The Cyprus national football team (Greek: Εθνική ομάδα ποδοσφαίρου της Κύπρου, Turkish: Kıbrıs Futbol Federasyonu) represents Cyprus in men's international football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. The team's home ground is the AEK Arena in Larnaca.
| Association | Cyprus Football Association (CFA) Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου Kıbrıs Futbol Federasyonu | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Sofronis Avgousti | ||
| Captain | Kostakis Artymatas | ||
| Most caps | Ioannis Okkas (103) | ||
| Top scorer | Michalis Konstantinou (32) | ||
| Home stadium | AEK Arena | ||
| FIFA code | CYP | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 130  (19 December 2024)[1] | ||
| Highest | 43 (September 2010) | ||
| Lowest | 142 (June 2014) | ||
| First international | |||
Unofficial:  Israel 3–1 Cyprus  (Tel Aviv; 30 July 1949) Official:  Cyprus 1–1 Israel (Nicosia; 13 November 1960) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Cyprus 5–0 Andorra  (Limassol; 15 November 2000)  Cyprus 5–0 Andorra (Nicosia; 16 November 2014) Cyprus 5–0 San Marino  (Nicosia; 21 March 2019) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 West Germany 12–0 Cyprus (Essen; 21 May 1969) | |||
History
editEarly history
editThe 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 had improved considerably in the following years; 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.
2000s
editOn 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.
2010s
editOn 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, managed by Pambos Christodoulou, Cyprus 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.[3]
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.[4] Their qualification run would include an impressive 3–2 home victory over Bosnia.[5]
2020s
editIn the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Cyprus beat San Marino 5–0 but lost to Belgium and Scotland. Despite a 2–1 away win against Kazakhstan, 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 ended a big disappointment for Cyprus. They lost their first three games against Montenegro, Azerbaijan, and Luxembourg, before drawing 0–0 with Azerbaijan in the fourth game. Even though they beat Luxembourg 2–1 at home, they were crushed 4–0 by Montenegro in the last game and finished last in their group. This meant that they had to face Estonia in the relegation play-offs, whom they defeated 2–0 on aggregate, with goals from Marinos Tzionis and Pieros Sotiriou. Results hardly improved in the next edition of the competition, as Cyprus finished last in their group with Greece, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland, earning five points (through a win against Greece and two draws against Northern Ireland).
Cyprus lost all eight of their games in the 2024 Euro qualifiers, finishing last in their group and marking their worst ever Euro qualification campaign in terms of points per game and goal difference.
Kit
editOn 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. Adidas then 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 |
|---|---|
| –2000 | |
| 2000–2002 | |
| 2002–2006 | |
| 2006–2008 | |
| 2008–2018 | |
| 2018–2022 | |
| 2022–present |
Home stadium
editSince 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.
Results and fixtures
editThe 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
2024
edit| 21 March 2024 Friendly | Cyprus | 1–1 | | Larnaca, Cyprus |
| 19:00 UTC+2 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: AEK Arena Referee: Lukas Fähndrich (Switzerland) |
| 25 March 2024 Friendly | Cyprus | 0–1 | | Larnaca, Cyprus |
| 19:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: AEK Arena Referee: Marco Di Bello (Italy) |
| 8 June 2024 Friendly | Moldova | 3–2 | | Chișinău, Moldova |
| 19:00 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Stadionul Zimbru Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Denys Shurman (Ukraine) |
| 11 June 2024 Friendly | San Marino | 1–4 | | Serravalle, San Marino |
| 18:00 UTC+2 |
|
Report | Stadium: San Marino Stadium Referee: Ishmael Barbara (Malta) |
| 6 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Lithuania | 0–1 | | Kaunas, Lithuania |
| 20:45 | Report |
|
Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Attendance: 4,905 Referee: Igor Pajac (Croatia) |
| 9 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Cyprus | 0–4 | | Larnaca, Cyprus |
| 21:45 | Report |
|
Stadium: AEK Arena - Georgios Karapatakis Attendance: 2,041 Referee: Sebastian Gishamer (Austria) |
| 12 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Cyprus | 0–3 | | Larnaca, Cyprus |
| 21:45 | Report | Stadium: AEK Arena - Georgios Karapatakis Attendance: 6,092 Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Germany) |
| 15 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Kosovo | 3–0 | | Pristina, Kosovo |
| 20:45 | Report | Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium Attendance: 12,863 Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia) |
| 15 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Cyprus | 2–1 | | Larnaca, Cyprus |
| 21:45 | Report |
|
Stadium: AEK Arena - Georgios Karapatakis Attendance: 1,733 Referee: Nenad Minaković (Serbia) |
| 18 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Romania | 4–1 | | Bucharest, Romania |
| 21:45 | Report |
|
Stadium: Arena Națională Attendance: 45,318 Referee: Luca Pairetto (Italy) |
2025
edit| 21 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Cyprus | v | | Cyprus |
| 21:45 | Report |
| 24 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Bosnia and Herzegovina | v | | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 20:45 | Report |
| 10 June 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Romania | v | | Romania |
| 21:45 | Report |
| 6 September 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Austria | v | | Austria |
| 20:45 | Report |
| 9 September 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Cyprus | v | | Cyprus |
| 21:45 | Report |
| 9 October 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Cyprus | v | | Cyprus |
| 21:45 | Report |
| 12 October 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | San Marino | v | | San Marino |
| 15:00 | Report |
| 15 November 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Cyprus | v | | Cyprus |
| 19:00 | Report |
Coaching staff
edit| Manager | |
| Assistant Manager | |
| Assistant Manager | |
| Goalkeeping Coach | |
| Physical Trainer | |
| Physical Trainer | |
| Match Analyst |
Coaching history
editArgyrios Gavalas (1960–1967)
Pambos Avraamidis (1968–1969)
Ray Wood (1970–1971)
Sima Milovanov (1972)
Vasil Spasov (1982–1984)
Momčilo Vukotić (2001–2004)
Angelos Anastasiadis (2005–2011)
Pambos Christodoulou (2014–2015)
Ran Ben Shimon (2017–2020)
Johan Walem (2020–2021)
Temur Ketsbaia (2022–2024)
Players
editThis article needs to be updated. (June 2024) |
Current squad
editThe following players were called up for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League matches against Romania and
Kosovo on 12 and 15 October 2024, respectively.[8]
Caps and goals updated as of 8 October 2024.
