Malta national football team

The Malta national football team (Maltese: Tim nazzjonali tal-futbol ta' Malta) represents Malta in men's international football and is controlled by the Malta Football Association, the governing body for football in Malta.

The first official game played by Malta was a 3–2 defeat in a friendly against Austria in 1957.^[3] Their competitive debut arrived five years later, playing against Denmark in the preliminary round of the 1964 European Nations' Cup.^[4] Malta have competed in every qualifier for the European Championship since 1964 (except 1968) and FIFA World Cup since 1974, but have never made it to the finals of any major international competition.

Malta played its first international game on 24 February 1957 at the Empire Stadium, losing 2–3 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.^[5] 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.^[4]

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.^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[6]

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.^[9] On 8 September 2007, Malta managed another draw against Turkey in a Euro 2008 qualifying match, the game finishing 2–2.^[10] 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.^[11] A 2–0 friendly win over Georgia followed in 2009.^[12]

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.^[13] One month later, however, the side had fallen to their lowest ever FIFA world ranking position, of 169th in the world.^[12] 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.^[14]

In February 2011, the national football team of Malta achieved a 0–0 draw against Switzerland, in which goalkeeper Justin Haber saved two penalties.^[12] 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.^[15] 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.^[16][13] In June 2017, Malta defeated Ukraine 1–0 in a friendly match, thanks to a lone goal by defender Zach Muscat.^[17] 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.

Malta's spiritual home is the National Stadium, the largest stadium in Malta.^[18] The highest ever attendance for Malta's matches at Ta Qali was in a 1986 World Cup qualifier against West Germany, where 35,102 spectators turned up for the match.^[18]

Before Ta' Qali, Malta used to play its home matches at the Empire Stadium, which was infamous for its hard surface.^[19] The record attendance at the Empire Stadium was 29,751, in a 1972 UEFA Euro qualifier against England.

Malta also played friendly matches at the Hibernians Stadium, Marsa Stadium^[20] and Manoel Island Football Ground^[21].

The South End Core is a non-profit football supporters' association for the Maltese national football team and other disciplines, including rugby union and water polo.^[22] The South End Core was founded in 2007 and derives its name from the fact that originally they used to occupy the South Stand of the National Stadium.

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

As of 13 December 2024.^[23]

As of 21 November 2023.

The following players were called-up to the provisional squad for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs matches against Luxembourg on 26 and 31 March 2026.^[24]

Caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2025, after the match against Poland.

The following players have been called up within the last 12 months.

As of 14 November 2025.^[25]

Players in bold are still active with Malta.

As of 17 November 2025.^[26][27]

  Positive record   Neutral record   Negative record

As of 10 February 2022^[28]

• Malta International Football Tournament
  • Champions (2): 1992, 2002

• Official site of the Malta Football Association
• Malta at UEFA
• Malta at FIFA
• RSSSF archive of results from 1957
• Reports for all matches of the Maltese national football team