Gibraltar national football team

The Gibraltar national football team represents Gibraltar in international football competitions, and is controlled by the Gibraltar Football Association. Gibraltar applied for full UEFA membership and was accepted by the UEFA Congress in May 2013 and can therefore compete in the UEFA European Championship beginning with the 2016 tournament for which the team competed in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group D. On 13 May 2016 Gibraltar became a member of FIFA at the governing body's 66th Congress which was held in Mexico City.[3] Gibraltar is the smallest UEFA member in terms of both area and population.[4][5]

Gibraltar

Nickname(s)	Team 54[1] Los Llanis
Association	Gibraltar Football Association
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Julio César Ribas
Captain	Roy Chipolina
Most caps	Liam Walker (50)
Top scorer	Lee Casciaro (3)
Home stadium	Victoria Stadium
FIFA code	GIB
First colours Second colours Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current	195 (10 December 2020)[2]
Highest	190 (October 2018)
Lowest	206 (April 2017 – March 2018)
First international
Gibraltar 0–0 Slovakia  (Faro, Portugal; 19 November 2013)
Biggest win
Gibraltar 1–0 Malta  (Faro, Portugal; 4 June 2014)  Gibraltar 1–0 Latvia  (Gibraltar; 25 March 2018)  Armenia 0–1 Gibraltar  (Yerevan, Armenia; 13 October 2018)  Gibraltar 2–1 Liechtenstein  (Gibraltar; 16 October 2018)  Gibraltar 1–0 San Marino  (Gibraltar; 5 September 2020)  Liechtenstein 0–1 Gibraltar  (Vaduz, Liechtenstein; 10 October 2020)
Biggest defeat
Belgium 9–0 Gibraltar  (Liège, Belgium; 31 August 2017)

Despite not being an island, Gibraltar set up its first official side for the football competition at the 1993 Island Games[6] and has been a regular in the tournament, winning the 2007 edition.[7]

History

Pre-UEFA

Gibraltar's first unofficial national match took place against Jersey in the 1993 Island Games in the Isle of Wight, although the team had previously played friendlies versus professional and amateur clubs. The result was a 2–1 loss for the Gibraltarians. Gibraltar's largest unofficial win was 19–0 versus Sark, in St. Martin, Guernsey, whilst their largest unofficial loss was 5–0 versus Greenland – an autonomous region of Denmark – which also took part on the Isle of Wight, in Freshwater.

Foundation

The history of the Gibraltarian national football side can be traced back to April 1923, when it travelled to Spain to play club side Sevilla in a friendly; two games were played and Gibraltar lost both.[6] The side also managed a draw with Real Madrid in 1949.[8][9]

Island Games

Before joining UEFA, Gibraltar competed in numerous football competitions, most regularly in the Island Games.

The first competition the team entered was the 1993 Island Games, despite Gibraltar not being an island. Gibraltar lost all of its matches, scoring only one goal and finishing in last place.

They had much more success in the 1995 Island Games, which they hosted. Despite losing their opening game against Greenland, Gibraltar bounced back to record their first competitive win, against the Isle of Man. Another victory over Anglesey saw Gibraltar finish second in the group, ahead of Anglesey only on goal difference, and qualify for the semi finals. There, they beat Jersey 1–0, before losing the final to the Isle of Wight by the same scoreline.

In the 1997 Island Games, two wins and two losses in the group stage, followed by a defeat to Shetland in a playoff, saw Gibraltar finish 6th out of 9 teams. Another poor performance in 1999 saw them finish 11th.

Island Games results improved slightly in 2001, as they came 5th, and in 2003 Gibraltar recorded their biggest win ever, defeating Sark 19–0. Other good results against Greenland and Orkney saw them finish 6th out of 12. Despite these minor successes, Gibraltar did not enter the 2005 tournament.

A football team represented Gibraltar at the 2015 edition of the games even after Gibraltar was accepted by UEFA. However, the squad was a development team composed of under-19s and over-aged players with no first team senior squad members taking part.[10] The team was coached by John Moreno.

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1989–1991	Did not enter
1993	7th Place Match	8	4	0	0	4	1	9
1995	Runners-Up	2	5	4	0	1	5	3
1997	5th Place Match	6	5	2	0	3	13	8
1999	11th Place Match	11	4	1	0	3	9	11
2001	5th Place Match	5	4	3	0	1	7	2
2003	5th Place Match	6	5	3	0	2	29	5
2005	Did not enter
2007	Champions	1	4	3	1	0	9	2
2009	9th Place Match	9	4	2	1	1	12	3
2011	5th Place Match	5	3	2	0	1	14	7
2013	Did not enter
2015[nb 1]	9th Place Match	10	4	1	1	2	3	6
2017	Did not enter
2019	Replaced by 2019 Inter Games Football Tournament
Total	10/15	1 Title	42	21	3	18	102	56

*Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won. Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

FIFI "Wild Cup"

