Malta national football team

Malta played its first international game on 24 February 1957 at the Empire Stadium, losing 3-2 to Austria. That match was played in front of a capacity crowd at the old Empire Stadium. The Malta Football Association joined FIFA in 1959 and UEFA a year later. In late 1959, Malta played in the 1960 Summer Olympics African Qualifiers against Morocco and Tunisia, in which they finished last in the group with two draws and two losses. Since then, Malta has largely remained as one of Europe's weakest teams, though its fortunes have increased since late 2010s.

The Maltese international side first competed in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA European Nations Cup in 1962, and in FIFA World Cup qualification in 1971.^[4] Malta's first competitive draw ended 1–1 against Greece in 1970. Malta's first two competitive wins were victories of 2–0 and 2–1 at home to Greece and Iceland in European Championship qualifiers in 1975 and 1982 respectively. In 1979, Malta drew 0-0 with West Germany in a European championship qualifier and they met again on 16 December 1984 for a memorable World Cup Qualifier in front of a record attendance at the Ta'Qali stadium, where the 1982 & eventual 1986 World Cup runners-up only managed a 2–3 win. Another prestigious result was achieved in March 1987 when Malta drew 2-2 in Portugal, in a qualifier for Euro'88 and the side also twice drew against Hungary during the qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and recorded four friendly wins during 1991 and 1992.^[3]

Malta's third competitive win came with a 1–0 victory away to Estonia in a 1993 World Cup qualifier in which Kris Laferla scored.^[5] In October 1994 Malta held Czech Republic 0–0 in a qualifier for the UEFA Euro 1996, in which the latter ended runners-up. Six years later, in October 2000, in a group qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup, once again Malta managed another 0–0 draw vs Czech Republic which eventually cost the latter a place at the following major tournament. In June 2000, Malta played England, then managed by Kevin Keegan. Trailing 2–1 going into the final minutes, Malta were awarded a penalty, however David Carabott's effort was saved by Richard Wright.^[6] Through November 2001 and May 2002, Malta played and remained undefeated in 6 international matches and in between they won the locally hosted (Rothmans) International Tournament. During 2005, Malta drew 1–1 against Croatia and Bulgaria. Another positive result was the 1–1 home draw in a friendly match against Northern Ireland, though George Mallia missed an injury time penalty which would have given them a win.^[7] On 11 October 2006, Malta managed another competitive victory, a 2–1 triumph over Hungary in the European Championship qualifying with André Schembri scoring twice.^[5]

On 7 February 2007, Malta drew 1–1 with one of the hosts of Euro 2008, Austria. The game was played to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first international match played by the Maltese national team.^[8] On 8 September 2007, Malta managed another draw against Turkey in a Euro 2008 qualifying match, the game finishing 2–2.^[9] On 26 March 2008, Malta achieved its largest ever victory, a 7–1 defeat of Liechtenstein in a friendly at the Ta' Qali Stadium, with Michael Mifsud scoring five goals.^[10] A 2–0 friendly win over Georgia followed in 2009.^[11]

In May 2010, sponsorship of the Maltese national side was taken on by sportswear firm Givova, who also designed a range of new kits for the team.^[12] One month later, however, the side had fallen to their lowest ever FIFA world ranking position, of 169th in the world.^[11] In 2009, Malta had a 0–0 draw with Albania at home. This was their only point for the 2010 World Cup qualifying. On 11 August 2010, Malta drew 1–1 at home against Macedonia in a friendly game, with Michael Mifsud scoring a brilliant diving header for Malta.^[13]

In February 2011, the national football team of Malta achieved a 0–0 draw against Switzerland, in which goalkeeper Justin Haber saved two penalties.^[11] On 6 September 2011, Malta won their first Euro 2012 qualifying point, with a 1–1 draw against Georgia. During the years of 2010 and 2011, Malta did not get many positive results, and coach John Buttigieg and assistant coach Carmel Busittil were both sacked in October 2011.^[14] For the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, Malta won their first World Cup qualifying match in 20 years, nabbing a 1–0 win over Armenia in June 2013.^[15][12] In June 2017, Malta defeated Ukraine 1–0 in a friendly match, thanks to a lone goal by defender Zach Muscat.^[16] Malta recorded their 7th all-time competitive win (and their first in the UEFA Nations League) on 13 October 2020, defeating Latvia 1–0 in Riga, scoring the winning goal in the 97th minute.

