Andorra national football team

Though the Andorran Football Federation formed in 1994,[3] and the domestic league started in 1995, the national team could not participate in major championships until it gained affiliation with governing bodies FIFA and UEFA in 1996.[3][4] The national team played its first match against Estonia in Andorra La Vella and lost 6–1.[5]

Andorra's first match in a FIFA-sanctioned competition was a 3–1 loss to Armenia on 5 September 1998 in a qualifier for UEFA Euro 2000. Andorra lost all ten qualifiers for the tournament.[6] The team particularly struggled in away matches; each loss was by at least three goals.[6] Andorra scored only three goals, two of which were penalties,[6] and two of which were in the away matches.[6] Andorra conceded 28 goals,[6] and their biggest defeat of the qualifiers was a 6–1 away loss to Russia.[6]

For their first World Cup qualifying campaign, Andorra were drawn in a group with Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal.[7] They lost their opening match 1–0 to Estonia. In the next game, they lost 3–2 to Cyprus but scored their first World Cup qualifying goals.[7] They were again defeated by Estonia, this time 2–1.[7] They lost all their matches and their only away goal was in a 3–1 loss against Ireland.[7] Their worst defeat was 7–1 to Portugal on a neutral ground in Lleida, Spain.[7] Andorra finished the campaign with no points and conceded 36 goals in ten matches.[7]

In the team's qualification campaign for Euro 2004 they again lost every game. They scored their only goal in a 2–1 away loss to Bulgaria.[8] In this competition the scores were closer than before as they lost 3–0 to Bulgaria, Croatia and Belgium, 2–0 twice to Estonia, 2–0 to Croatia and 1–0 to Belgium.[8]

Match against Ukraine in 2009.

By Andorran standards, qualification for the 2006 World Cup was successful. They won their first competitive game 1–0 at home against Macedonia. Andorra midfielder Marc Bernaus, who played in the Spanish second division, received a long throw in off his chest and volleyed in a goal early in the second half.[9] After the game, Macedonia coach Dragan Kanatlarovski resigned and called the game "a shameful outcome, a humiliation."[10] Andorra also drew two matches, 0–0 in Macedonia and 0–0 at home against Finland.[11]

In Euro 2008 qualifying, Andorra again lost every game.[12] The closest game was against Russia, a 1–0 defeat on 21 November 2007. Their biggest defeat was a 7–0 loss to Croatia in Andorra La Vella, which is their worst defeat in UEFA competitions[13] and matched their loss to the Czech Republic as their largest losing deficit. Andorra scored only two goals and conceded 42 in a total of 12 games.[12] In 2010 World Cup qualifying, Andorra lost all ten matches.[14] For the tournament, they scored three goals, in defeats to Belarus and Kazakhstan, and conceded 39 goals, including six in a defeat to England, the largest margin in the group.[14]

Qualifying for UEFA Euro 2012 ended in familiar fashion; they lost all ten matches, scoring only one goal and conceding 25; their best results were two one-goal losses to Slovakia and a 3–1 loss in Ireland.[15] The 2014 World Cup qualifying tournament was even more disastrous. Andorra lost all their matches while conceding 30 goals and not scoring.

Against Israel in 2015.

During 2016 UEFA Euro qualifying, Andorra again lost all of its ten games but scored four goals, setting a national team record for goals scored in a European Championship qualifying group. On 22 February 2017, Andorra beat San Marino away 2–0 in a friendly match, ending with 12 years and 132 days without winning any match.[16] On 9 June 2017, Andorra beat Hungary 1–0 in a World Cup home qualifier with a goal by Marc Rebés, their first victory in a competitive match since 2004.[17] Thanks to these two wins and a draw against the Faroe Islands on 6 July 2017, Andorra progressed 57 positions in the FIFA rankings to 129th, its second best position ever.[18] On 21 March 2018, Rebés scored the only goal of a friendly win over Liechtenstein in Spain, giving Andorra their third victory of the last 13 months and sixth of all time.[19]

In 2018, Andorra made its debut in the newly-created UEFA Nations League. They played in Group 1 of League D, where they finished at the bottom of the group with four ties and two losses, finishing unbeaten at home.

On 11 October 2019, Andorra won 1–0 against Moldova in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying competition, thus ending a 56-match winless run in Euro qualifiers.[20] One month later, the team earned one more point after an away draw against Albania, thus avoiding for the first time to end a qualifying round in the last position.

Andorra's former home stadium, Estadi Comunal d'Andorra la Vella.