In early summer 2006 Gibraltar participated in the 2006 FIFI Wild Cup where it was ranked 3rd. The tournament was an alternative World Cup for non-FIFA members, which was only held once. In Gibraltar's opening match, they drew 1–1 with the hosts, the 'Republic of St. Pauli', before beating Tibet 5–0 in their second group game to qualify for the semi-finals. There they lost 2–0 to eventual champions Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus - following Gibraltar's games against Cyprus in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification games in 2017, Gibraltar achieved a rare feat of playing both Cypriot national teams. In the third place playoff, Gibraltar had a rematch against St. Pauli. This time Gibraltar were able to defeat the hosts, to finish in third place out of the six teams.[11]

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2006	3rd Place Playoff	3	4	2	1	1	8	4
Total	1/1	0 Titles	4	2	1	1	8	4

2008 Four Nations

In 2008 Gibraltar accepted an invitation to participate in The Four Nations Tournament, the most prominent senior football tournament that Gibraltar had ever participated in. The 2008 Four Nations Tournament, won by England C, was played in North Wales, and was contested between Wales Semi-Pro, England C, Scotland B and guest nation Gibraltar after Northern Ireland decided not to take part. Though Gibraltar eventually finished bottom of the group, they pushed tournament winners England C close.[12]

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2008	Group	4	3	0	0	3	4	11
Total	1/1	0 Titles	3	0	0	3	4	11

Record of matches

Opponent	P	W	D	L	GF	GA
Åland Islands	1	0	0	1	1	2
England C	2	1	0	1	3	2
Faroe Islands	2	1	0	1	4	4
Frøya	3	3	0	0	17	1
Greenland	4	2	0	2	7	7
Guernsey	1	0	1	0	0	0
Isle of Man	2	2	0	0	3	1
Isle of Wight	4	2	0	2	6	3
Jersey	7	1	1	5	8	15
Madeira	1	0	0	1	0	2
Menorca	1	1	0	0	2	1
Monaco	2	1	1	0	6	2
Northern Cyprus	1	0	0	1	0	2
Orkney	2	2	0	0	9	1
Rhodes	2	2	0	0	6	0
Sark	1	1	0	0	19	0
Scotland Semi-Pro	1	0	0	1	2	4
Shetland	4	1	0	3	5	6
Tibet	1	1	0	0	5	0
Wales Semi-Pro	1	0	0	1	2	6
Ynys Môn	4	1	0	3	3	6

Honours

• Football at the Island Games:

• Winners (1): 2007
• Runners-up (1): 1995

FIFA membership

After becoming a member of UEFA (see below), the GFA aimed to become a full FIFA member in time to participate in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.[13] On 26 September 2014, it was announced that Gibraltar's application for FIFA membership was denied, with president Sepp Blatter stating that Gibraltar is ineligible because it is not an independent country. This was despite FIFA at the time including 22 members that are not independent countries, including five in UEFA (Faroe Islands and the four Home Nations of the United Kingdom). The Gibraltar Football Association then announced that it planned to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the same process by which Gibraltar successfully gained UEFA membership in 2013.[14] The CAS heard Gibraltar's case on 21 May 2015, at which time no time frame for a verdict was announced and further legal arguments would still be heard. It was expected that no decision would be reached before the FIFA congress coming the following week.[15] A ruling was announced on 2 May 2016, nearly a year after the CAS heard Gibraltar's case. As part of the ruling, FIFA was ordered to transmit Gibraltar's application for membership to the FIFA congress which was set to take place the following week in Mexico City. Additionally, FIFA was ordered to take "all necessary steps to admit the Gibraltar Football Association as a full member of FIFA without delay." If the vote held at the congress was successful, it was believed that Gibraltar would be a last-minute addition to 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.[16] In FIFA's official statement regarding the ruling, the organization said that the it expected to discuss the matter at the upcoming congress and discuss a course of action, including potentially altering the congress agenda to submit Gibraltar's application for membership.[17] On 13 May 2016, Gibraltar was accepted as a member of FIFA with a vote of 172 to 12 in favour. Gibraltar became FIFA's 211th member immediately after the Football Federation of Kosovo was voted member 210.[18]

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 2014	Not a FIFA member									Not a FIFA member
2018	Did not qualify									10	0	0	10	3	47
2022	To be determined
2026	To be determined
Total	0/21	-	0	0	0	0	0	0		10	0	0	10	3	47

UEFA acceptance

Gibraltar starting XI in UEFA debut against Slovakia

Gibraltar first applied for UEFA membership in 1999 but was rejected because of intense opposition from Spain. Spain's opposition stemmed not only from claiming ownership of the territory but from fear that Gibraltar's acceptance would set a precedent that would inspire the separatist Basque national football team and Catalan national football teams to apply for UEFA membership as well. The issue was voted on again in 2007 but only three member nations (England, Scotland, and Wales)[9] supported Gibraltar's bid after Spain threatened to withdraw Spanish teams from all UEFA competitions. UEFA then established rules, which were introduced following pressure from Spain, restricting membership to sovereign states recognised as such by the United Nations. The Gibraltar FA then went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2007 and again in 2011 after an appeal and it was ruled that Gibraltar could not be refused membership because the sovereignty rules were not established until after Gibraltar's 1999 and 2007 applications. At this time, Gibraltar was named a provisional member of UEFA and was granted permission to enter national teams in under-17 and under-19 tournaments for the first time.[19][20]