Malta went on to deliver several good performances in the times that followed. On 14 November 2020 in the UEFA Nations League, Malta earned a 3–1 home victory against Faroe Islands, thanks in part to a great goal from Jurgen Degabriele, showcasing early signs of momentum in the 2020–21 campaign. In 2021, Malta recorded a standout result in FIFA World Cup qualifying with a comfortable 3–0 home win over Cyprus on 1 September 2021, featuring two goals from Cain Attard, a rare competitive triumph that boosted morale in a challenging Group H campaign. The 2022 calendar year proved to be Malta's most successful in recent times: across ten matches they achieved 5 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses, scoring 12 goals and conceding 9, marking an uptick in form. On 5 June 2022, they opened the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League with a 2–0 away win over San Marino, with Matthew Guillaumier scoring Malta’s opener in Serravalle and setting a confident tone for the campaign. In September 2022, Malta delivered perhaps their most celebrated recent result: a 2–1 friendly victory over Israel at Ta’ Qali National Stadium, with goals by Alexander Satariano (84') and Ferdinando Apap (87'), overturning Israel’s early penalty to secure the win against a traditionally stronger side.

In more recent years, Malta did achieve a handful of positive results. In June 2023 (UEFA Nations League 2022–23, Group D2), Malta earned a 2–0 away win over San Marino on 5 June, followed by a 1–0 home victory against San Marino on 12 June, anchoring a strong run in their Group D2 campaign and finishing second overall in the group. In September 2024, during the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League, Malta beat Moldova 2–0 away on 7 September and then overcame Andorra 1–0 away on 10 September, with the goal against Andorra scored by Ryan Camenzuli in the 44th minute. Although positive results have been harder to come by for Malta during 2024 and 2025, they did get another competitive win, securing a 1–0 home win against Moldova on 13 October 2024, courtesy of an 87th‑minute penalty from Teuma, again in UEFA Nations League Group D2. Moving into 2025 World Cup qualifying, Malta registered a 0–0 draw at home against Lithuania on 7 June 2025, showing resilience at Ta’ Qali despite admittedly tougher opposition. On 14th November 2025, in their penultimate match of FIFA World Cup Qualification, Malta caused one of the greatest ever World Cup Qualifying upsets in a 1-0 away victory over highly-favoured Finland in Helsinki. After the match, Maltese goalkeeper Henry Bonello was given praise for his "unbeatable" performance, which included nine saves.

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

2025

Malta  v  Lithuania

7 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Malta	0–0	Lithuania	Ta' Qali, Malta
18:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: National Stadium Attendance: 2,785 Referee: Marian Barbu (Romania)

Netherlands  v  Malta

10 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Netherlands	8–0	Malta	Groningen, Netherlands
20:45 UTC+2	Depay 9' (pen.), 16' Van Dijk 20' Simons 61' Malen 74', 80' Lang 78' Van de Ven 90+2'	Report		Stadium: Euroborg Attendance: 21,006 Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (Spain)

Lithuania  v  Malta

4 September 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Lithuania	1–1	Malta	Kaunas, Lithuania
21:45 UTC+3	Gineitis 90+6'	Report	Satariano 83'	Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Attendance: 7,854 Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)

Malta  v  San Marino

9 September Friendly	Malta	3–1	San Marino	Ta' Qali, Malta
21:00 UTC+2	Cardona 5' Z. Muscat 11' P. Mbong 34'	Report	Nanni 45+2' (pen.)	Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Andrei Chivulete (Romania)

Malta  v  Netherlands

9 October 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Malta	0–4	Netherlands	Ta' Qali, Malta
20:45 UTC+2		Report	Gakpo 12' (pen.), 49' (pen.) Reijnders 57' Depay 90+3'	Stadium: National Stadium Attendance: 9,254 Referee: Duje Strukan (Croatia)

Malta  v  Bosnia and Herzegovina

12 October Friendly	Malta	1–4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ta' Qali, Malta
19:00 UTC+2	P. Mbong 60' (pen.)	Report	Memić 16' Tabaković 53' Tahirović 84' Omerović 86'	Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Vitālijs Spasjoņņikovs (Latvia)

Finland  v  Malta

14 November 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Finland	0–1	Malta	Helsinki, Finland
19:00 UTC+2		Report	Grech 81'	Stadium: Helsinki Olympic Stadium Attendance: 13,577 Referee: Julian Weinberger (Austria)

Malta  v  Poland

17 November 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Malta	2–3	Poland	Ta' Qali, Malta
20:45 UTC+1	Cardona 36' Teuma 68' (pen.)	Report	Lewandowski 32' Wszolek 59' Zielinski 85'	Stadium: National Stadium Attendance: 10,326 Referee: Igor Pajač (Croatia)

2026

Malta  v  Luxembourg

26 March 2024-25 Nations League Playoff C/D	Malta	0–2	Luxembourg	Ta' Qali, Malta
18:00 UTC+1		Report	V. Thill 47' Olesen 90+3'	Stadium: National Stadium Attendance: 9,467 Referee: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Luxembourg  v  Malta

31 March 2024-25 Nations League Playoff C/D	Luxembourg	3–0 (5–0 agg.)	Malta	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
18:00 UTC+1	V. Thill 20' Sinani 50' Moreira 70'	Report		Stadium: Stade de Luxembourg Attendance: 9,113 Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

