History
Though the San Marino Football Federation was formed in 1931, the Federation did not establish a national team until 1986, when a team representing the Federation played the Canadian U-23 team in an unofficial international, which ended in a 1–0 defeat. San Marino gained affiliation to FIFA and UEFA in 1988, [4] allowing the team to participate in major championships. Before this, Sammarinese players had been considered Italian in international football contexts. [5]
San Marino's first match in a FIFA-sanctioned competition was against Switzerland on 14 November 1990 in a qualifier for the 1992 European Championships. San Marino lost 4–0 and would lose all eight of their other qualifiers. The team struggled in away matches, losing all by at least four goals. San Marino scored only one goal, which was a penalty in a 3–1 defeat at home by Romania, [6] and conceded 33 goals in total. [7]
For their first World Cup qualifying campaign, San Marino were drawn in a group with England, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Turkey. The opening match resulted in a 10–0 defeat to Norway. The return match was less one-sided, finishing 2–0 to the Norwegians. A 4–1 defeat in Turkey saw San Marino score their first goal in a World Cup qualifier (also their first from open play), and a goalless draw against the same opposition on 10 March 1993 gave them their first-ever point. In their final qualifier against England, Davide Gualtieri scored the then-fastest goal in World Cup qualifying history after 8.3 seconds. However, San Marino went on to lose 7–1. [8] San Marino finished the campaign with one point and conceded 46 goals in 10 matches. [9]
The team's qualification campaign for Euro 1996 followed a similar pattern to the previous European championships as they lost every match. A match away to Finland gave San Marino their first goal away from home in the European Championship qualifiers. Still, the team lost 4–1. [10] Their only other goal came in a 3–1 home defeat by the Faroe Islands; the two wins over San Marino were the only points gained by the Faroe Islands in the group. In the first match, a 3–0 score in Toftir is the Faroe Islands' record competitive win. [11]
Even by Sammarinese standards, qualification for the 1998 World Cup was disappointing. Losing every match by three goals or more, San Marino failed to score a single goal. [12] This is the only World Cup qualifying tournament in which they have failed to score. Qualification for Euro 2000 again resulted in defeats in every match. The closest San Marino got to gaining a point was against Cyprus, a 1–0 defeat on 18 November 1998. [13]
In April 2001, San Marino gained their first ever away point, drawing 1–1 with Latvia in Riga. [14] The team ended the 2002 World Cup qualifying group with a new best of three goals, though one of these came in a 10–1 defeat by Belgium. In Euro 2004 qualifying, San Marino lost all eight matches, failing to score. The closest result was a 1–0 home defeat by Latvia, with the winner scored in the last minute. Latvia went on to qualify for the final tournament. [15] A 2–2 draw against Liechtenstein in a friendly in August 2003 saw the team set a new national record for most goals scored in a match; only once since, in a 2–3 loss to Malta in another friendly nine years later, have the team scored multiple goals in a game.
In April 2004, San Marino gained their first win after more than 70 attempts, a 1–0 victory over Liechtenstein in a friendly on 28 April 2004 courtesy of a fifth-minute goal by Andy Selva. The match was Martin Andermatt's debut as Liechtenstein manager. [16] Results during qualification for the 2006 World Cup followed a similar vein to previous qualifying groups. Matches were generally one-sided defeats, except for single-goal defeats at home by Lithuania and Belgium. [17]
San Marino's opening Euro 2008 qualifying match resulted in a record 13–0 defeat at home by Germany on 6 September 2006. [18] They scored only twice and conceded fifty-seven goals in losing all twelve matches. However, the home matches against Ireland, Cyprus and Wales were each lost by a single goal. [19]
In the qualification campaign for the 2010 World Cup, they lost all ten matches and failed to qualify. They conceded 47 goals in those fixtures, including 10 in a defeat by Poland, which became Poland's highest scoring victory of all time, [20] and scored just once, in a 3–1 defeat by Slovakia. [21] The Euro 2012 qualifiers started in a similar way, the first nine matches all being defeats with an aggregate of 49 goals conceded and none scored, their best result being a one-goal loss to Finland at home, with the worst being a heavy 11–0 loss to the Netherlands, which became the Netherlands' highest scoring victory of all time and San Marino's worst-ever away defeat. [22] This was then followed up by two lighter defeats, a 5–0 home loss against Sweden, [23] before completing the campaign with a 4–0 away loss to Moldova. [24]
On 10 September 2013, Alessandro Della Valle scored San Marino's first competitive goal in five years. With the score 1–0 to Poland in the Stadio Olimpico, Della Valle headed in a free-kick in the 22nd minute, beating goalkeeper Artur Boruc at his front post. Poland then regained the lead a minute later and eventually won 5–1. [25] It was the first international goal of any kind scored by San Marino since the national team lost 3–2 at home to Malta in 2012. [26]
On 15 November 2014, San Marino drew 0–0 at home against Estonia. [27] It was the first time in ten years that the team had not lost a match, ending a 61–match losing streak, [27] and securing the country's first-ever point in a European Championship qualifier. [27]
In October 2016, Mattia Stefanelli scored for San Marino in their 4–1 loss to Norway. [28]
On 16 November 2019, Filippo Berardi scored a goal in a 3–1 loss to Kazakhstan in a Euro 2020 qualifying match—the first goal for San Marino in two years (5–1 vs. Azerbaijan on 4 September 2017) and their first home goal in six years (5–1 vs. Poland on 10 September 2013). [29]
On 13 October 2020, San Marino recorded their fourth competitive draw and their first since 2014, after their Nations League match with Liechtenstein ended 0–0. [30] A month later they made history by holding Gibraltar to a goalless draw, surviving with ten men after Davide Simoncini was sent off. This heralded several firsts for them: the first major tournament in which they had gained more than one point, the first time they had gained more than one point in a calendar year, and the first time that they had gone unbeaten without conceding a single goal in two consecutive competitive matches. [31]
On 7 December 2020, San Marino was drawn into Group I for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The team failed to get a single point and lost all their matches, including a 0–10 home defeat against England, and with a record of one goal scored, at home against Poland in a 1–7 loss, against 46 conceded.
On 28 March 2022, San Marino played the first official match in its history against a non-European team in a friendly game against Cape Verde played on a neutral venue in Spain, the result being a 2–0 loss. [32] San Marino then took on a second African side with a much lower standard than the previous one, the 198th ranked Seychelles, whom they hosted in a friendly at Stadio Olimpico on 21 September 2022. San Marino ended an 18-game losing streak with a goalless draw but disappointed overall, failing to capitalize on their chances and win at home against an opponent within its reach, who played defensively in a 4–5–1 formation. [33] [34] [35] The 2022–2023 edition of the UEFA Nations League saw the selection again in Group B of League D composed of three teams, but they lost their four games without scoring a goal. As a result, San Marino is the only European team that has not yet scored a goal in three participations.
On 17 October 2023, San Marino scored their first competitive goal in two years against Denmark in a 1–2 loss during Euro 2024 qualifying. They would score again against Kazakhstan on 17 November 2023, losing 3–1, and just three days later they scored again in a 2–1 loss to Finland. This marked the first time San Marino scored in three consecutive games. They were also their first-ever European Qualifiers in which they were not the worst overall team (Liechtenstein only scored one goal in the tournament, while Gibraltar scored none).
On 20 March 2024, San Marino scored in four straight games for the first time in their history after taking a 1–0 lead against Saint Kitts and Nevis, eventually losing 3–1. On 24 March 2024, San Marino ended a 12 game losing run with a 0–0 draw against Saint Kitts.
(4 April 2024) [1] 
San Marino 0–1 Canada U23 
