Andorra national football team

History

Though the Andorran Football Federation formed in 1994, 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. The national team played its first match against Estonia in Andorra La Vella and lost 6–1.

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. The team particularly struggled in away matches; each loss was by at least three goals. Andorra scored only three goals, two of which were penalties, and two of which were in the away matches. Andorra conceded 28 goals, and their biggest defeat of the qualifiers was a 6–1 away loss to Russia.

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

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. 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.

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. After the game, Macedonia coach Dragan Kanatlarovski resigned and called the game "a shameful outcome, a humiliation." Andorra also drew two matches, 0–0 in Macedonia and 0–0 at home against Finland. This tournament has been the only one in which Andorra has scored points. In Euro 2008 qualifying, Andorra again lost every game. The closest game was against Russia, a 1–0 defeat on 21 November 2007, which helped Russia qualify at the expense of England. Their biggest defeat was a 7–0 loss to Croatia in Andorra La Vella, which is their worst defeat in UEFA competitions 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.

In 2010 World Cup qualifying they lost all ten matches. 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. Qualifying for UEFA Euro 2012 ended in a similar way; 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. The 2014 World Cup qualifying was even more disastrous, Andorra losing all the matches, conceding 30 goals and not scoring.

At 2016 UEFA Euro qualifying, Andorra lost again all its ten games but scored four goals, its record in a qualifying group for a European Championship.

On 22 February 2017, Andorra beat San Marino away by 2–0 in a friendly match, ending with 12 years and 132 days without winning any match.

Stadium

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. 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.

Reputation

Andorra's dismal record gives them a lowly reputation in world football. The nation has only won one competitive fixture, a 1–0 World Cup qualifying win against Macedonia, and three exhibition 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, until the admission of Gibraltar, the talent pool is small. Players are predominantly amateurs because the Andorra domestic league is only part-time. Although, since Andorra began playing in 1996 their average FIFA ranking is 163.

Players and managers

Ildefons Lima and Óscar Sonejee are the only Andorran players to have scored more than three career goals for the team; Lima has 11 goals and Sonejee 4. Lima is also the second-most capped player with 101 appearances. Óscar Sonejee's 106 appearances are the most for the Andorra national team.

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 took over this role.

In January 2006, the Andorran Football Association named Koldo, their goalkeeper from 1998 to 2009, as their greatest ever player.

Manager history

Player history

Andorra all-time record against all nations

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

Current squad

Andorra manager Koldo Álvarez named a 18-man squad for the Friendly match against San Marino on February 22, 2017.
Caps and goals correct as of February 22, 2017, after the match against San Marino.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the Andorra squad in the last 12 months.

^RET: player retired from international football
^INJ: player withdrewed due to injury

International goals

Andorra has scored very few goals in competitive internationals (UEFA European Football Championship or FIFA World Cup matches); the list below is comprehensive.

^a ECQ = UEFA European Football Championship qualification match, WCQ = FIFA World Cup qualification match
^b The Andorra score is always listed first.
^c The Andorra-Cyprus match in 2000 is the only game Andorra has scored two goals in any competitive match.
^d The Andorra-Macedonia match in 2004 is the only competitive match Andorra has won.