Slovakia  v  Malta

1 June Friendly	Slovakia	2–1	Malta	Dunajská Streda, Slovakia
18:00 UTC+2	Haraslín 9' Galčik 90+7'	Report	J. Mbong 37'	Stadium: MOL Aréna Attendance: 5,721 Referee: Mihály Káprály (Hungary)

Malta  v  Azerbaijan

5 June Friendly	Malta	v	Azerbaijan	Szombathely, Hungary
20:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Haladás Sportkomplexum

Andorra  v  Malta

24 September 2026–27 UEFA Nations League	Andorra	v	Malta	Andorra la Vella, Andorra
20:45 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Estadi Nacional

Malta  v  Gibraltar

1 October 2026–27 UEFA Nations League	Malta	v	Gibraltar	Ta' Qali, Malta
20:45 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: National Stadium

Malta  v  Andorra

4 October 2026–27 UEFA Nations League	Malta	v	Andorra	Ta' Qali, Malta
18:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: National Stadium

Gibraltar  v  Malta

16 November 2026–27 UEFA Nations League	Gibraltar	v	Malta	Europa Point, Gibraltar
20:45 UTC+1		Report		Stadium: Europa Sports Park

As of 13 December 2024.^[22]

Head coach	Emilio De Leo
Assistant coach	Mirko Valdifiori
Goalkeeping coach	Mario Capece
Technical coordinator	Ivan Woods
Fitness coaches	Luca Pagani
	Francesco Zanasi
Match analyst	Facundo Styk
Team manager	Keith Fenech

Coaching history

As of 21 November 2023.

More information Manager, Played ...

Manager	Malta career	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
Joe A. Griffiths	1954–1961	6	2	2	2	033.3
Carm Borg	1961–1964	9	0	2	7	000.0
János Bédl	1966	2	2	0	0	100.0
Tony Formosa[a]	1966	10	1	1	8	010.0
Joseph Attard	1969	1	0	0	1	000.0
Saviour Cuschieri	1970	1	0	1	0	000.0
Victor Scerri	1973	2	1	0	1	050.0
Terrenzio Polverini	1974–1976	9	1	2	6	011.1
John Calleja	1976–1978	11	2	1	8	018.2
Victor Scerri	1978–1983	26	3	3	20	011.5
Guentcho Dobrev	1984–1987	21	1	4	16	004.8
Horst Heese	1988–1991	36	3	8	25	008.3
Pippo Psaila	1991–1993	17	5	4	8	029.4
Pietro Ghedin	1993–1995	24	4	5	15	016.7
Robert Gatt	1996	3	0	1	2	000.0
Milorad Kosanović	1996–1997	15	0	2	13	000.0
Josif Ilić	1997–2001	41	5	4	32	012.2
Sigfried Held	2001–2003	21	4	5	12	019.0
Horst Heese[b]	2003–2006	15	1	2	12	006.7
Dušan Fitzel[b]	2006–2009	34	3	4	27	008.8
John Buttigieg[b]	2009–2011	21	2	3	16	009.5
Robert Gatt[c]	2012	1	1	0	0	100.0
Pietro Ghedin	2012–2017	48	7	6	35	014.6
Tom Saintfiet	2017–2018	3	0	0	3	000.0
Ray Farrugia	2018–2019	18	1	4	13	005.6
Devis Mangia	2019–2022	26	9	5	12	034.6
Gilbert Agius[d]	2022	2	0	1	1	000.0
Michele Marcolini	2023–2024	16	3	2	11	018.8
Davide Mazzotta[e]	2024	3	2	1	0	066.7
Emilio De Leo	2025–	0	0	0	0	!—

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1. [a]

   One match was managed with Janos Bedl
2. [b]

   Assisted by Carmel Busuttil
3. [c]

   Managed the team on a one-off basis as caretaker manager
4. [d]

   Managed the team as caretaker manager
5. [e]

   Managed the team as caretaker manager

As of 1 June 2026.^[25]

Players in bold are still active with Malta.

Most capped players

More information Rank, Name ...

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Michael Mifsud	143	42	2000–2020
2	David Carabott	122	11	1987–2005
3	Gilbert Agius	120	8	1993–2009
4	Carmel Busuttil	113	23	1982–2001
5	Andrei Agius	103	6	2006–2022
	Joe Brincat	103	6	1987–2004
7	Roderick Briffa	100	1	2003–2018
8	John Buttigieg	97	1	1984–2000
9	André Schembri	94	3	2006–2018
10	Brian Said	91	5	1996–2009

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As of 1 June 2026.^[26][27]

  Positive record   Neutral record   Negative record

More information Opponent, Confederation ...

