Malta national football team

Malta
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Knights of St John
Association Malta Football
Association
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach John Buttigieg
Asst coach Carmel Busuttil
Captain Gilbert Agius
Most caps David Carabott (122)
Top scorer Michael Mifsud (25) last goal against macedonia 11th august 2010
Home stadium Ta' Qali Stadium
FIFA code MLT
FIFA ranking 152
Highest FIFA ranking 66 (September 1994)
Lowest FIFA ranking 158 (March 2009)
Elo ranking T152
Home colours
Away colours
First international
Malta Malta 2 - 3 Austria Austria
(Gżira, Malta; February 24, 1957)
Biggest win
Malta Malta 7 - 1 Liechtenstein Liechtenstein
(Ta' Qali, Malta; March 26, 2008)
Biggest defeat
Spain Spain 12 - 1 Malta Malta
(Seville, Spain; December 21, 1983)

The Malta national football team is the national football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition. It is known to be one of the first few countries in the world to play football. Malta's first two wins were victories of 2–0 and 2–1 at home to Greece and Iceland in European Championship qualifiers in 1975 and 1982 respectively, and the third came with a 1–0 victory away to Estonia in a 1993 World Cup qualifier.

On 11 October 2006, Malta managed a fourth competitive victory - a 2–1 triumph over Hungary in the European Championship qualifying with Andre Schembri scoring twice.

Other important results were the two draws, 1–1 and 2–2, against Hungary during the qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

During 2005 the Malta national football team obtained some home positive results. Both were 1–1 draws against Croatia and Bulgaria. Another positive result was the 1–1 home draw in a friendly match against Northern Ireland. In 2006, in a friendly against Japan, played for the World Cup Finals preparation in Germany, managed to keep the score to 1–0 despite conceding an early goal.

On 7 February 2007, Malta managed another prestigious draw against one of the hosts of Euro 2008, Austria. The game was played to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first international match played by the Maltese national team. The final result was 1–1. On 8 September 2007 Malta managed another fine draw against Turkey, the game finishing 2–2.

The ever continuing signs of progress were once again witnessed on 26 March 2008 when Malta thrashed Liechtenstein 7–1 at Ta' Qali, with Michael Mifsud scoring five goals.

On September 9, 2009 Malta showed progress by almost holding a 0–0 result against Sweden and also being close to scoring 1–0, only losing in the end by a own goal in the 83rd minute of the game. Also on the 11th August 2010 Malta had a 1-1 draw at home with FYR Macedonia. Michael Mifsud scored for Malta.

As of February, the team is sponsored by Givova.

Contents

Competition history

World Cup and Euro record

World Cup Euro
1974 - Finished 4th (out of 4) in Qualifying group 1964 - Lost 6–1 and 3–1 against Denmark
1978 - Finished 4th (out of 4) in Qualifying group 1972 - Finished 4th (out of 4) in Qualifying group
1982 - Finished 3rd (out of 3) in Qualifying group 1976 - Finished 4th (out of 4) in Qualifying group
1986 - Finished 5th (out of 5) in Qualifying group 1980 - Finished 4th (out of 4) in Qualifying group
1990 - Finished 5th (out of 5) in Qualifying group 1984 - Finished 5th (out of 5) in Qualifying group
1994 - Finished 5th (out of 6) in Qualifying group 1988 - Finished 5th (out of 5) in Qualifying group
1998 - Finished 6th (out of 6) in Qualifying group 1992 - Finished 5th (out of 5) in Qualifying group
2002 - Finished 6th (out of 6) in Qualifying group 1996 - Finished 6th (out of 6) in Qualifying group
2006 - Finished 6th (out of 6) in Qualifying group 2000 - Finished 5th (out of 5) in Qualifying group
2010 - Finished 6th (out of 6) in Qualifying group 2004 - Finished 5th (out of 5) in Qualifying group
2008 - Finished 7th (out of 7) in Qualifying group