From 1996 until 2014, Andorra played their home matches at the Comunal d'Andorra la Vella, in the capital city of Andorra la Vella. This stadium has a capacity of 1,800 and also hosts the matches of club sides FC Andorra and the Andorran Premier League.[21] On 9 September 2014, the national team began playing at the new Estadi Nacional with a capacity of 3,306.

Andorra have occasionally played home matches outside their borders. For example, Andorra hosted France and England in the 2000 European Championship, 2008 European Championship and 2010 World Cup qualifiers in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, which was the home of RCD Espanyol between 1997 and 2009.[22][23]

Andorra's lopsided win-loss record gives them a lowly reputation in world football. The nation has only won three competitive fixtures, World Cup qualifying matches against Macedonia in 2004 and Hungary in 2017, both by 1–0; a European Championship qualifying match against Moldova in 2019, by the same score; and three friendly games against Belarus and Albania at home and San Marino away, all of them by 2–0.

With the fourth smallest population of any UEFA country,[24] until the admission of Gibraltar, the talent pool is small. Players are predominantly amateurs because the Andorra domestic league is only part-time. Since Andorra began playing in 1996, their average FIFA ranking is 163.[25]

Koldo.

Manuel Miluir was the first coach of the team and managed their first three matches of European Championship qualifying. He departed in 1999 to make way for David Rodrigo, whose first competitive match was a 2–0 European Championship qualifying defeat at home to Iceland on 27 March of that year. Rodrigo had been in charge of the team until February 2010, when it was announced that Koldo would take over this role.[26]

• Isidre Codina (1996)
• Manuel Miluir (1997–1999)
• David Rodrigo (1999–2009)
• Koldo Álvarez de Eulate (2010–)

As of 17 November 2019

Against	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win ratio
Albania	5	1	1	3	4	9	−5	.167
Armenia	8	0	1	7	2	20	−18	.000
Azerbaijan	5	0	4	1	1	2	−1	.000
Belarus	4	1	0	3	4	11	−7	.250
Belgium	4	0	0	4	1	14	−13	.000
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6	.000
Brazil	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	.000
Bulgaria	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	.000
Cape Verde	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.000
China PR	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.000
Croatia	6	0	0	6	0	24	−24	.000
Cyprus	5	0	0	5	3	17	−14	.000
Czech Republic	2	0	0	2	1	12	−11	.000
England	4	0	0	4	0	16	−16	.000
Equatorial Guinea	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	.000
Estonia	12	0	0	12	5	28	−23	.000
Faroe Islands	3	0	2	1	0	1	−1	.000
Finland	2	0	1	1	0	3	−3	.000
France	5	0	0	5	0	14	−14	.000
Gabon	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	.000
Georgia	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3	.000
Hungary	3	1	0	2	1	7	−6	.250
Iceland	7	0	0	7	0	18	−18	.000
Indonesia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	.000
Israel	4	0	0	4	2	14	−12	.000
Kazakhstan	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	.000
Latvia	7	0	2	5	1	14	−13	.000
Liechtenstein	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	.333
Lithuania	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6	.000
North Macedonia	6	1	1	4	1	9	−8	.143
Malta	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	.000
Moldova	6	1	1	4	3	8	−5	.143
Netherlands	6	0	0	6	0	21	−21	.000
Poland	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	.000
Portugal	5	0	0	5	1	22	−21	.000
Qatar	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	.000
Republic of Ireland	4	0	0	4	2	11	−9	.000
Romania	4	0	0	4	1	15	−14	.000
Russia	6	0	0	6	2	21	−19	.000
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	.000
San Marino	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	1.000
Slovakia	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2	.000
Spain	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	.000
Switzerland	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	.000
Turkey	4	0	0	4	0	10	−10	.000
Ukraine	4	0	0	4	0	17	−17	.000
United Arab Emirates	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.000
Wales	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	.000
Total	164	7	20	137	46	418	−372	.041

° FIFA-unofficial match on 19 February 1998 between Andorra – Czech Republic (0–1) is not included.

• Andorra's weapons of Mac's destruction Daily Mail, 28 March 2007. accessed 22 April 2007.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andorra national football team.

• Official website
• RSSSF archive of international results 1996–2002 (list of results)
• RSSSF archive of most capped players, highest goalscorers and coaches
• ITV Football-Statistics/Andorra
• Football.co.uk:Andorra
• National Football Teams
• UEFA
• FIFA