Opponent	Confederation	Played	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	% Win
Albania	UEFA	8	1	2	5	3	14	−11	012.50
Algeria	CAF	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2	000.00
Andorra	UEFA	6	2	4	0	6	3	+3	033.33
Angola	CAF	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Armenia	UEFA	6	1	1	4	2	5	−3	016.67
Austria	UEFA	10	0	1	9	7	32	−25	000.00
Azerbaijan	UEFA	9	4	3	2	14	9	+5	044.44
Belarus	UEFA	4	0	2	2	1	4	−3	000.00
Belgium	UEFA	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Bosnia and Herzegovina	UEFA	5	1	0	4	5	13	−8	020.00
Bulgaria	UEFA	13	0	3	10	5	38	−33	000.00
Canada	CONCACAF	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	100.00
Cape Verde	CAF	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Central African Republic	CAF	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Croatia	UEFA	10	0	1	9	5	29	−24	000.00
Cyprus	UEFA	8	2	3	3	9	10	−1	025.00
Czech Republic[a]	UEFA	13	0	3	10	6	41	−35	000.00
Denmark	UEFA	9	0	0	9	4	32	−28	000.00
Denmark XI	UEFA	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00
East Germany	UEFA	6	0	0	6	2	22	−20	000.00
Egypt	CAF	2	0	0	2	2	8	−6	000.00
England	UEFA	7	0	0	7	1	20	−19	000.00
England B	UEFA	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Estonia	UEFA	8	2	2	4	10	12	−2	025.00
Faroe Islands	UEFA	10	2	2	6	14	19	−5	020.00
Finland	UEFA	10	2	2	6	6	15	−9	020.00
France	UEFA	2	0	0	2	0	10	−10	000.00
Gabon	CAF	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Georgia	UEFA	9	1	2	6	5	12	−7	011.11
Germany[b]	UEFA	9	0	1	8	3	38	−35	000.00
Gibraltar	UEFA	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	066.67
Greece	UEFA	12	1	3	8	7	26	−19	008.33
Hungary	UEFA	12	1	2	9	6	28	−22	008.33
Iceland	UEFA	15	3	1	11	10	33	−23	020.00
Indonesia	AFC	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Israel	UEFA	9	1	2	6	8	17	−9	011.11
Italy	UEFA	14	0	1	13	4	35	−31	000.00
Italy C	UEFA	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	000.00
Japan	AFC	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Jordan	AFC	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1	066.67
Kazakhstan	UEFA	1	0	1	0	2	2	+0	000.00
Kosovo	UEFA	3	0	0	3	2	10	−8	000.00
Kuwait	AFC	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Latvia	UEFA	7	3	1	3	5	8	−3	042.86
Lebanon	AFC	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	050.00
Libya	CAF	9	3	2	4	6	9	−3	033.33
Liechtenstein	UEFA	6	5	1	0	16	3	+13	083.33
Lithuania	UEFA	7	1	4	2	6	9	−3	014.29
Luxembourg	UEFA	9	2	2	5	5	10	−5	022.22
Moldova	UEFA	9	2	3	4	7	9	−2	022.22
Netherlands	UEFA	8	0	0	8	0	40	−40	000.00
North Macedonia	UEFA	8	0	1	7	3	19	−16	000.00
Northern Ireland	UEFA	8	0	2	6	1	14	−13	000.00
Norway	UEFA	12	0	2	10	4	30	−26	000.00
Poland	UEFA	6	0	0	6	2	18	−16	000.00
Portugal	UEFA	10	0	1	9	5	28	−23	000.00
Qatar	AFC	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Republic of Ireland	UEFA	8	0	0	8	2	25	−23	000.00
Romania	UEFA	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	000.00
Russia	UEFA	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6	000.00
San Marino	UEFA	4	4	0	0	9	3	+6	100.00
Scotland	UEFA	7	0	1	6	5	18	−13	000.00
Serbia[c]	UEFA	4	0	0	4	1	18	−17	000.00
Slovakia	UEFA	11	0	2	9	6	31	−25	000.00
Slovenia	UEFA	9	0	2	7	3	17	−14	000.00
South Africa	CAF	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
South Korea	AFC	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Spain	UEFA	8	0	0	8	3	37	−34	000.00
Sweden	UEFA	13	0	0	13	2	49	−47	000.00
Switzerland	UEFA	7	0	2	5	3	17	−14	000.00
Thailand	AFC	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Tunisia	CAF	11	5	3	3	10	11	−1	045.45
Turkey	UEFA	6	0	1	5	4	15	−11	000.00
Ukraine	UEFA	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	033.33
United Arab Emirates	AFC	2	0	2	0	1	1	+0	000.00
United States	CONCACAF	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Venezuela	CONMEBOL	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Wales	UEFA	4	0	0	4	2	15	−13	000.00
Total	WORLD	464	66	77	321	298	1,035	−737	014.22

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As of 10 February 2022^[28]