Matches

Last game

World Cup Qualification

2008-09-06
20:00 UTC+2
 Malta  0 – 4  Portugal Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 11,000
Referee: Kevin Blom (Netherlands)
Report Said Goal 26' (o.g.)
Almeida Goal 61'
Simão Goal 72'
Nani Goal 78'
2008-09-10
20:45 UTC+2
 Albania  3 – 0  Malta Qemal Stafa, Tirana
Attendance: 7,400
Referee: Robert Schoergenhofer (Austria)
Bogdani Goal 45+1'
Duro Goal 84'
Dallku Goal 90'		 Report
2008-10-11
20:00 UTC+2
 Denmark  3 – 0  Malta Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
Attendance: 33,124
Referee: Levan Paniashvili (Georgia)
Larsen Goal 10' Goal 47'
Agger Goal 29' (pen.)		 Report
2008-10-15
19:30 UTC+2
 Malta  0 – 1  Hungary Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 4,797
Referee: Johannes Valgeirsson (Iceland)
Report Torghelle Goal 23'
2009-02-11
19:30 UTC+1
 Malta  0 – 0  Albania Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 2,041
Referee: Alexandru Deaconu (Romania)
Report
2009-03-28
20:00 UTC+1
 Malta  0 – 3  Denmark Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 6,235
Referee: Tomasz Mikulski (Poland)
Report Larsen Goal 12' Goal 23'
Nordstrand Goal 89'
2009-04-01
19:00 UTC+2
 Hungary  3 – 0  Malta Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Budapest
Attendance: 34,400
Referee: Stanislav Sukhina (Russia)
Hajnal Goal 7'
Gera Goal 81'
Juhász Goal 90+3'		 Report
2009-06-10
19:00 UTC+2
 Sweden  4 – 0  Malta Nya Ullevi, Gothenburg
Attendance: 25,271
Referee: Calum Murray (Scotland)
Källström Goal 22'
Majstorović Goal 52'
Ibrahimović Goal 56'
Berg Goal 58'		 Report
2009-09-09
18.30 UTC+1
 Malta  0 – 1  Sweden Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali
Attendance: 4,705
Referee: Adrian McCourt (Northern Ireland)
Report Azzopardi Goal 82' (o.g.)
2009-10-14
19:45 UTC+2
 Portugal  4 – 0  Malta Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães
Attendance: 29,350
Referee: Alan Kelly (Republic of Ireland)
Nani Goal 14'
Simao Goal 45'
Miguel Veloso Goal 52'
Edinho Goal 90'		 Report

Players

Current squad

The following players were named in the squad for the friendly match against Germany on May 13, 2010.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Justin Haber June 9, 1981 (1981-06-09) (age 29) 37 0 Hungary Ferencváros
GK Andrew Hogg March 2, 1985 (1985-03-02) (age 25) 14 0 Malta Valletta
DF Shaun Bajada August 19, 1983 (1983-08-19) (age 27) 18 0 Malta Birkirkara
DF Alex Muscat June 15, 1979 (1979-06-15) (age 31) 11 0 Malta Sliema Wanderers
DF Jonathan Caruana July 24, 1986 (1986-07-24) (age 24) 10 0 Malta Hibernians
DF Andrei Agius August 12, 1986 (1986-08-12) (age 24) 12 0 Italy Melfi
DF Clayton Failla January 8, 1986 (1986-01-08) (age 25) 9 0 Malta Sliema Wanderers
DF Edward Herrera November 14, 1986 (1986-11-14) (age 24) 1 0 Malta Hibernians
DF Kenneth Scicluna June 15, 1979 (1979-06-15) (age 31) 26 0 Malta Valletta
MF Roderick Briffa August 24, 1981 (1981-08-24) (age 29) 47 0 Malta Valletta
MF Ryan Fenech April 20, 1986 (1986-04-20) (age 24) 15 0 Malta Sliema Wanderers
MF Paul Fenech December 20, 1986 (1986-12-20) (age 24) 2 0 Malta Birkirkara
MF Massimo Grima August 6, 1979 (1979-08-06) (age 31) 12 0 Malta Qormi
MF Trevor Cilia January 2, 1983 (1983-01-02) (age 28) 3 0 Malta Birkirkara
MF Jamie Pace January 1, 1977 (1977-01-01) (age 34) 35 2 Malta Valletta
MF Ivan Woods December 31, 1976 (1976-12-31) (age 34) 43 1 Malta Sliema Wanderers
FW Daniel Bogdanovic March 26, 1980 (1980-03-26) (age 30) 27 1 England Sheffield United
FW Andrew Cohen April 13, 1981 (1981-04-13) (age 29) 34 1 Malta Hibernians
9 FW Michael Mifsud April 17, 1981 (1981-04-17) (age 29) 76 25 Malta Free Agent

