Cyprus National Football Team

Cyprus' home ground is currently the AEK Arena in Larnaca, and the current coach is Temur Ketsbaia.

Cyprus

Association	Cyprus Football Association (CFA) Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Temur Ketsbaia
Captain	Kostakis Artymatas
Most caps	Ioannis Okkas (103)
Top scorer	Michalis Konstantinou (32)
Home stadium	AEK Arena
FIFA code	CYP
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	124 1 (4 April 2024)
Highest	43 (September 2010)
Lowest	142 (June 2014)
First international
Unofficial:  Israel 3–1 Cyprus  (Tel Aviv, Israel; 30 July 1949) Official:  Cyprus 1–1 Israel  (Nicosia, Cyprus; 13 November 1960)
Biggest win
Cyprus 5–0 Andorra  (Limassol, Cyprus; 15 November 2000)  Cyprus 5–0 Andorra  (Nicosia, Cyprus; 16 November 2014)  Cyprus 5–0 San Marino  (Nicosia, Cyprus; 21 March 2019)
Biggest defeat
West Germany 12–0 Cyprus  (Essen, West Germany; 21 May 1969)

The team's first match took place on 23 July 1949, one year after becoming a member of the world governing body FIFA: a friendly against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, ending in a 3–3 draw. Seven days later, the team had its first international game: a 3–1 defeat by Israel in the same city.

In November 1960, following independence from British rule, Cyprus drew its first post-independence official match 1–1 against Israel, as part of the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament. Cyprus' first international victory was a 3–1 win over Greece on 27 November 1963 in a friendly. On 17 February 1968, Cyprus recorded their first competitive win, beating Switzerland 2–1 in a European Championship qualifying match in Old GSP Stadium in Nicosia.

In 1974, the national team enjoyed one of their most famous victories when they beat Northern Ireland 1–0 in Nicosia. On 12 February 1983, as part of the Euro 1984 qualifiers, Cyprus held world champions Italy to a 1–1 draw in Tsirio Stadium in Limassol, followed a month later by the same result against Czechoslovakia. Four years later, in the Euro 1988 qualification, Cyprus recorded their first ever point achieved in an away match, against Poland. In 1989 they drew 1–1 with France in the World Cup qualifying match. Despite a number of triumphs on home soil, Cyprus had to wait until 1992 to record their first away win: a 2–0 victory against the Faroe Islands.

Results in qualifying tournaments have also improved considerably in recent times. In the qualifying stages for the 1996 UEFA European Championship, Cyprus drew 1–1 with holders Denmark. Four years later, they missed out on a place in the UEFA Euro 2000 despite 3–2 victories against both Spain and Israel and a 4–0 win over San Marino.

 

On 15 November 2000, Cyprus scored their biggest win in history by beating Andorra in Limassol 5–0 in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 7 October 2006, as part of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Cyprus caused a major upset by beating the Republic of Ireland 5–2 at GSP Stadium in Nicosia, with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambidis each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis finishing off the match. Just one month later, on 15 November 2006, they caused another surprise by holding the previous World Cup's hosts Germany to a 1–1 draw at home. On 13 October 2007, they beat Wales 3–1 in Nicosia. On 17 October 2007, Cyprus came close to a historic away victory in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland, but the hosts equalised in the last minute of the game and the match ended 1–1. On 3 September 2010, as part of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Cyprus claimed a historic 4–4 draw against Portugal in Guimarães.

During the Euro 2016 qualification phase, Cyprus, managed by Pambos Christodoulou, claimed one of their most historic victories by defeating 2014 World Cup participant Bosnia 2–1 in Zenica. In the last group match, the team faced Bosnia, needing a victory to finish 3rd and rely on Belgium to beat Israel in Brussels. As fate would have it, the Bosnians won the reverse leg 3–2 and qualified to the play-offs at the expense of the home team, who at one point took a 2–1 lead during the first half and for a number of minutes held onto 3rd place and a berth in the play-offs for the first time in history, as Belgium, a soon to be world number 1 side, were comfortably beating Israel at home.