The GFA was accepted as a full UEFA member by resolution of the UEFA Congress held in London on 24 May 2013, with only Spain and Belarus opposed.[21][22] This meant Gibraltar became the smallest UEFA member by population, behind San Marino, then Liechtenstein and the Faroe Islands. As a result of the vote, the Gibraltar national team became eligible to enter the qualification tournaments for UEFA's premier national team competition, the European Championship. The first such opportunity was the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, which would kick off in September 2014. Following the examples of Armenia–Azerbaijan and Russia–Georgia, it was confirmed that Gibraltar and Spain would be kept apart in qualifying groups.[5]

After being accepted into UEFA, the GFA outlined adjusted eligibility criteria for the selection of players for the national squad. To be eligible, a player must be a British passport holder who was born in Gibraltar, or has Gibraltarian parents or grandparents, or has attended school for five years locally.[23] Former Manchester United, Derby County, Southampton and Stoke City defender Danny Higginbotham, whose uncle Allen Bula was the team manager, was eligible to be called up because of this criteria adjustment.[24][25] On 18 September 2013, Higginbotham announced that he agreed in "principle" to play for Gibraltar.[26][27] Recruiting of English-born players by manager Allen Bula was unpopular with some fans,[28] and in 2015 Bula's successor Jeff Wood said he would use more home-based players and develop local talent while still searching for eligible players elsewhere.[29]

Gibraltar's first official international match was a 0–0 friendly draw against Slovakia, on 19 November 2013 at the Estadio Algarve in Portugal.[30] On 23 February 2014, Gibraltar was drawn in Group D for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying alongside Germany, Poland, Georgia, Republic of Ireland and Scotland. Initially, Gibraltar were drawn into the same group as Spain for the tournament but the previous decision to keep the two teams apart in qualifying rounds was upheld and Gibraltar was immediately moved into another group. This was their first time participating in an official European competition.[31] In June 2014, Gibraltar recorded their first ever victory under UEFA with a 1–0 win against Malta, the goal coming from Kyle Casciaro.[32]

Euro 2016 qualifying

On 7 September 2014, Gibraltar played their first competitive match – a Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland. Despite coming into the game with optimism and excitement, they were still massive underdogs[33] and although the half time score was only 1–0 to Poland, it ended 7–0. On 11 October 2014, they were defeated once again by 7–0, this time by Republic of Ireland, in their second Euro 2016 qualifier. In their third match, they were beaten for the third time by Georgia 3–0.

On 29 March 2015, Gibraltar scored their first ever goal in a full international competitive match. Lee Casciaro scored against Scotland at Hampden Park, Glasgow during the first half to level the match at 1–1. However, Scotland went on to win 6–1.[34] In July 2015, Englishman Jeff Wood was appointed manager, succeeding caretaker Dave Wilson who took over from Gibraltar's first manager Allen Bula in March 2015.[35] Gibraltar could not repeat their performance of scoring a goal in the next two matches; losing 7–0 away against Germany[36] and 4–0 against Republic of Ireland.[37] On 7 September 2015, Jake Gosling scored Gibraltar's second-ever competitive goal; netting a late consolation goal as his team was defeated 8–1 by Poland.[38] Gibraltar finished its maiden qualifying campaign last in its group with zero points.[39] With a 0–6 defeat to Scotland in the final match of qualifying, Gibraltar allowed 56 total goals throughout qualification, surpassing San Marino's previous record of 53 in a 10-match qualification process.[40]

UEFA European Championship

UEFA Euro Record										UEFA European Championship qualifying record
Year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960–2012	Not a UEFA member									Not a UEFA member
2016	Did not qualify									10	0	0	10	2	56
2020	Did not qualify									8	0	0	8	3	31
2024	To be determined									—	—	—	—	—	—
Total	0/17	-	0	0	0	0	0	0		18	0	0	18	5	87

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Round	Pos	RK	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R
2018–19	D	4	Group stage	3rd	49th	6	2	0	4	5	15
2020–21	D	2		1st	49th	4	2	2	0	3	1
2022–23	C	TBA		To be determined
Total			Best: Group stage	2/2	49th	10	4	2	4	8	16	—