Recent call-ups

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
GK Mario Muscat August 18, 1976 (1976-08-18) (age 34) 68 0 Malta Hibernians
DF Ian Azzopardi August 12, 1982 (1982-08-12) (age 28) 37 1 Malta Sliema Wanderers
DF Steve Bezzina January 5, 1987 (1987-01-05) (age 24) 2 0 Malta Valletta
DF Emmanuel Muscat December 7, 1984 (1984-12-07) (age 26) 6 0 New Zealand Wellington Phoenix
DF Brian Said May 15, 1973 (1973-05-15) (age 37) 91 5 Malta Floriana
MF Gilbert Agius February 21, 1974 (1974-02-21) (age 36) 119 8 Malta Valletta
MF John Hutchinson December 29, 1979 (1979-12-29) (age 31) 4 0 Australia Central Coast Mariners
MF George Mallia August 10, 1978 (1978-08-10) (age 32) 65 5 Malta Birkirkara
MF Kevin Sammut May 26, 1981 (1981-05-26) (age 29) 35 0 Malta Valletta
FW Terence Scerri April 3, 1984 (1984-04-03) (age 26) 15 1 Malta Valletta
FW André Schembri May 27, 1986 (1986-05-27) (age 24) 30 3 Hungary Ferencváros

Players with 30 or more caps

  • Gilbert Agius
  • Alex Azzopardi
  • Ian Azzopardi
  • Etienne Barbara
  • Roderick Briffa
  • Joe Brincat
  • Richard Buhagiar
  • Carmel Busuttil
  • John Buttigieg
  • David Camilleri
  • Edwin Camilleri
  
  • Joseph Camilleri
  • David Carabott
  • Jeffrey Chetcuti
  • David Cluett
  • Darren Debono
  • Michael Degiorgio
  • Luke Dimech
  • Edwin Farrugia
  • Emanuele Farrugia
  • Joseph Galea
  • Stefan Giglio
  
  • Martin Gregory
  • Justin Haber
  • John Holland
  • Kristian Laferla
  • George Mallia
  • Michael Mifsud
  • Mario Muscat
  • Chucks Nwoko
  • Brian Said
  • Nicky Saliba
  • Kevin Sammut
  
  • Charles Scerri
  • Hubert Suda
  • Stefan Sultana
  • Daniel Theuma
  • Noel Turner
  • Raymond Vella
  • Silvio Vella
  • Ivan Woods
  • George Xuereb
  • Raymond Xuereb
  • Antoine Zahra

Most capped Maltese players

No. Name Career Caps Goals
1 David Carabott 1987–2005 121 12
2 Gilbert Agius 1993–Present 119 8
3 Carmel Busuttil 1982–2001 111 23
4 Joe Brincat 1988–2004 103 5
5 John Buttigieg 1984–2000 95 1
6 Brian Said 1996–Present 91 5
7 Silvio Vella 1988–2000 90 1
8 Michael Mifsud 2000-Present 76 25
9 Michael Degiorgio 1981–1992 74 4
10 Hubert Suda 1988–2003 70 8
  • Players in bold denote the player is still available for selection.

Top Maltese goalscorers

No. Name Career Goals Caps
1 Michael Mifsud 2000–Present 25 76
2 Carmel Busuttil 1982–2001 23 111
3 David Carabott 1987–2005 12 121
4 Gilbert Agius 1993–Present 8 119
= Hubert Suda 1988–2003 8 70
6 Kristian Laferla 1986–1998 6 65
= Raymond Xuereb 1971–1985 6 43
8 Joe Brincat 1988–2004 5 103
= George Mallia 1999–Present 5 65
= Brian Said 1996–Present 5 91
  • Players in bold denote the player is still available for selection.