Cyprus would finish behind Estonia and ahead of Gibraltar to place 5th of 6 teams in Group H in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Their qualification run would include an impressive 3–2 home victory over Bosnia.

In the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Cyprus beat San Marino 5–0 but they lost to Belgium and Scotland. Even though they beat Kazakhstan 1–2 away from home, they lost their last three games and finished 4th out of 6 teams in the group, just ahead of Kazakhstan and San Marino.

The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was a big disappointment for Cyprus. They lost their first three games against Montenegro 0–2, Azerbaijan 0–1 and Luxembourg 2–0 and drew with Azerbaijan 0–0 in the fourth game. Even though they beat Luxembourg 2–1 at home, they were crushed 4–0 by Montenegro in their last game and finished last in their group. This meant that they had to face Estonia in the relegation play-offs. They defeated Estonia 2–0 on aggregate, with goals from Marinos Tzionis and Pieros Sotiriou.

The 2022–2023 Nations League ended in another big disappointment for Cyprus. In their opening game, Cyprus lost 2–0 to Kosovo with Kosovo scoring two late second half goals then after a quite good performance failed to score against Northern Ireland with the game ending in a scoreless draw 0-0. In the next game, Cyprus got crushed by Greece 3-0. Cyprus got a 0–2 lead against Northern Ireland with Andronikos Kakoullis scoring twice but Cyprus could not hold the lead as Northern Ireland equalised with a 94th minute goal by Jonny Evans, with Cyprus failing to win for the 4th time in the UEFA Nations League. In spite of all odds being stacked against them, Cyprus pulled off a miracle win against top of the group Greece which had won all their games in the group at Larnaca with an early first half goal from Marinos Tzionis. In the final game of the group, Cyprus was defeated by Kosovo 5-1, finishing in the last place of their group.

On 7 October 2006, Diadora unveiled Cyprus' new kit. It outlines a map of Cyprus in amber from the shoulder to the sleeve, with a green line running down the middle to indicate the division of the island. This controversial kit was used for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying phase. Then, Adidas made Cyprus' kits for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification phases. In 2018, Macron replaced Adidas as part of UEFA's Kit Assistance Scheme.

Kit provider	Period
Lotto	0000–2000
Errea	2000–2002
Umbro	2002–2006
Diadora	2006–2008
Adidas	2008–2018
Macron	2018–2022
Errea	2022–present

Since late 2021, Cyprus have played their home matches at the Georgios Karapatakis AEK Arena in Larnaca.

Home matches had previously been staged at different stadiums all around the country. Until 1974, Cyprus used either the old GSP Stadium in central Nicosia or the GSE Stadium in Famagusta. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, some matches were played at the Tsirion Stadium in Limassol and the Makario Stadium in Nicosia. In 1999, the building of the New GSP Stadium in Nicosia provided a new home for the national team but in 2008, a change of sponsorship forced home fixtures of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification phase to be played at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca. However, Cyprus returned to the GSP Stadium for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase however have not played there since September 2021.

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2023

Armenia   v   Cyprus

28 March 2023 Friendly	Armenia	2–2	Cyprus	Yerevan, Armenia
20:00 UTC+4	Ranos   50', 59'	Report	Karo   43' Christofi   83'	Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium Referee: Dumitru Muntean (Moldova)

Cyprus   v   Georgia

17 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Cyprus	1–2	Georgia	Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45 UTC+3	Pittas   40' (pen.)	Report	Mikautadze   31' Davitashvili   84'	Stadium: AEK Arena Attendance: 3,763 Referee: Fábio Veríssimo (Portugal)

Norway   v   Cyprus

20 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Norway	3–1	Cyprus	Oslo, Norway
20:45 UTC+2	Solbakken   12' Haaland   56' (pen.), 60'	Report	Kastanos   90+3'	Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Attendance: 23,643 Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)

Cyprus   v   Scotland

8 September 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Cyprus	0–3	Scotland	Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45 UTC+3		Report	McTominay   6' Porteous   16' McGinn   30'	Stadium: AEK Arena Attendance: 6,633 Referee: Balázs Berke (Hungary)

