Cyprus national football team
Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
Association | Cyprus Football Association (CFA) Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου |
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Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
Head coach | Christakis Christoforou | ||
Captain | Constantinos Charalambides | ||
Most caps | Ioannis Okkas (106)[1] | ||
Top scorer | Michalis Konstantinou (32) | ||
Home stadium | GSP Stadium, Nicosia | ||
FIFA code | CYP | ||
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FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 80 ![]() |
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Highest | 43 (September 2010) | ||
Lowest | 142 (June 2014) | ||
First international | |||
Unofficial:![]() ![]() (Tel-Aviv, Israel; July 30, 1949) Official: ![]() ![]() (Nicosia, Cyprus; November 13, 1960) |
The Cyprus national football team (Greek: Εθνική ομάδα ποδοσφαίρου της Κύπρου) represents Cyprus in association football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association, the governing body for football in Cyprus. Cyprus' home ground is the GSP Stadium in Nicosia and the current coach is Christakis Christoforou.[2] They have never reached the finals of either the European Championship or the World Cup.
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Kit
- 3 Home stadium
- 4 Total results and records
- 5 FIFA World Cup record
- 6 European Championship record
- 7 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
- 8 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
- 9 Current squad
- 10 Head to head records
- 11 Past managers
- 12 Player records
- 13 Notable results
- 14 References
- 15 External links
History
The 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 against 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 against 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 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 Nicosia, 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 have also improved considerably in recent times. 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 2000 European Football Championship despite 3–2 victories against both Spain and Israel and a 4–0 win over San Marino.
On 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 home, with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambides each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis one goal. Just one month later, on 15 November 2006, they caused another surprise by holding the World Cup semi-finalists 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. On 3 September 2010, as part of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Cyprus claimed a historic result against Portugal after drawing 4–4 in Guimarães.
During the Euro 2016 qualifying, Cyprus national football team managed by Pambos Christodoulou claimed one of their most historic victories by defeating 2014 World Cup participant Bosnia with 2–1 in Zenica. In the last group match, the team faced Bosnia needing a victory to finish in 3rd and rely on Belgium to beat Israel in Brussels. As fate would have it, the Bosnians won the reverse 3-2 and qualified to play-offs at the expense of the home team, who at one point took a 2-1 lead during first half and for number of minutes held onto 3rd spot and a birth in the play-offs for a first time in history, as Belgium, a soon to be World number 1 side, were comfortably beating Israel at home.[3]
Kit
On 7 October 2006, a new kit was made by Diadora. 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 kit was used for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, and was replaced by a kit made by Adidas for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.
Kit provider | Period |
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? – 2000 |
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2000 – 2002 |
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2002 - 2006 |
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2006 – 2008 |
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2008 – present |
Home stadium
Cyprus currently plays home matches at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia. 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 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 for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification to be played at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium. However, Cyprus returned to the GSP Stadium for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying round matches.
Total results and records
As of 13 October 2015.
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FIFA World Cup qualification | 104 | 12 | 12 | 80 | 78 | 281 |
European Championship qualification | 104 | 16 | 14 | 74 | 83 | 268 |
Friendly Matches | 117 | 34 | 31 | 52 | 126 | 170 |
TOTAL | 325 | 62 | 57 | 206 | 287 | 719 |
FIFA World Cup record
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FIFA World Cup record | ||||||||
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Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
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To Be Determined | |||||||
Total | 0/20 |
European Championship record
UEFA European Championship record | ||||||||
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Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
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Total | 0/15 |
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
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Results and fixtures
A meeting was held in Zurich, Switzerland on 22 November 2011 to determine the schedule. The delegates failed to reach agreement on the fixtures, which were then determined by a random draw at the conclusion of the meeting.[4]
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
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Results and fixtures
The fixtures were released by UEFA the same day as the draw, which was held on 23 February 2014 in Nice.[15] Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA: UTC+1 for matches on 27–28 March 2015 and all matches in November, and UTC+2 for matches on 29 and 31 March 2015 and all matches in June, September and October (local times are in parentheses).
Cyprus ![]() |
2–3 | ![]() |
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Charalambides ![]() Mitidis ![]() |
Report | Medunjanin ![]() Đurić ![]() |
Current squad
The following 23 players were called for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Israel on 10 October 2015 and Bosnia and Herzegovina on 13 October 2015.[16]
Caps and goals as of 13 October 2015, after the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Recent call-ups
The 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 | Anastasios Kissas | 18 January 1988 | 13 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
GK | Andreas Kittos | 9 September 1990 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
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DF | Valentinos Sielis | 1 March 1990 | 12 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Marios Stylianou | 23 October 1993 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
DF | Constantinos Mintikkis | 14 July 1989 | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
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MF | Nikos Englezou | 7 November 1993 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Nektarios Alexandrou | 19 December 1983 | 30 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Georgios Eleftheriou | 30 September 1984 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
MF | Charalambos Kyriakou | 9 February 1995 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
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FW | Pieros Sotiriou | 13 January 1993 | 14 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
FW | Demetris Christofi | 28 September 1988 | 38 | 6 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
FW | Onisiforos Roushias | 15 July 1992 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
v. ![]() |
|}
- INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
- PRE Preliminary squad.
- RET Retired from international football.
Head to head records
As of 13 October 2015.