FIFA World Cup qualification (Group 1)

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Denmark 10 6 3 1 16 5 +11 21
 Portugal 10 5 4 1 17 5 +12 19
 Sweden 10 5 3 2 13 5 +8 18
 Hungary 10 5 1 4 10 8 +2 16
 Albania 10 1 4 5 6 13 −7 7
 Malta 10 0 1 9 0 26 −26 1
  Albania Denmark Hungary Malta Portugal Sweden
Albania  – 1 – 1 0 – 1 3 – 0 1 – 2 0 – 0
Denmark  3 – 0 – 0 – 1 3 – 0 1 – 1 1 – 0
Hungary  2 – 0 0 – 0 – 3 – 0 0 – 1 1 – 2
Malta  0 – 0 0 – 3 0 – 1 – 0 – 4 0 – 1
Portugal  0 – 0 2 – 3 3 – 0 4 – 0 – 0 – 0
Sweden  4 – 1 0 – 1 2 – 1 4 – 0 0 – 0 –

Record versus different opponents

Tournament Games Wins Draws Losses Goals For Goals Against Goal Difference
World Cup Qualifying 78 1 9 68 24 246 -222
Euro Qualifying 82 3 11 68 43 252 -209
International Tournaments 41 12 11 18 39 50 -11
Friendly 108 20 23 65 87 191 -104
Total 309 36 54 219 193 739 -546
Opponent Games Wins Draws Losses Goals For Goals Against Goal Difference
 Iceland 14 3 1 10 11 32 -21
 Hungary 12 1 2 9 6 28 -22
 Tunisia 10 4 3 3 9 11 -2
 Austria 9 0 1 8 6 30 -24
 Libya 9 3 2 4 6 9 -3
 Portugal 9 0 1 8 5 24 -19
 Sweden 9 0 0 9 2 37 -35
 Bulgaria 8 0 2 6 2 24 -22
 Denmark 8 1 0 7 6 24 -18
 Greece 8 1 2 5 4 18 -14
 Norway 8 0 2 6 3 21 -18
 Albania 7 2 2 3 6 9 -3
 Moldova 7 1 2 4 6 9 -3
 Republic of Ireland 7 0 0 7 2 24 -22
 Cyprus 6 1 2 3 4 8 -4
 Czech Republic 6 0 2 4 3 16 -13
 Finland 6 1 2 3 4 7 -3
 East Germany 6 0 0 6 2 22 -20
 Israel 6 0 2 4 5 11 -6
 Netherlands 6 0 0 6 0 28 -28
 Northern Ireland 6 0 1 5 1 11 -10
 Spain 6 0 0 6 3 28 -25
 Switzerland 6 0 1 5 3 17 -14
 Turkey 6 0 1 5 4 15 -11
 West Germany 6 0 1 5 2 26 -24
 Macedonia 6 0 1 5 2 15 -13
 Scotland 5 0 1 4 4 11 -7
 Slovakia 4 0 0 4 2 14 -12
 Belarus 4 0 1 3 1 8 -7
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 1 0 3 4 9 -5
 Croatia 4 0 1 3 3 10 -7
 Estonia 4 2 1 1 7 4 3
 Georgia 4 0 1 3 2 7 -5
 Italy 4 0 0 4 2 15 -13
 Luxembourg 4 0 2 2 2 4 -2
 Poland 4 0 0 4 0 13 -13
 Slovenia 4 0 1 3 1 7 -6
 Wales 4 0 0 4 2 15 -13
 Yugoslavia 4 0 0 4 1 18 -17
 Algeria 3 0 1 2 1 3 -2
 Armenia 3 0 0 3 0 3 -3
 Azerbaijan 3 3 0 0 9 0 9
 England 3 0 0 3 1 8 -7
 Faroe Islands 3 0 0 3 4 7 -3
 Latvia 3 2 0 1 3 3 0
 Andorra 2 0 2 0 2 2 0
 Canada 2 2 0 0 4 1 3
 Czechoslovakia 2 0 1 1 0 4 -4
 Egypt 2 0 0 2 2 8 -6
 France 2 0 0 2 0 10 -10
 Germany 2 0 0 2 1 9 -8
 Indonesia 2 2 0 0 4 0 4
 Italy C 2 0 0 2 0 5 -5
 Jordan 2 2 0 0 5 2 3
 Lebanon 2 1 1 0 1 0 1
 Liechtenstein 2 1 1 0 8 2 6
 Lithuania 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3
 Korea Republic 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1
 United Arab Emirates 2 0 2 0 1 1 0
 Andalusia 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
 Belgium 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1
 England B 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2
 Gabon 1 1 0 0 2 1 1
 Gozo 1 0 0 1 3 4 -1
 Italy U21 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1
 Italy U23 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
 Japan 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1
 Kazakhstan 1 0 1 0 2 2 0
 Qatar 1 1 0 0 2 0 2
 Russia 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2
 South Africa 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1
 Thailand 1 1 0 0 2 0 2
 Tunisia B 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
 United States 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1