Spain   v   Cyprus

12 September 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Spain	6–0	Cyprus	Granada, Spain
20:45 UTC+2	Gavi   18' Merino   33' Joselu   70' Torres   73', 83' Baena   77'	Report		Stadium: Nuevo Los Cármenes Attendance: 17,311 Referee: Simone Sozza (Italy)

Cyprus   v   Norway

12 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Cyprus	0–4	Norway	Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45 UTC+3		Report	Sørloth   33' Haaland   65', 72' Aursnes   81'	Stadium: AEK Arena Attendance: 7,206 Referee: Donatas Rumšas (Lithuania)

Georgia   v   Cyprus

15 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Georgia	4–0	Cyprus	Tbilisi, Georgia
17:00 UTC+4	Kiteishvili   46' Kvaratskhelia   58' Shengelia   82' Mikautadze   90+5' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena Attendance: 15,871 Referee: Rob Jones (England)

Cyprus   v   Spain

16 November 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Cyprus	1–3	Spain	Limassol, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2	Pileas   75'	Report	Yamal   5' Oyarzabal   22' Joselu   28'	Stadium: Alphamega Stadium Attendance: 9,667 Referee: Mykola Balakin (Ukraine)

Cyprus   v   Lithuania

19 November 2023 Friendly	Cyprus	1–0	Lithuania	Limassol, Cyprus
18:00 UTC+2	Pittas   22'	Report		Stadium: Alphamega Stadium Attendance: 1,169 Referee: Marcel Birsan (Romania)

2024

Cyprus   v   Latvia

21 March 2024 Friendly	Cyprus	1–1	Latvia	Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2	Pittas   34'	Report	Cigaņiks   85'	Stadium: AEK Arena Referee: Lukas Fähndrich (Switzerland)

Cyprus   v   Serbia

25 March 2024 Friendly	Cyprus	0–1	Serbia	Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 UTC+2		Report	Milinković-Savić   7'	Stadium: AEK Arena Referee: Marco Di Bello (Italy)

Moldova   v   Cyprus

8 June 2024 Friendly	Moldova	v	Cyprus	Chișinău, Moldova
19:00 UTC+3		Report		Stadium: Zimbru Stadium

San Marino   v   Cyprus

11 June 2024 Friendly	San Marino	v	Cyprus	Serravalle, San Marino
18:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: San Marino Stadium

Lithuania   v   Cyprus

6 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Lithuania	v	Cyprus	Lithuania
20:45

Cyprus   v   Kosovo

9 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Cyprus	v	Kosovo	Cyprus
21:45

Cyprus   v   Romania

12 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Cyprus	v	Romania	Cyprus
21:45

Kosovo   v   Cyprus

15 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Kosovo	v	Cyprus	Kosovo
20:45

Cyprus   v   Lithuania

15 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Cyprus	v	Lithuania	Cyprus
21:45

Romania   v   Cyprus

18 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Romania	v	Cyprus	Romania
21:45

Manager	Temur Ketsbaia
Assistant Manager	Mamuka Chakvetadze
Assistant Manager	Aleksandre Chanturishvili
Goalkeeping Coach	Irakli Kuchava
Physical Trainer	Giorgi Papunashvili
Match Analyst	Davit Arveladze

Coaching history

As of 12 July 2022.

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against   Spain and friendly game against   Lithuania on 16 and 19 November 2023, respectively.