Recent call-ups
editThe 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 | Konstantinos Panagi | 8 October 1994 | 28 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Andreas Panayiotou Filiotis | 31 May 1995 | 7 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Marios Antoniades | 14 May 1990 | 25 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Pavlos Korrea | 14 July 1998 | 4 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Giorgos Malekkidis | 14 July 1997 | 4 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Anderson Correia | 6 May 1991 | 11 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Hector Kyprianou | 27 May 2001 | 10 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Danilo Špoljarić | 14 July 1999 | 16 | 1 | v. | |
| FW | Andreas Katsantonis | 16 February 2000 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
| FW | Ruel Sotiriou | 24 August 2000 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
| ||||||
Player records
edit- As of 19 November 2023[9]
- Players in bold are still active with Cyprus.
Most appearances
edit| Rank | Name | Caps | Goals | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ioannis Okkas | 103 | 27 | 1997–2011 |
| 2 | Constantinos Charalambidis | 93 | 12 | 2003–2017 |
| 3 | Michalis Konstantinou | 84 | 32 | 1997–2012 |
| 4 | Pambos Pittas | 82 | 7 | 1987–1999 |
| 5 | Constantinos Makrides | 77 | 5 | 2004–2016 |
| 6 | Nicos Panayiotou | 74 | 0 | 1994–2006 |
| 7 | Demetris Christofi | 72 | 9 | 2008–present |
| 8 | Elias Charalambous | 69 | 0 | 2002–2017 |
| Chrysis Michael | 69 | 7 | 2000–2017 | |
| Giorgos Theodotou | 69 | 0 | 1996–2008 |
Top goalscorers
edit| Rank | Name | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michalis Konstantinou | 32 | 86 | 0.37 | 1997–2012 |
| 2 | Ioannis Okkas | 27 | 103 | 0.26 | 1997–2011 |
| 3 | Pieros Sotiriou | 12 | 60 | 0.2 | 2012–present |
| Constantinos Charalambidis | 12 | 93 | 0.13 | 2003–2017 | |
| 5 | Efstathios Aloneftis | 10 | 62 | 0.11 | 2005–2017 |
| 6 | Marios Agathokleous | 9 | 38 | 0.24 | 1994–2003 |
| Demetris Christofi | 9 | 72 | 0.13 | 2008–present | |
| 8 | Fivos Vrahimis | 8 | 18 | 0.44 | 1977–1982 |
| Milenko Špoljarić | 8 | 21 | 0.38 | 1997–2001 | |
| Siniša Gogić | 8 | 37 | 0.22 | 1994–1999 | |
| Andreas Sotiriou | 8 | 39 | 0.21 | 1991–1999 |
Competitive record
editAll-time record
edit- As of 18 November 2024
| Competition | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIFA World Cup qualification | 124 | 16 | 15 | 93 | 91 | 320 |
| European Championship qualification | 122 | 19 | 15 | 88 | 101 | 316 |
| Friendly matches | 137 | 38 | 34 | 65 | 147 | 206 |
| UEFA Nations League | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 17 | 46 |
| Total | 409 | 79 | 70 | 261 | 356 | 888 |
FIFA World Cup
edit| FIFA World Cup record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | ||||||||||||||
| Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
| Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
| Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |||||||||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | ||||||||||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 35 | ||||||||||
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 14 | ||||||||||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 24 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 29 | ||||||||||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 18 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 18 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 31 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 18 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 21 | ||||||||||
| To be determined | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 0/19 | 124 | 16 | 15 | 93 | 91 | 320 | ||||||||
UEFA European Championship
edit| UEFA European Championship record | Qualifying record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| Not a UEFA member | Not a UEFA member | ||||||||||||||
| Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
| Did not qualify | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 25 | |||||||||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 26 | ||||||||||
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 19 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 21 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 25 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 21 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 18 | ||||||||||
| 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 24 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 17 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 28 | ||||||||||
| To be determined | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 0/16 | 122 | 19 | 15 | 88 | 101 | 316 | ||||||||
UEFA Nations League
edit| 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 | |||
Head-to-head record
editAs of 18 November 2024.
Positive record Neutral record Negative record
| Opponent | P | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 13 | 0 | 1 | 12 | |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 16 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | 4 | 6 | 19 | |
| 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | |
| 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
| 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 15 | 1 | 3 | 11 | |
| 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Honours
editFriendly
edit- Cyprus International Football Tournament
- Champions (2): 1998, 2000
References
edit- Notes
- Citation
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
- ^ uefa.com (13 October 2015). "Bosnia and Herzegovina in play-offs, Cyprus out". Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – Qualifiers – Europe". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015.
- ^ "Cyprus vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina – Football Match Summary – August 31, 2017 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- ^ "Cyprus Football Association – Εθνική Ανδρών: Προπονητές". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
- ^ "Cyprus National Team Coaches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ "The call for the matches against Romania and Kosovo". CFA (in Greek).
- ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Cyprus – Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2023-02-02.