2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying – UEFA Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification to 2022 FIFA World Cup		—	7 Sep	16 Nov	4 Sep	27 Mar	11 Oct
2	Turkey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to second round		24 Mar	—	8 Oct	1 Sep	30 Mar	13 Nov
3	Norway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			1 Sep	27 Mar	—	11 Oct	13 Nov	7 Sep
4	Montenegro	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			13 Nov	16 Nov	30 Mar	—	7 Sep	27 Mar
5	Latvia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			8 Oct	11 Oct	4 Sep	24 Mar	—	1 Sep
6	Gibraltar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			30 Mar	4 Sep	24 Mar	8 Oct	16 Nov	—

First match(es) will be played on 24 March 2021. Source: FIFA, UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

2020–21 UEFA Nations League

Gibraltar was drawn with the Liechtenstein and San Marino in League D.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Gibraltar (P)	4	2	2	0	3	1	+2	8	Promotion to League C		—	1–1	1–0
2	Liechtenstein	4	1	2	1	3	2	+1	5			0–1	—	0–0
3	San Marino	4	0	2	2	0	3	−3	2			0–0	0–2	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(P) Promoted.

Record of matches

The following table shows Gibraltar's all-time international record, correct as of 17 November 2020. Only official matches are included.

Opponents	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	First	Last
Armenia	2	1	0	1	3	6	−3	050.00	2018	2018
Belgium	2	0	0	2	0	15	−15	000.00	2016	2017
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	0	0	2	0	9	−9	000.00	2017	2017
Bulgaria	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	000.00	2020	2020
Croatia	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	000.00	2015	2015
Cyprus	2	0	0	2	2	5	−3	000.00	2016	2017
Denmark	2	0	0	2	0	12	−12	000.00	2019	2019
Estonia	5	0	1	4	1	14	−13	000.00	2014	2019
Faroe Islands	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3	000.00	2014	2014
Georgia	4	0	0	4	2	13	−11	000.00	2014	2019
Germany	2	0	0	2	0	11	−11	000.00	2014	2015
Greece	2	0	0	2	1	8	−7	000.00	2016	2017
Kosovo	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00	2019	2019
Latvia	2	1	0	1	1	5	−4	050.00	2016	2018
Liechtenstein	5	2	2	1	4	4	+0	040.00	2016	2020
Malta	2	1	0	1	1	2	−1	050.00	2014	2020
North Macedonia	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6	000.00	2018	2018
Poland	2	0	0	2	1	15	−14	000.00	2014	2015
Portugal	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5	000.00	2016	2016
Republic of Ireland	4	0	0	4	0	14	−14	000.00	2014	2019
San Marino	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	050.00	2020	2020
Scotland	2	0	0	2	1	12	−11	000.00	2015	2015
Slovakia	1	0	1	0	0	0	+0	000.00	2013	2013
Switzerland	2	0	0	2	1	10	−9	000.00	2019	2019
Total	52	6	5	41	20	178	−158	011.54	2013	2020

Notable results

Wins

Gibraltar have won six full international matches.

4 June 2014[41] Friendly	Gibraltar	1–0	Malta	Faro/Loulé, Portugal (H)
	K. Casciaro  64'	Report		Stadium: Estádio Algarve Attendance: 500 Referee: João Capela (Portugal)

25 March 2018 Friendly	Gibraltar	1–0	Latvia	Gibraltar
16:00 CEST	Walker  88'	Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium Attendance: 1,306 Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (Malta)

13 October 2018 2018–19 Nations League D	Armenia	0–1	Gibraltar	Yerevan
18:00 CEST		Report	J. Chipolina  50' (pen.)	Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium Attendance: 11,000 Referee: Fedayi San (Switzerland)

16 October 2018 2018–19 Nations League D	Gibraltar	2–1	Liechtenstein	Gibraltar
20:45 CEST	Cabrera  61' J. Chipolina  66'	Report	Salanović  15'	Stadium: Victoria Stadium Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Vasilis Dimitriou (Cyprus)

5 September 2020 2020–21 Nations League D	Gibraltar	1–0	San Marino	Gibraltar
15:00 CEST	Torrilla  42'	Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Aleksandrs Anufrijevs (Latvia)

10 October 2020 2020–21 Nations League D	Liechtenstein	0–1	Gibraltar	Vaduz
18:00 CEST		Report	De Barr  10'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Kirill Levnikov (Russia)

Draws

Gibraltar have drawn five matches.

19 November 2013 Friendly	Gibraltar	0–0	Slovakia	Faro/Loulé, Portugal (H)
18:30 CET		Report		Stadium: Estádio Algarve Attendance: 350 Referee: Hugo Miguel (Portugal) Man of the Match: Danny Higginbotham

26 May 2014[42] Friendly	Estonia	1–1	Gibraltar	Tallinn, Estonia (A)
19:00 CEST	Klavan  31'	Report	Gosling  71'	Stadium: A. Le Coq Arena Attendance: 4,805 Referee: Clayton Pisani (Malta)

23 March 2016[43] Friendly	Gibraltar	0–0	Liechtenstein	Gibraltar (H)
19:00 CEST		Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium Attendance: 800 Referee: Ryan Stewart (Wales)