Caps and goals updated as of 19 November 2023, after the match against   Lithuania.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Constantinos Panagi	(1994-10-08) 8 October 1994 (age 29)	28	0	Omonia
13	1GK	Demetris Demetriou	(1999-01-15) 15 January 1999 (age 25)	9	0	Apollon Limassol
22	1GK	Joël Mall	(1991-04-05) 5 April 1991 (age 33)	6	0	Servette
2	2DF	Andreas Karo	(1996-09-09) 9 September 1996 (age 27)	20	1	OFI
4	2DF	Nicholas Ioannou	(1995-11-10) 10 November 1995 (age 28)	46	2	Como
7	2DF	Anderson Correia	(1991-05-06) 6 May 1991 (age 32)	5	0	Anorthosis Famagusta
14	2DF	Kostas Pileas	(1998-12-11) 11 December 1998 (age 25)	4	1	Panserraikos
16	2DF	Stelios Andreou	(2002-07-24) 24 July 2002 (age 21)	15	0	Charleroi
18	2DF	Nikolas Panayiotou	(2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 23)	11	0	Omonia
19	2DF	Konstantinos Laifis	(1993-05-19) 19 May 1993 (age 30)	55	3	Standard Liège
3	3MF	Hector Kyprianou	(2001-05-27) 27 May 2001 (age 22)	4	0	Peterborough United
5	3MF	Charalampos Charalampous	(2002-04-04) 4 April 2002 (age 22)	12	1	Omonia
6	3MF	Alex Gogić	(1994-04-13) 13 April 1994 (age 30)	26	0	St Mirren
8	3MF	Ioannis Kousoulos	(1996-06-14) 14 June 1996 (age 27)	38	4	Omonia
12	3MF	Charalambos Kyriakou	(1995-02-09) 9 February 1995 (age 29)	54	0	Apollon Limassol
15	3MF	Danilo Špoljarić	(1999-07-14) 14 July 1999 (age 24)	10	0	Apollon Limassol
20	3MF	Grigoris Kastanos	(1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 (age 26)	51	4	Salernitana
9	4FW	Ioannis Pittas	(1996-07-10) 10 July 1996 (age 27)	36	4	AIK
10	4FW	Loizos Loizou	(2003-07-18) 18 July 2003 (age 20)	27	1	Heerenveen
11	4FW	Andronikos Kakoullis	(2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 22)	19	3	Omonia
21	4FW	Stavros Gavriel	(2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 (age 22)	1	0	APOEL
23	4FW	Constantinos Elia	(2000-10-25) 25 October 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Ethnikos Achna

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Cyprus squad within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Neofytos Michael	(1993-12-16) 16 December 1993 (age 30)	15	0	Anorthosis Famagusta	v.   Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF	Andreas Panayiotou Filiotis	(1995-05-31) 31 May 1995 (age 28)	7	0	Apollon Limassol	v.   Spain, 16 November 2023
DF	Marios Antoniades	(1990-05-14) 14 May 1990 (age 33)	25	0	Doxa Katokopias	v.   Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF	Minas Antoniou	(1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 (age 30)	20	0	Anorthosis Famagusta	v.   Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF	Pavlos Correa	(1998-07-14) 14 July 1998 (age 25)	4	0	Anorthosis Famagusta	v.   Georgia, 15 October 2023
DF	Valentin Roberge	(1987-06-09) 9 June 1987 (age 36)	5	1	AEK Larnaca	v.   Spain, 12 September 2023
DF	Constantinos Sergiou	(2000-10-02) 2 October 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Nea Salamis Famagusta	v.   Norway, 20 June 2023
MF	Michalis Ioannou	(2000-06-30) 30 June 2000 (age 23)	7	1	Anorthosis Famagusta	v.   Spain, 12 September 2023
MF	Giannis Satsias	(2002-12-28) 28 December 2002 (age 21)	2	0	APOEL	v.   Norway, 20 June 2023
FW	Marios Elia	(1996-05-19) 19 May 1996 (age 27)	13	1	Ethnikos Achna	v.   Spain, 16 November 2023
FW	Demetris Christofi	(1988-09-28) 28 September 1988 (age 35)	71	9	Ethnikos Achna	v.   Georgia, 15 October 2023
FW	Marinos Tzionis	(2001-07-16) 16 July 2001 (age 22)	24	2	Sporting Kansas City	v.   Spain, 12 September 2023
FW	Pieros Sotiriou	(1993-01-13) 13 January 1993 (age 31)	59	12	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	v.   Spain, 12 September 2023
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Retired from international football. SUS Suspended

As of 19 November 2023
Players in bold are still active with Cyprus.

