San Marino – Liechtenstein

San Marino can clinch a draw

On Thursday, 5 September, the San Marino national team will play against Liechtenstein in the Nations League. This is a D-division match, where Gibraltar will also be the opponents of the two outsiders in the first group. The two teams will have a chance to move up in class. Liechtenstein and San Marino are the two worst teams in European football in five years. San Marino haven't won since 2004 (they beat Liechtenstein then), and their opponents haven't won since 2020: the players from the duchy were stronger than Luxembourg, but in a friendly. If we talk about official matches, Liechtenstein won only in 2014 against Moldova. That is, it marked ten years without victories. At the same time, San Marino has some progress, if we compare over a distance of five to seven years. If earlier the team conceded more than five goals very often, almost did not score, now defeats happen only in matches against big rivals. With the neighbours in the ranking San Marino team does not look hopeless. For example, they lost in one goal to Finland, scored goals to Denmark and Kazakhstan. In the spring of 2024, San Marino had two meetings with representatives of the island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. The European team was even the favourite in one of the matches, but lost with a score of 1-3, and in the return encounter a draw was recorded - 0:0. The national team now has a fairly young squad. There is a core of veterans, but a lot of young players with a lot of matches for the national team. So the game against Liechtenstein will not scare them. Bookmakers still believe in the guests. The odds on the favourite are kept at 1.90. Interestingly, Lichtenstein scored only two goals in the last ten matches. The national team has just regressed in all indicators. The collective has nothing in common with that strong team that played in qualification at the turn of the tenth years. Liechtenstein failed to score against Faroes, Luxembourg and was defeated by Iceland. The squad is drawn from the local leagues and coach Konrad Fanrfstuck has been with the team since May 2023. So far they have managed to draw twice - they did not lose to Latvia and Romania. Just the match against Romania is the greatest achievement. Liechtenstein heroically defended a nil-nil draw with a European Championship participant a few days before the start of the tournament. The odds on San Marino look inflated. Perhaps the teams will even out closer to the match. Head-to-head meetings do not speak of a big advantage for any national team. In 2020, the rivals have already played in the Nations League - one draw and a 2-0 win for Liechtenstein. Now the San Marino national team has become stronger.