The Latvian national football team will end the 2022 World Cup qualifying cycle today, meeting with Gibraltar in the last match. The match at Victoria Stadium will start at 9:45 pm and will be broadcast live on TV6.
In the last game, the Latvian national team was strong with Norway, the game ended without a goal with a score of 0: 0. Gibraltar, on the other hand, failed in the last game, conceding 0: 6 to the Turkish national team.
In the final games of the 2022 World Cup qualifying cycle, Latvia must do without goalkeeper Pavel Steinbor. Also, Krister Tobera, the midfielder who has been treating long-term injuries, is not among the invited players, as well as Jānis Ikaunieks, who has only recently returned to the pitch in the club ranks, has not been called up. Due to an injury, midfielder Daniels Ontužāns was removed from the initial list of candidates, and Renārs Varslavāns took his place.
In the first team meeting, which took place on September 1 at the Daugava Stadium, Latvia won 3: 1.. Vladislavs Gutkovskis scored two goals for the Latvian national team, but Andrejs Cigaņiks stood out once again. The only goal in the Gibraltar national team was scored by Taje Debar.
Both teams also played two test games. In 2016, Latvians won with 5: 0, but two years later they failed with 0: 1. Less than two weeks after the loss, Aleksandrs Starkovs lost the position of the head coach of the Latvian national team.
In Group G, the Netherlands is in first place after nine matches, with 20 points. Turkey is in second place with 18 points, while Norway is in third place with the same number of points. Montenegro is in the fourth place with 12 points, Latvia is in the fifth place with six points, but Gibraltar is in the last place in the group without points.
Latvia ranks 136th in the FIFA rankings, while Gibraltar ranks 198nd.
The composition of the Latvian national football team for the November 2022 World Cup qualifiers:
goalkeepers – Roberts Ozols (“Riga”), Rihards Matrevics (“Valmiera”), Krišjānis Zviedris (“Liepāja”);-
protectors – Anthony Chernomordy, Vladislav Fyodorov (both – Riga), Marcis Osh (Stade Lausanne Ouchy, Switzerland), Kaspars Dubra (Oleksandrija, Ukraine), Igor Tarasov (Ahnas Ethnikos, Cyprus), Elvis Stuglis , Roberts Savavnieks, Vladislav Sorokins (all – RFS), Raivis Andris Jurkovskis (Dundalk, Ireland);
midfielders – Artūrs Zjuzins, Renārs Varslavāns (both – RFS), Andrejs Cigaņiks (Dunajska Stredas “DAC 1904”, Slovakia), Eduards Emsis (Yerevan “Noah”, Armenia), Alvis Jaunzems (“Valmiera”), Krišs Kārkliņš, Mārtiņš (both – “Liepāja”), Vladimirs Kamešs, Aleksejs Savļjevs (both – “Riga”);
attackers – Vladislav Gutkowski (Czestochowa’s Rakow, Poland), Robert Uldrik (Cambuur, Leivarden, The Netherlands), Raimonds Krollis (Valmiera).
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