Malta managers

Manager Nationality Malta career Played Won Drawn Lost Win %
Joe A. Griffiths Malta 1957–1961 6 2 2 2 33.3
Carm Borg Malta 1961–1964 9 0 2 7 0
Janos Bedl Hungary 1966 2 2 0 0 100
Tony Formosa* Malta 1966 10 1 1 8 10
Joseph Attard Malta 1969 1 0 0 1 0
Saviour Cuschieri Malta 1970 1 0 1 0 0
Victor Scerri Malta 1973 2 1 0 1 50
Terrenzio Polverini Italy 1974–1976 9 1 2 6 11.1
John Calleja Malta 1976–1978 11 2 1 8 18.8
Victor Scerri Malta 1978–1983 26 3 3 20 11.5
Guentcho Dobrev Bulgaria 1984–1987 21 1 4 16 4.7
Horst Heese Germany 1988–1991 36 3 8 25 8.3
Pippo Psaila Malta 1991–1993 17 5 4 8 29.4
Pietro Ghedin Italy 1993–1995 24 4 5 15 16.6
Robert Gatt Malta 1996 3 0 1 2 0
Milorad Kosanović Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1996–1997 15 0 2 13 0
Josif Ilić Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1997–2001 41 5 4 32 12.1
Sigfried Held Germany 2001–2003 21 4 5 12 19.04
Horst Heese** Germany 2003–2006 15 1 2 12 6.7
Dušan Fitzel** Czech Republic 2006–2009 34 3 4 27 8.82
John Buttigieg** Malta 2009–present 3 1 1 1 0 
* 1 match with Janos Bedl
** Assisted by Carmel Busuttil

Top 10 managers

Based on win % in all competitions'
Manager Years Played Won Win %
1 Hungary Janos Bedl 1966 2 2 100
2 Malta Joe A. Griffiths 1957–1961 6 2 33.3
3 Malta Pippo Psaila 1991–1993 17 5 29.4
4 Germany Sigfried Held 2001–2003 21 4 19.04
5 Malta John Calleja 1976–1978 11 2 18.8
6 Italy Pietro Ghedin 1993–1995 24 4 16.6
7 Malta Victor Scerri 1973
1978-1983		 28 4 14.2
8 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Josif Ilic 1997–2001 41 5 12.1
9 Italy Terrenzio Polverini 1974–1976 9 1 11.1
10 Malta Tony Formosa 1966 10 1 10

* Stats correct as of June 25, 2008

Fifa ranking

Rank Date
Worst Ever Rank 158 March 2010
Best Ever Rank 66 (two times) September 1994, September 1995
Current Rank 151 August 2010

Popular culture

  • The team is referenced in the song 'Plan A' by Welsh band Los Campesinos!

See also

  • Malta national under-21 football team
  • Malta women's national football team

References

External links

Football in Malta
MFA - GFA
Malta Island
Malta · Women's · Maltese Premier League · MFA Divisions (1, 2, 3) · Maltese Cup · Women's 1st Division
Gozo Island
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List of clubs • Player of the Year • Transfers Summer 2009 • Transfers Winter 2009-10 • Transfers Summer 2010 • Foreign players
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