Opponent | P | W | D | L |
---|---|---|---|---|
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6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
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5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
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5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
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7 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
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2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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9 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
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2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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12 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
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6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
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6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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6 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
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4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
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8 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
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5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
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6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
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24 | 3 | 6 | 15 |
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7 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
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7 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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15 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
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8 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
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3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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6 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
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8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
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6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
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9 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
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7 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
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10 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
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10 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
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13 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
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3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
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4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
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3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
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4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
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8 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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8 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
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6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
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8 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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7 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
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4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Past managers
As of 1 December 2015.[17][18]
Name | Career |
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2015– |
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2014–2015 |
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2011–2013 |
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2005–2011 |
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2001–2004 |
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2001 |
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1999–2001 |
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1997–1999 |
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1997 |
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1991–1996 |
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1988–1991 |
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1987 |
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1984–1987 |
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1982–1984 |
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1978–1982 |
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1977 |
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1976–1977 |
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1976 |
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1975 |
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1974 |
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1972–1974 |
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1972 |
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1970–1971 |
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1968–1969 |
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1960–1967 |
Player records
As of 13 October 2015.
Most capped players
# | Name | Period | Caps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ioannis Okkas | 1997–2011 | 106 | 27 |
2 | Michalis Konstantinou | 1998–2012 | 86 | 32 |
3 | Pambos Pittas | 1987–1999 | 82 | 7 |
4 | Constantinos Charalambides | 2003– | 81 | 12 |
5 | Constantinos Makrides | 2004– | 76 | 5 |
Top goalscorers
# | Player | Period | Caps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Michalis Konstantinou | 1998–2012 | 86 | 32 |
2 | Ioannis Okkas | 1997–2011 | 106 | 27 |
3 | Constantinos Charalambides | 2003– | 81 | 12 |
4 | Efstathios Aloneftis | 2005– | 61 | 10 |
Marios Agathokleous | 1994–2003 | 38 | 10 |
Notable results
Date | Tournament | Place | Opponent | Score | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
November 27, 1963 | Friendly | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
3 – 1 | ||||||
February 17, 1968 | UEFA EURO 1968 qualifying | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
2 – 1 | ||||||
February 14, 1973 | 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 0 | ||||||
May 13, 1979 | UEFA EURO 1980 qualifying | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
February 12, 1983 | UEFA EURO 1984 qualifying | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
March 27, 1983 | UEFA EURO 1984 qualifying | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
April 12, 1987 | UEFA EURO 1988 qualifying | Gdańsk, Poland | ![]() |
0 – 0 | ||||||
October 22, 1988 | 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
March 24, 1993 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
March 29, 1995 | UEFA EURO 1996 qualifying | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
November 15, 1995 | UEFA EURO 1996 qualifying | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
November 10, 1996 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
2 – 0 | ||||||
March 29, 1997 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | Paralimni, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
September 5, 1998 | UEFA EURO 2000 qualifying | Larnaca, Cyprus | ![]() |
3 – 2 | ||||||
September 5, 1999 | UEFA EURO 2000 qualifying | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
3 – 2 | ||||||
February 6, 2000 | Friendly | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
3 – 2 | ||||||
November 15, 2000 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
5 – 0 | ||||||
February 28, 2001 | Friendly | Larnaca, Cyprus | ![]() |
4 – 3 | ||||||
November 14, 2001 | Friendly | Athens, Greece | ![]() |
2 – 1 | ||||||
October 11, 2003 | UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
2 – 2 | ||||||
August 18, 2004 | Friendly | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
2 – 1 | ||||||
October 7, 2006 | UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
5 – 2 | ||||||
November 15, 2006 | UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
October 13, 2007 | UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
3 – 1 | ||||||
October 17, 2007 | UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying | Dublin, Ireland | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
February 6, 2008 | Friendly | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
October 11, 2008 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | Tbilisi, Georgia | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
February 11, 2009 | Friendly | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
3 – 2 | ||||||
March 28, 2009 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | Larnaca, Cyprus | ![]() |
2 – 1 | ||||||
September 9, 2009 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | Podgorica, Montenegro | ![]() |
1 – 1 | ||||||
October 11, 2009 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | Larnaca, Cyprus | ![]() |
4 – 1 | ||||||
September 3, 2010 | UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying | Guimarães, Portugal | ![]() |
4 – 4 | ||||||
February 29, 2012 | Friendly | Larnaca, Cyprus | ![]() |
0 – 0 | ||||||
March 23, 2013 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
0 – 0 | ||||||
September 9, 2014 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying | Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina | ![]() |
2 – 1 | ||||||
November 16, 2014 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying | Nicosia, Cyprus | ![]() |
5 – 0 | ||||||
October 10, 2015 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying | Jerusalem, Israel | ![]() |
2 – 1 |
References
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External links
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- Official Site
- RSSSF archive of results 1949-
- RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
- RSSSF archive of coaches 1929-
- ↑ Cyprus team profile
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182251/report.html
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182265/report.html
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182267/report.html
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182261/report.html
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182270/report.html
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182258/report.html
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182263/report.html
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182248/report.html
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182262/report.html
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/round=258374/match=300182260/report.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Cyprus Football Association - Εθνική Ανδρών: Προπονητές
- ↑ RSSSF - Cyprus National Team Coaches
- Pages with reference errors
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text
- Articles containing Greek-language text
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Cyprus national football team
- European national association football teams
- Football in Cyprus
- National sports teams of Cyprus