Latvia national under-21 football team

Latvia Under-21
Nickname	Sarkanbaltsarkanie (The red-white-reds)
Association	Latvian Football Federation
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Aleksandrs Basovs
Captain	Jānis Beks
Most caps	Endijs Šlampe, Reinis Flaksis (31)
Top scorer	Edgars Gauračs (10)
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Latvia 0–0 Lithuania ; (Vilnius, Lithuania; 28 October 1992)
Biggest win
	Latvia 4–0 Estonia ; (Carnikava, Latvia; 28 April 1994); Latvia 4–0 Andorra ; (Riga, Latvia; 6 June 2009); Latvia 5–1 Romania ; (Riga, Latvia; 9 October 2009); Turkmenistan 0–4 Latvia ; (Saint Petersburg, Russia; 26 January 2013); Latvia 4–0 Liechtenstein ; (Jūrmala, Latvia; 11 June 2013)
Biggest defeat
	Latvia 0–6 Greece ; (Athens, Greece; 9 June 1999); Latvia 0–6 Slovakia ; (Jelgava, Latvia; 11 October 2011); Latvia 1–7 Switzerland ; (Lugano, Switzerland; 8 September 2014)

Last updated October 10, 2025

The Latvia national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Latvia and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body of football in Latvia. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two years. The team is coached by Aleksandrs Basovs and is currently captained by defender Daniels Balodis.

Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, under-21 football teams in Europe were formed, while Latvian team was formed only in 1991, after regaining independence from the USSR. The team is exclusively for football players that are aged 21 or under at the start of the two-year campaign of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship meaning a player can represent the national team until the age of 23. Many U-21 players later represent the senior side.

Latvia U-21 have never yet qualified for the European U-21 championships, but has produced many players, who have become regular internationals for the senior side. Oskars Kļava, Deniss Ivanovs, Edgars Gauračs and Artjoms Rudņevs have all played for the U-21 side and are now first eleven players for Latvia internationally.

Latvia U-21 team plays its home matches at the Skonto stadions, which is also the home stadium of Latvia senior side. Before the opening of the Skonto stadions the team played its home matches in many different venues all around the country, including Ozolnieki, Daugavpils and Liepāja.

History

As a team, Latvia U-21 was formed in 1992, after regaining independence from the USSR. The team played its first match in Vilnius, Lithuania on October 28, 1992 that ended in a 0-0 draw. The team firstly participated in the European Championship qualification in 1994, playing the first match in Riga against Ireland U-21 on September 6, that ended in a 1-1 draw.^[1] Since 2001 the team also participates in the Baltic Cup, winning in 2008. Since 1992 Latvia have already played more than 100 matches.

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

1978 to 1992 - see Soviet Union

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	10	6	4	0	27	4	+23	22	Final tournament	—	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	7–0
2	Norway	10	6	1	3	28	11	+17	19^[a]	Play-offs	0–3	—	3–2	5–1	7–0	4–0
3	Republic of Ireland	10	5	4	1	24	12	+12	19^[a]		2–2	1–1	—	3–2	2–2	3–0
4	Turkey	10	4	1	5	21	15	+6	13		0–2	2–0	0–1	—	3–0	5–0
5	Latvia	10	3	2	5	10	18	−8	11		0–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	—	2–0
6	San Marino	10	0	0	10	1	51	−50	0		0–7	0–7	0–7	1–6	0–3	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:

1 2 Head-to-head points: Norway 4, Republic of Ireland 1.

Results and fixtures

Win Draw Loss

2 June 2022 (2022-06-02) 2023 UEFA Euro U-21 qualification	Latvia	1–0	Israel	Skonto Stadium, Riga
17:30	Ozoliņš 46'	Report		Attendance: 300 Referee: Bulat Sariyev (Kazakhstan)

7 June 2022 (2022-06-07) 2023 UEFA Euro U-21 qualification	Latvia	0-2	Hungary	Skonto Stadium
19:00		Report	András Németh, András Németh

27 September 2022 (2022-09-27) Friendly	Poland	1-1	Latvia	Suwalki
18:30	Bartlomiej Kludka	Report	Kristiāns Kaušelis	Referee: Paweł Malec

18 November 2022 (2022-11-18) Under-21 Baltic Cup	Latvia	1-0	Estonia	Jānis Daliņš Stadium
13:00	Lūkass Vapne	Report		Attendance: 100 Referee: Donatas Šimenas (LTU)

20 November 2022 (2022-11-20) Under-21 Baltic Cup	Lithuania	1-2	Latvia	LFF Kauno treniruočių centro stadionas, Kaunas
15:00	Matas Dedura	Report	Deniss Meļņiks, Deniss Meļņiks	Referee: Ilie Laurentiu (SMR)

23 March 2023 (2023-03-23) Friendly	North Macedonia	0-3	Latvia	Bellis Deluxe, Antalia
16:00		Report	Artjoms Puzirevskis, Kristofers Rēķis, Kristofers Rēķis

26 March 2023 (2023-03-26) Friendly	Georgia	1-0	Latvia	Bellis Deluxe, Antalia
17:30	Giorgi Guliashvili	Report

20 June 2023 (2023-06-20) 2025 UEFA Euro U-21 qualification	Latvia	2-0	San Marino	Sloka Stadium, Jūrmala
18:00		Report	Dario Šits, Bruno Melnis	Attendance: 300 Referee: Helgi Mikael Jónasson (ISL)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Georgia and Greece on 10 and 14 October 2025; respectively.^[2]