Most appearances

 

Top goalscorers

All-time record

As of 19 November 2023

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Not a FIFA member									Not a FIFA member
1934
1938
1950	Did not enter									Did not enter
1954
1958	Withdrew									Withdrew
1962	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	2	7
1966										4	0	0	4	0	19
1970										6	0	0	6	2	35
1974										6	1	0	5	1	14
1978										6	0	0	6	3	24
1982										8	0	0	8	4	29
1986										6	0	0	6	3	18
1990										8	0	1	7	6	20
1994										10	2	1	7	8	18
1998										8	3	1	4	10	15
2002										10	2	2	6	13	31
2006										10	1	1	8	8	20
2010										10	2	3	5	14	16
2014										10	1	2	7	4	15
2018										10	3	1	6	9	18
2022										10	1	2	7	4	21
2026	To be determined									To be determined
2030
2034
Total		0/19								124	16	15	93	91	320

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record										Qualifying record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960	Not a UEFA member									Not a UEFA member
1964	Did not enter									Did not enter
1968	Did not qualify									6	1	0	5	3	25
1972										6	0	0	6	2	26
1976										6	0	0	6	0	16
1980										6	0	1	5	2	19
1984										8	0	2	6	4	21
1988										8	0	1	7	3	16
1992										8	0	0	8	2	25
1996										10	1	4	5	6	20
2000										8	4	0	4	12	21
2004										8	2	2	4	9	18
2008										12	4	2	6	17	24
2012										8	0	2	6	7	20
2016										10	4	0	6	16	17
2020										10	3	1	6	15	20
2024										8	0	0	8	3	28
2028	To be determined									To be determined
2032
Total		0/16								122	19	15	88	101	316

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	Rank
2018–19	C	3	6	1	2	3	5	9		36th
2020–21	C	1	8	2	2	4	4	10		46th
2022–23	C	2	6	1	2	3	4	12		45th
2024–25	C	2	To be determined
Total			20	4	6	10	13	31	36th

As of 25 March 2024.

  Positive record   Neutral record   Negative record

Opponent	P	W	D	L
Albania	6	2	2	2
Andorra	5	5	0	0
Armenia	7	4	2	1
Austria	7	0	1	6
Azerbaijan	2	0	1	1
Belarus	2	1	0	1
Belgium	13	0	1	12
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	2	0	2
Bulgaria	16	1	1	14
Canada	2	0	1	1
Croatia	3	0	0	3
Czech Republic	4	0	0	4
Czechoslovakia	6	0	2	4
Denmark	6	0	1	5
England	2	0	0	2
Estonia	10	4	4	2
Faroe Islands	4	3	1	0
Finland	4	1	1	2
France	8	0	1	7
Georgia	8	3	1	4
Germany	6	0	1	5
Gibraltar	2	2	0	0
Greece	29	4	6	19
Hungary	8	1	0	7
Iceland	7	1	3	3
Iran	1	0	1	0
Iraq	1	1	0	0
Israel	16	4	3	9
Italy	8	0	1	7
Japan	1	0	0	1
Jordan	5	1	2	2
Kazakhstan	4	3	1	0
Kosovo	2	0	0	2
Kuwait	1	0	1	0
Latvia	3	2	1	0
Lebanon	2	1	0	1
Lithuania	4	3	0	1
Luxembourg	5	4	0	1
North Macedonia	2	0	1	1
Malta	8	3	3	2
Moldova	1	1	0	0
Montenegro	5	0	3	2
Netherlands	8	0	0	8
Northern Ireland	8	1	4	3
Norway	13	0	0	13
Poland	7	0	3	4
Portugal	11	0	1	10
Republic of Ireland	10	1	1	8
Romania	13	1	3	9
Russia	7	0	1	6
San Marino	6	6	0	0
Saudi Arabia	1	0	1	0
Scotland	9	0	0	9
Serbia	5	0	1	4
Slovakia	6	1	1	4
Slovenia	12	3	3	6
Soviet Union	4	0	0	4
Spain	10	1	0	9
Sweden	6	0	1	5
Switzerland	8	1	2	5
Syria	1	1	0	0
Ukraine	4	1	1	2
Wales	7	2	0	5
Yugoslavia	4	0	0	4
Zambia	3	0	0	3

Notes

Citation