 24
West Germany 1974 6 1 0 5 2 14
Argentina 1978 6 0 0 6 2 22
Spain 1982 8 0 0 8 1 23
Mexico 1986 8 0 0 8 2 27
Italy 1990 8 0 1 7 3 22
United States 1994 8 0 1 7 2 17
France 1998 8 0 0 8 2 22
South Korea Japan 2002 10 0 0 10 4 28
Germany 2006 12 0 0 12 5 48
South Africa 2010 10 1 2 7 4 25
Brazil 2014 10 1 3 6 7 26
Russia 2018 10 1 3 6 8 26
Qatar 2022 To be determined
Canada Mexico United States 2026
Total — 0/21 — — — — — — 134 5 10 119 69 433

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record UEFA European Championship qualifying record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
France 1960 Did not enter Declined participation
Spain 1964 Did not qualify 5 1 3 1 8 8
Italy 1968 6 0 1 5 1 18
Belgium 1972 6 0 1 5 1 23
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 6 0 0 6 7 28
Italy 1980 6 0 1 5 2 17
France 1984 8 0 0 8 5 36
West Germany 1988 8 0 1 7 2 23
Sweden 1992 6 0 0 6 2 14
England 1996 10 3 1 6 3 21
Belgium Netherlands 2000 8 0 0 8 2 23
Portugal 2004 8 0 0 8 0 21
Austria Switzerland 2008 12 1 0 11 2 23
Poland Ukraine 2012 10 1 1 8 3 21
France 2016 10 1 1 8 6 27
European Union 2020 To be determined To be determined
Germany 2024
Total 0/15 109 7 10 92 44 303

Summer Olympics

Hectic phase during the goal-rich Olympic defeat against Belgium in 1928 (5–3)
Summer Olympics record of the Luxembourg national football team[1]
Edition Round Pld W D L GF GA
Belgium 1920Round 1100103
France 1924Round 2100102
Netherlands 1928Round 1100135
Nazi Germany 1936Round 1100109
United Kingdom 1948Round 1210176
Finland 1952Round 1210165
Total—82061630

Minor tournaments

Luxembourg minor tournaments record[17]
Year Round Pos Pld* W D L GF GA
Indonesia 1980 Marah Halim CupSemi-finals4th7313811
*Two of these seven matches, played against the Indonesian clubs Pardedetex and NIAC Mitra (that ended in 1–0 and 2–1 wins for Luxembourg, respectively) are not regarded as full internationals by the Luxembourg Football Federation.

Results and forthcoming fixtures

As of 12 October 2018 after the match against Belarus, the Luxembourg national team playing record is as follows: [1]

PlayedWonDrawnLostForAgainst
38934463092361079

Recent results and fixtures are as follows:

2017

2018

Head to head records

As of 12 October 2018 after the match against Belarus.

Footnotes

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barrie Courney (4 Dec 2014). "Luxembourg – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
    2. ↑ Barrie Courtney (8 Mar 2005). "Luxembourg – List of Unofficial International matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
    3. ↑ "Schwartz' droombeeld werd nachtmerrie voor publiek". Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 31 Oct 1963. Retrieved 23 Aug 2015.
    4. ↑ "RTL Lëtzebuerg". De Journal. 7 September 2008.
    5. ↑ "World Cup qualifying recap as France are held by Luxembourg and Belgium qualify for Russia 2018". Mirror. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
    6. ↑ Luxembourg vs. France 5–4, date 08/02/1914
    7. ↑ "France coach Didier Deschamps was left "infuriated" by his side's failures in front of goal in their goalless draw with Luxembourg, a result labelled "historic" by his opposite number". BBC Sport. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
    8. ↑ https://www.chicago-fire.com/post/2017/11/09/nikolic-scores-hungary-falls-2-1-luxembourg-international-friendly
    9. ↑ "Stade Josy Barthel, Lëtzebuerg". eu-football.info. Retrieved 23 Aug 2015.
    10. ↑ "Unique person for a unique place" (PDF). GSSE News – The Official Newspaper of the Games of the Small States of Europe in Luxembourg 2013. Luxembourg. 27 May 2013. p. 3. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
    11. ↑ https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/FirstDiv/uefaorg/Publications/01/67/03/93/1670393_DOWNLOAD.pdf
    12. ↑ "Les entraîneurs nationaux du Luxembourg" (in French). profootball.lu. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
    13. ↑ "Cadre". Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football. Retrieved 12 Sep 2015.
    14. ↑ "Golden Players take centre stage". UEFA. Archived from the original on 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
    15. ↑ "Match de la Ligue des Nations de l'UEFA: Luxembourg A – Belarus A" [UEFA Nations League match: Luxembourg v Belarus]. FLF.lu (in French). Luxembourg Football Federation. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
    16. 1 2 "Luxembourg – Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 29 April 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
    17. ↑ "Marah Halim Cup (Medan, Indonesia)". RSSSF. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
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