14 November 2020 2020–21 Nations League D	San Marino	0–0	Gibraltar	Serravalle, San Marino (A)
15:00 CET		Report		Stadium: San Marino Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine)

17 November 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League D	Gibraltar	1–1	Liechtenstein	Gibraltar
20:45	Frommelt  17' (o.g.)	Report	N. Frick  44'	Stadium: Victoria Stadium Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (Malta)

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2020

26 March 2020 Friendly	Malta	postponed	Gibraltar	Ta' Qali, Malta
19:00				Stadium: National Stadium

29 March 2020 Friendly	Gibraltar	cancelled	Liechtenstein	Ta' Qali, Malta
				Stadium: National Stadium

5 September 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League D	Gibraltar	1–0	San Marino	Gibraltar
15:00	Torrilla  42'	Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Aleksandrs Anufrijevs (Latvia)

7 October 2020 Friendly	Malta	2–0	Gibraltar	Ta' Qali, Malta
20:45	Nwoko  8' Caruana  90'	Report		Stadium: National Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Nikola Popov (Bulgaria)

10 October 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League D	Liechtenstein	0–1	Gibraltar	Vaduz, Liechtenstein
20:45		Report	De Barr  10'	Stadium: Rheinpark Stadion Referee: Kirill Levnikov (Russia)

11 November 2020 Friendly	Bulgaria	3–0	Gibraltar	Sofia, Bulgaria
19:30	Tsvetkov  6' Yomov  15' Iliev  45'	Report		Stadium: Vasil Levski National Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Sebastian Colţescu (Romania)

14 November 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League D	San Marino	0–0	Gibraltar	Serravalle, San Marino
20:45		Report		Stadium: San Marino Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine)

17 November 2020 2020–21 UEFA Nations League D	Gibraltar	1–1	Liechtenstein	Gibraltar
20:45	Frommelt  17' (o.g.)	Report	N. Frick  44'	Stadium: Victoria Stadium Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (Malta)

2021

24 March 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Gibraltar	v	Norway	Gibraltar
20:45		Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium

27 March 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Montenegro	v	Gibraltar	Podgorica, Montenegro
15:00		Report		Stadium: Podgorica City Stadium

30 March 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Gibraltar	v	Netherlands	Gibraltar
20:45		Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium

1 September 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Latvia	v	Gibraltar
20:45		Report

4 September 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Gibraltar	v	Turkey	Gibraltar
20:45		Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium

7 September 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Norway	v	Gibraltar
		Report

8 October 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Gibraltar	v	Montenegro	Gibraltar
20:45		Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium

11 October 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Netherlands	v	Gibraltar
20:45		Report

13 November 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Turkey	v	Gibraltar
		Report

16 November 2021 2022 World Cup qualifying	Gibraltar	v	Latvia	Gibraltar
20:45		Report		Stadium: Victoria Stadium

Gibraltar national football team all opponents from 2013

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad for the friendly game against  Bulgaria on 11 November 2020, and 2020–21 UEFA Nations League D games against  San Marino and  Liechtenstein on 14 and 17 November 2020.[44]
Caps and goals are correct as of 17 November 2020 after the game against  Liechtenstein .

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Kyle Goldwin	24 April 1985	17	0	Lincoln Red Imps
	GK	Jamie Robba	26 October 1991	8	0	St Joseph's
23	GK	Dayle Coleing	23 October 1996	7	0	Glentoran
13	GK	Bradley Banda	20 January 1998	0	0	Lynx
14	DF	Roy Chipolina (Captain)	20 January 1983	46	2	Lincoln Red Imps
4	DF	Jack Sergeant	27 February 1995	34	0	Lincoln Red Imps
12	DF	Jayce Olivero	2 July 1998	33	0	Europa
15	DF	Erin Barnett	2 September 1996	22	0	St Joseph's
6	DF	Scott Wiseman	9 October 1985	16	0	Lincoln Red Imps
5	DF	Louie Annesley	3 May 2000	15	0	Blackburn Rovers
16	DF	Aymen Mouelhi	14 September 1986	13	0	St Joseph's
2	DF	Ethan Jolley	29 March 1997	8	0	Europa
22	DF	Jay Bosio	27 March 1991	0	0	Lions Gibraltar
17	DF	Brad Power	29 October 1992	0	0	Lynx
	DF	Antony Moulds	4 February 1988	0	0	St Joseph's
10	MF	Liam Walker	13 April 1988	50	2	Europa
11	MF	Kyle Casciaro	2 December 1987	26	1	Lincoln Red Imps
18	MF	Alain Pons	16 September 1995	21	0	St Joseph's
8	MF	Mohamed Badr	25 November 1989	9	0	Europa
	MF	Graeme Torrilla	3 September 1997	5	1	Lincoln Red Imps
3	MF	Kian Ronan	9 March 2001	4	0	Lincoln Red Imps
7	MF	Jaron Vinet	12 December 1997	0	0	Bruno's Magpies
	FW	Lee Casciaro	29 September 1981	37	3	Lincoln Red Imps
19	FW	Tjay De Barr	13 March 2000	20	2	Lincoln Red Imps
20	FW	Adam Priestley	14 August 1990	18	1	Yorkshire Amateur
21	FW	Jamie Coombes	27 May 1996	18	0	Lincoln Red Imps
9	FW	Reece Styche	3 May 1989	12	1	Buxton