Caps and goals correct as of 9 September 2025, after the match against Germany

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1 GK	Ņikita Parfjonovs	(2004-02-05) 5 February 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Tukums 2000
1 GK	Ņikita Pinčuks	(2004-01-04) 4 January 2004 (age 21)	0	0	Grobiņa
1 GK	Dāvis Veisbuks	(2005-03-01) 1 March 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Super Nova

2 DF	Gļebs Mihaļcovs	(2004-03-15) 15 March 2004 (age 21)	4	0	BFC Daugavpils
2 DF	Daniels Nosegbe-Suško	(2004-09-14) 14 September 2004 (age 21)	3	0	Samtredia
2 DF	Milāns Tihonovičs	(2005-12-30) 30 December 2005 (age 19)	3	0	Super Nova
2 DF	Alans Kangars	(2005-10-07) 7 October 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Metta
2 DF	Ralfs Kragliks	(2004-02-06) 6 February 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Auda
2 DF	Maksims Semeško	(2004-02-19) 19 February 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Tukums 2000
2 DF	Aleksandrs Molotkovs	(2007-08-11) 11 August 2007 (age 18)	0	0	Metta

3 MF	Ivans Patrikejevs	(2005-08-31) 31 August 2005 (age 20)	6	1	Nõmme Kalju
3 MF	Gļebs Žaleiko	(2004-06-27) 27 June 2004 (age 21)	4	0	Jelgava
3 MF	Kevins Cēsnieks	(2005-03-06) 6 March 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Metta
3 MF	Ralfs Šitjakovs	(2004-09-21) 21 September 2004 (age 21)	1	0	Super Nova
3 MF	Markuss Strods	(2006-10-05) 5 October 2006 (age 19)	1	0	Bohemian
3 MF	Roberts Bočs	(2006-07-03) 3 July 2006 (age 19)	0	0	Vis Pesaro
3 MF	Kristers Volkovs	(2004-08-01) 1 August 2004 (age 21)	0	0	Tukums 2000

4 FW	Gļebs Patika	(2004-11-09) 9 November 2004 (age 20)	8	1	Tatran Prešov
4 FW	Valerijs Lizunovs	(2004-02-24) 24 February 2004 (age 21)	7	0	BFC Daugavpils
4 FW	Ruslans Deružinskis	(2004-07-27) 27 July 2004 (age 21)	2	0	Jelgava
4 FW	Emīls Evelons	(2005-06-01) 1 June 2005 (age 20)	2	0	Metta
4 FW	Dannī Aņisjko	(2006-01-11) 11 January 2006 (age 19)	1	0	Nottingham Forest
4 FW	Ēriks Boroduška	(2005-05-20) 20 May 2005 (age 20)	1	0	Jelgava

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up within the last twelve months and remain eligible.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up

Staff

Head coach	Aleksandrs Basovs
Assistant coach	Aleksandrs Jeļisejevs
Assistant coach	Sergejs Golubevs
Goalkeeping coach	Andrejs Piedels
Physiotherapist	Sergejs Pečņikovs
Doctor	Oļegs Samoiļenko
Manager	Didzis Matīss

Coaching history

Aleksandrs Starkovs (1994)
Jurijs Andrejevs (1995)
Jānis Dreimanis (1996–1998)
Jurijs Andrejevs (1998–2001)
Jurijs Popkovs (2001–2003)
Jurijs Ševļakovs (2004–2005)
Genādijs Šitiks (2006–2009)
Mihails Zemļinskis (2009–2011)
Anton Joore (2012–2013)
Marians Pahars (2013)
Dainis Kazakevičs (2013–2019)
Aleksandrs Basovs (2020-)

Most capped players

Only official matches against U-21 national teams, not including against clubs or any other matches.

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1.	Endijs Šlampe	2014–2016	31	0
1.	Reinis Flaksis	2013–2016	31	1
3.	Dmitrijs Klimaševičs	2014–2016	30	4
4.	Andrejs Kiriļins	2014–2016	29	0
	Vladislavs Gutkovskis	2014–2016	29	6
	Antonijs Černomordijs	20??–2018	29	1
7.	Jevgēņijs Kazačoks	20??–2016	27	5
7.	Eduards Tīdenbergs	20??–2016	27	2
9.	Edgars Vardanjans	2011–2014	25	1
9.	Kaspars Svārups	20??–2016	25	3

Players in bold are still available to play for the U-21 National team.

Best goalscorers

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1.	Edgars Gauračs	2009–2009	9	10
2.	Deniss Rakels	2011–2013	13	6
2.	Vladislavs Gutkovskis	2014–2016	29	6
4.	Jevgēņijs Kazačoks	2013–2016	27	5
4.	Marko Regža	2018-	14	5
6.	Artjoms Rudņevs	2009–2009	10	4
6.	Dmitrijs Klimaševičs	2014–2016	30	4

References

↑ "Games of the XXVI. Olympiad - Football Qualifying Tournament".
↑ "U-21 izlase EČ kvalifikācijā uzņems Gruziju un Grieķiju" (in Latvian). Latvijas Futbola Federācija. 3 October 2025. Retrieved 9 October 2025.

External links

www.lff.lv

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[table_hth_NOR0.33399419874605-2] 1 2 Head-to-head points: Norway 4, Republic of Ireland 1.

[1] "Games of the XXVI. Olympiad - Football Qualifying Tournament".

[3] "U-21 izlase EČ kvalifikācijā uzņems Gruziju un Grieķiju" (in Latvian). Latvijas Futbola Federācija. 3 October 2025. Retrieved 9 October 2025.

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