San Marino wins first competitive game ever
San Marino has made history. The lowest ranked men’s team according to FIFA has won its first ever competitive game after beating Liechtenstein 1-0 in the UEFA Nations League. The win also ended the longest ever winless steak by a national team in football, going back two decades and 140 games since the side beat Liechtenstein 1-0 in a friendly back in 2004.
As that game was a friendly, this means that San Marino has, for the first time ever, won a competitive game. The crucial goal was scored by 19-year-old Nick Sensoli who is currently playing in the fourth tier in the Italian league. The teenager was born after the last time San Marino had ever won a game.
He struck in the 53rd minute beating goalkeeper Benjamin Buchel resulting in immense celebration from his teammates. San Marino then weathered the storm to hold on to that lead and secure the historic result following years of heavy losses.
The team has lost 196 out of the 206 fixtures it has ever played. In November 2021, England beat San Marino 10-0 in a World Cup qualifier including four goals from Harry Kane alone.
But there have been signs of improvement. In October 2023, they scored their first competitive goal in two years before narrowly losing to Euro 2021 semi-finalists Denmark in a qualifier for the 2024 competition.
A friendly meanwhile in March saw then draw 0-0 with Caribbean side Saint Kitts and Nevis.
San Marino is a city state covering just 61 square kilometres, around half the size of Manchester. Surrounded by Italy and overlooked by the stunning Mount Titano, it has a population of only 33,000, or less than a tenth that of Iceland, the smallest country ever to qualify for the Euros or the World Cup, doing so in 2016 and 2018 respectively and even reaching a quarter final in the former.
Image: Lukas Raich
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