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the past twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Kenneth Chipolina	8 April 1994	1	0	St Joseph's	v.  Liechtenstein, 10 October 2020
DF	Jean-Carlos Garcia	5 July 1992	26	0	Bruno's Magpies	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020
DF	Ethan Britto	30 November 2000	9	0	Lincoln Red Imps	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020
DF	Jared Buhagiar	20 October 1992	0	0	Lions Gibraltar	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
DF	Ethan Santos	22 December 1998	0	0	Mons Calpe	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
MF	Anthony Hernandez	3 February 1995	24	1	Lincoln Red Imps	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020
MF	Andrew Hernandez	10 January 1999	10	0	St Joseph's	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
MF	Jeremy Lopez	9 July 1989	8	0	Bruno's Magpies	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
MF	Scott Ballantine	12 April 1996	0	0	Manchester 62	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
MF	Nick Castle	18 January 1994	0	0	Glacis United	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
MF	Shaun De Los Santos	26 January 1998	0	0	Manchester 62	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
MF	Julian Valarino	23 June 2000	0	0	Lincoln Red Imps	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
FW	Ayoub El Hmidi	30 September 2000	0	0	Mons Calpe	v.  Liechtenstein, 10 October 2020
FW	Kelvin Morgan	14 November 1997	0	0	Bruno's Magpies	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
FW	Dylan Peacock	24 August 2001	0	0	Lions Gibraltar	v.  San Marino, 5 September 2020 ^PRE
^INJ Withdrew from the squad due to an injury ^PRE Preliminary squad ^RET Retired from the national team ^WD Withdrew for other reasons

Players record

The Gibraltar national football team at the Victoria Stadium in March 2014

Liam Walker is the most capped player for Gibraltar.

The Gibraltarian top scorer Lee Casciaro

Most capped

As of 17 November 2020

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Liam Walker	2013–	50	2
2	Roy Chipolina	2013–	46	2
3	Joseph Chipolina	2013–	42	2
4	Lee Casciaro	2014–	37	3
5	Jack Sergeant	2013–	34	0
6	Jayce Olivero	2016–	33	0
7	Anthony Bardon	2014–2019	29	0
8	Kyle Casciaro	2013–	26	1
	Jean-Carlos Garcia	2014–	26	0
10	Anthony Hernandez	2014–	24	1
	Ryan Casciaro	2013–2018	24	0

Most goals

As of 17 November 2020

Players with an equal number of goals are ranked in order of average.

#	Name	Career	Goals	Caps	Average
1	Lee Casciaro	2014–	3	37	0.081
2	Jake Gosling	2014–2018	2	12	0.167
	Tjay De Barr	2018–	2	20	0.1
	Joseph Chipolina	2013–	2	42	0.048
	Roy Chipolina	2013–	2	46	0.043
	Liam Walker	2013–	2	50	0.04
7	Graeme Torrilla	2020–	1	5	0.2
	George Cabrera	2014–	1	8	0.125
	Reece Styche	2014–	1	12	0.083
	Adam Priestley	2013–	1	18	0.056
	Anthony Hernandez	2014–	1	24	0.042
	Kyle Casciaro	2013–	1	26	0.038

Captains

As of 17 November 2020

#	Player	Career	Captain Caps	Total Caps
1	Roy Chipolina	2013–	45	46
2	Joseph Chipolina	2013–	3	42
3	Liam Walker	2013–	1	50
	Lee Casciaro	2014–	1	37
	Jayce Olivero	2016–	1	33
	Ryan Casciaro	2013–2018	1	24

Goalkeepers

As of 17 November 2020

#	Player	Career	Games	Wins	GA	GAA
1	Kyle Goldwin	2018–	17	4	36	2.118
2	Jordan Perez	2013–2016	17	1	52	3.059
3	Jamie Robba	2014–	8	1	25	3.125
4	Deren Ibrahim	2016–2017	8	0	39	4.875
5	Dayle Coleing	2019–	7	1	14	2
6	Matt Cafer	2018–	2	0	4	2

• ^1 Players in bold are still actively competing and are available for selection

International goals

Gibraltar has scored very few goals in competitive internationals; the list below is comprehensive.

