Football in Lithuania

Football in Lithuania
CountryLithuania
Governing bodyLithuanian Football Federation
National team(s)men's national team
First played1892; 132 years ago (1892)
Registered players25,287 (2018)
~30,000 (2021)
Club competitions
International competitions

Football is one of the top two most popular sports in Lithuania by the quantity of active sportsmen.[1] However, with only 52,000 match spectators a year (2019) in all top league matches, it falls far behind country's most popular sport, basketball. Other variations of football like futsal, 5-a-side to 8-a-side football, beach soccer have become fairly popular as well.

The former Soviet republic made their return as an independent football nation in 1992.[2][3] In the qualification for the Euro 2004, Lithuania held Germany to a 1–1 draw in Germany and won against Scotland. In the qualification for Euro 2008 they played away to the 2006 World Cup winners Italy and drew 1–1. They also defeated Romania 3–0 in Lithuania, in another shock performance.[4]

  1. ^ "Lietuvos sporto rinkos pokyčiai: tendencijos, kurios palies ir prekės ženklus". delfi.lt. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  2. ^ "Football developing in Latvia, Lithuania". YouTube. 2013-08-11. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  3. ^ "Boost for Lithuanian football development". FIFA.com. 2007-07-20. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  4. ^ Wilson, Jonathan (2008-09-09). "Football: Jonathan Wilson – Lithuania drubbing exposes Romanian discord | Sport". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2013-11-15.