No.	Comp.^[a]	Date	Opponent	Scorer(s)	Final Score^[b]
1	ECQ	29 March 2015	Scotland	Lee Casciaro	1–6
2		7 September 2015	Poland	Jake Gosling	1–8
3	WCQ	6 September 2016	Greece	Liam Walker	1–4
4		13 November 2016	Cyprus	Lee Casciaro	1–3
5		9 June 2017	Cyprus	Anthony Hernandez	1–2
6	UNL	13 October 2018	Armenia	Joseph Chipolina	1–0
7		16 October 2018	Liechtenstein	George Cabrera	2–1
8				Joseph Chipolina
9		16 November 2018	Armenia	Tjay De Barr	2–6
10				Adam Priestley
11	ECQ	15 October 2019	Georgia	Lee Casciaro	2–3
12				Roy Chipolina
13		18 November 2019	Switzerland	Reece Styche	1–6
14	UNL	5 September 2020	San Marino	Graeme Torrilla	1–0
15		10 October 2020	Liechtenstein	Tjay De Barr	1–0
16		17 November 2020	Liechtenstein	Noah Frommelt (o.g)	1–1

^a ECQ = UEFA European Championship qualification match, WCQ = FIFA World Cup qualification match, UNL = UEFA Nations League.
^b The Gibraltar score is always listed first.

Gibraltar managers

Up to date as of 17 November 2020

Manager	Nation	Gibraltar career	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	Win %
Allen Bula		2013–2015	9	1	2	6	3	28	011.11
David Wilson (interim)		2015	3	0	0	3	1	17	000.00
Jeff Wood		2015–2018	17	0	1	16	4	79	000.00
Desi Curry (interim)		2018	1	1	0	0	1	0	100.00
Julio César Ribas		2018–	22	4	2	16	11	54	018.18

Personnel

Allen Bula, Gibraltar's head coach between 2010 and 2015

Current technical staff

As of 23 June 2019[45][46]

Position	Name
Head Coach	Julio César Ribas
Assistant Coach	Jose Carlos Gil Prieto
Goalkeeper Coach	Christian Wink
Technical Director	Desi Curry
Match Analyst	Jansen Moreno
Team Doctor	Dr Keith Gracia
Head Physiotherapist Fitness Coach	Iain Latin
Team Physiotherapist	Andrew Rodriguez
Team Osteopath	Paul Knight
Massage Therapist	Gareth Henwood

Stadium

Before being accepted into UEFA, the team played its home games at Victoria Stadium, the 5,000-seat national stadium of Gibraltar. There were plans to replace the stadium with a proposed 8,000-seat stadium at Europa Point, which was expected to be completed for UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.[47][48][49] Due to the lack of suitable facilities in Gibraltar, the team played its competitive home matches at Estádio Algarve about four hours away in Portugal, from 2013 until 2018. Former national team manager Allen Bula stated that the team would play at the stadium for "a few years" until the Europa Point Stadium was complete.[50] Although the Victoria Stadium could not be used for qualifying matches, UEFA allowed its use for friendlies when Gibraltar chose to do so.[51]

In December 2014 the GFA applied for an exemption from UEFA to allow for competitive matches to be held at the Victoria Stadium although it did not meet minimum requirements. The exemption was filed based upon UEFA regulations which allow for an exemption to be granted because of "hardship". At that time, UEFA said that all scheduled matches, such as those during Euro 2016 qualification, would take place in the already-determined locations but a determination would be made for future competitions.[52] In February 2016 the Gibraltar government announced that over the previous four years numerous improvements had been made to the Victoria Stadium including the installation of approved AstroTurf and lighting which surpassed the requirements for a Category 2 stadium but did not quite meet Category 3. These improvements allowed for UEFA Champions League and Europa League matches to be played at the stadium.[53]

In September 2015, after plans for Europa Point were abandoned, the GFA explored other sites including Lathbury Barracks, as UEFA were unwilling at the time to fund improvements to Victoria Stadium while it was government owned.[54] In February 2016 the Government of Gibraltar announced that it expected to be presented for plans at the Lathbury site very soon.[53] However, in 2017 a deal was agreed for the Gibraltar FA to purchase Victoria Stadium with UEFA funding, and re-develop the stadium to meet UEFA standards.[55] The stadium was subsequently approved to host UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying games in March 2020

• 
  Victoria Stadium
• 
  Main stand
• 
  Estádio Algarve
• 
  Europa Point, site of proposed Europa Point Stadium
• 
  View of Lathbury Barracks

See also

• Football in Gibraltar
• List of football clubs in Gibraltar

Footnotes

1. Development team from 2015 edition onward

References

1. "Team 54". Gibraltar Football Association. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
2. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
3. "Gibraltar Voted Into FIFA". FIFA.com. FIFA. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
4. Montague, James (22 May 2013). "Gibraltar Moves Closer to Soccer Independence". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
5. "Gibraltar given full Uefa membership at London Congress". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
6. Stokkermans, Karel. "Gibraltar – List of International Matches". rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 29 June 2007.
7. Brown, Colin. "NatWest Island Games XII – Rhodes 2007". International Island Games Association. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
8. Owen, Graham. "Football in Gibraltar-". laliganews.tv. La Liga News. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
9. Kenny, Stuart. "From army games to a draw with Real Madrid: A history of Gibraltar football". sports.stv.tv. STV. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
10. "Football: Gibraltar to send youth to Jersey 2015". Jersey Evening Post. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
11. "FIFI Wild Cup 2006". rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
12. "Four Nations Semi-professional Tournament". rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
13. "International news: Gibraltar confirm new stadium plans". Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
14. "Gibraltar to appeal FIFA decision over member application". pulse.ng. Pulse NG. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
15. "CAS hears Gibraltar's appeal to join FIFA". Washington Times. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
16. Montague, James. "Ruling Moves Gibraltar Closer to FIFA Membership". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
17. "FIFA Statement on CAS decision concerning Gibraltar". FIFA.com. FIFA. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
18. "Gibraltar, Kosovo granted FIFA membership ahead of 2018 World Cup qualifying". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
19. Doyle, Paul. "Gibraltar set to be new kids on the Rock as Uefa votes on its future". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
20. "Background". Gibraltar Football Association. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
21. "Congress decisions bring Gibraltar on board". UEFA.com (Press release). UEFA. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
22. Lafuente, Javier (24 May 2013). "Gibraltar mete un gol a España". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 November 2013.
23. Culatto, John (14 November 2013). "GFA change squad rules for Slovakia friendly". panorama.gi. Panorama Daily Gibraltar. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
24. "Stoke City: Danny Higginbotham confirms Gibraltar approach". The Sentinel. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
25. "Danny Higginbotham: Gibraltar call-up was too good to refuse". The Sentinel. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
26. "Danny Higginbotham agrees to play for Gibraltar". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
27. "Danny Higginbotham agrees to play for Gibraltar at international level". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
28. Doyle, Garry (11 October 2014). "We can reach play-offs, insists Gibraltar manager". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 September 2015. Higginbotham, who is Bula's nephew, is one of several English-born players who have been drafted in, much to the chagrin of some Gibraltarians, who have heaped abuse on the manager for doing so.
29. Fitzmaurice, Aidan (3 September 2015). "'Green army not a worry for us', says Gibraltar boss Jeff Wood". The Herald. Retrieved 7 September 2015. Gibraltar, bottom of Group D, have changed their approach of late: they're not so keen to recruit eligible players via the 'granny rule' but instead are intent on bring through home grown talent.
30. "Slovakia 0 Gibraltar 0". BBC Sport. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
31. Fifield, Nicola (23 February 2014). "Gibraltar moves group in Euro 2016 qualifiers draw over political tensions". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
32. "Gibraltar claim first win with 1–0 victory over Malta". BBC Sport. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
33. Lowe, Sid (2 September 2014). "Gibraltar head to Portugal to play Poland in first competitive match". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
34. "Scotland 6 – 1 Gibraltar". BBC Sport. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
35. "Wood takes permanent Gibraltar role". UEFA.com. UEFA.
36. "Germany 7 – 0 Gibraltar". BBC Sport. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
37. Hafez, Shamoon (4 September 2015). "Gibraltar 0 – 4 R. of Ireland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
38. Kozminski, Piotr. "Lethal Poland too strong for Gibraltar". UEFA.com. UEFA. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
39. "Scotland ease past Gibraltar to end on a high". UEFA.com. UEFA. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
40. "Steven Fletcher bags hat-trick as Scotland rout Gibraltar". asia.eurosport.com. Eurosport. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
41. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/27710670
42. "Head to head: Gibraltar vs. Estonia". Soccerbase.com. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
43. "Gibraltar 0-0 Liechtenstein". Gibraltar Football Association. 23 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
44. "Gibraltar Squad Announcement". Gibraltar Football Association. 7 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
45. "Official Teamsheet". GibFootballTalk. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
46. Franco, Liam. "Football: E – Day has dawned for Gibraltar in UEFA". Gibraltar Chronicle. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
47. "Our new national stadium". team54.gi. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
48. "'NO POLITICS, JUST FOOTBALL' – BEISO". Gibraltar Chronicle. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
49. Doyle, Paul (23 May 2013). "Gibraltar set to be new kids on the Rock as Uefa votes on its future". London: Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
50. "Algarve – temporary home for Gibraltar's international football matches". GBC News. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
51. Bailey, Graeme. "Slovakia to be Gibraltar's first opponents". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
52. Bolton, Ash. "Gibraltar's Victoria Stadium could host international football matches". Surin English. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
53. "Victoria Stadium Belongs to the Whole Community" (PDF). Government of Gibraltar. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
54. "New GFA stadium – Lathbury Barracks could replace Europa Point". GBC. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
55. AFP (21 March 2016). "Gibraltar to host international matches on home soil by 2018". Daily Times. Retrieved 19 April 2017.

External links

• Official site of the Gibraltar Football Association
• FIFA profile
• UEFA Profile
• Island Games results
• FIFI World Cup results
• All-time results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
• Gibraltarian Squads and Players
• Unofficial website about Gibraltarian football, futsal and national team