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Cyprus national football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Cyprus women's national football team.
Cyprus
Shirt badge/Association crest
AssociationCyprus Football Association (CFA)
Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου
Kıbrıs Futbol Federasyonu
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachAkis Mantzios
CaptainKostakis Artymatas
Most capsIoannis Okkas (103)
Top scorerMichalis Konstantinou (32)
Home stadiumAEK Arena
FIFA codeCYP
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 128 Decrease 3 (19 November 2025)[1]
Highest43 (September 2010)
Lowest142 (June 2014)
First international
Unofficial:
 Israel 3–1 Cyprus 
(Tel Aviv, Israel; 30 July 1949)
Official:
 Cyprus 1–1 Israel 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 13 November 1960)
Biggest win
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Limassol, Cyprus; 15 November 2000)
 Cyprus 5–0 Andorra 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 16 November 2014)
 Cyprus 5–0 San Marino 
(Nicosia, Cyprus; 21 March 2019)
Biggest defeat
 West Germany 12–0 Cyprus 
(Essen, West Germany; 21 May 1969)

The Cyprus national football team (Greek: Εθνική ομάδα ποδοσφαίρου της Κύπρου, romanized: Ethnikí omáda podosfaírou tis Kýprou, represents Cyprus in men's international football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. The team's home ground is the AEK Arena in Larnaca.

History

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Early history

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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 by 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 over 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 Old GSP Stadium 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 defending World Cup champions Italy to a 1–1 draw in Tsirio Stadium in Limassol, 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 had improved considerably in the following years; 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 UEFA Euro 2000 despite 3–2 victories against both Spain and Israel and a 4–0 win over San Marino.

2000s

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Cyprus national team against Bulgaria in 2012.

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 GSP Stadium in Nicosia, with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambidis each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis finishing off the match. Just one month later, on 15 November 2006, they caused another surprise by holding the previous World Cup's hosts 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.

2010s

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On 3 September 2010, as part of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Cyprus claimed a historic 4–4 draw against Portugal in Guimarães.

During the Euro 2016 qualification phase, managed by Pambos Christodoulou, Cyprus claimed one of their most historic victories by defeating 2014 World Cup participant Bosnia 2–1 in Zenica. In the last group match, the team faced Bosnia, needing a victory to finish 3rd and rely on Belgium to beat Israel in Brussels. As fate would have it, the Bosnians won the reverse leg 3–2 and qualified to the play-offs at the expense of the home team, who at one point took a 2–1 lead during the first half and for a number of minutes held onto 3rd place and a berth in the play-offs for the first time in history, as Belgium, a soon to be world number 1 side, were comfortably beating Israel at home.[3]

Cyprus would finish behind Estonia and ahead of Gibraltar to place 5th of 6 teams in Group H in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[4] Their qualification run would include an impressive 3–2 home victory over Bosnia.[5]

2020s

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In the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Cyprus beat San Marino 5–0 but lost to Belgium and Scotland. Despite a 2–1 away win against Kazakhstan, they lost their last three games and finished 4th out of 6 teams in the group, just ahead of Kazakhstan and San Marino.

The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League ended a big disappointment for Cyprus. They lost their first three games against Montenegro, Azerbaijan, and Luxembourg, before drawing 0–0 with Azerbaijan in the fourth game. Even though they beat Luxembourg 2–1 at home, they were crushed 4–0 by Montenegro in the last game and finished last in their group. This meant that they had to face Estonia in the relegation play-offs, whom they defeated 2–0 on aggregate, with goals from Marinos Tzionis and Pieros Sotiriou. Results hardly improved in the next edition of the competition, as Cyprus finished last in their group with Greece, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland, earning five points (through a win against Greece and two draws against Northern Ireland).

Cyprus lost all eight of their games in the 2024 Euro qualifiers, finishing last in their group and marking their worst ever Euro qualification campaign in terms of points per game and goal difference.

Kit

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On 7 October 2006, Diadora unveiled Cyprus' new kit. 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 controversial kit was used for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying phase. Adidas then made Cyprus' kits for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification phases. In 2018, Macron replaced Adidas as part of UEFA's Kit Assistance Scheme.

Kit provider Period
Italy Lotto –2000
Italy Errea 2000–2002
England Umbro 2002–2006
Italy Diadora 2006–2008
Germany Adidas 2008–2018
Italy Macron 2018–2022
Italy Errea 2022–present

Home stadium

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Since late 2021, Cyprus have played most of their home matches at the Georgios Karapatakis AEK Arena in Larnaca.

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 the 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 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification phase to be played at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca. However, Cyprus returned to the GSP Stadium for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying phase, but have only played there once since September 2021. They also occasionally play at Alphamega Stadium in Limassol.

Results and fixtures

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Main article: Cyprus national football team results (2020–present)

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

2024

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18 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League Romania  4–1  Cyprus Bucharest, Romania
21:45
Report
Stadium: Arena Națională
Attendance: 45,318
Referee: Luca Pairetto (Italy)

2025

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21 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Cyprus  2–0  San Marino Larnaca, Cyprus
19:00 EET
Report Stadium: AEK Arena
Attendance: 2,336
Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)
24 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Bosnia and Herzegovina  2–1  Cyprus Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
20:45
Report
Stadium: Stadion Bilino Polje
Attendance: 7,464
Referee: Rohit Saggi (Norway)
6 June 2025 Friendly Bulgaria  2–2  Cyprus Plovdiv, Bulgaria
19:00
Report
Stadium: Hristo Botev Stadium
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Igor Stojchevski (North Macedonia)
10 June 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Romania  2–0  Cyprus Bucharest, Romania
21:45
Report Stadium: National Arena
Attendance: 43,524
Referee: Donatas Rumšas (Lithuania)
6 September 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Austria  1–0  Cyprus Linz, Austria
20:45
Report Stadium: Raiffeisen Arena
Attendance: 16,300
Referee: Jakob Kehlet (Denmark)
9 September 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Cyprus  2–2  Romania Nicosia, Cyprus
21:45
Report
Stadium: GSP Stadium
Attendance: 4,875
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
9 October 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Cyprus  2–2  Bosnia and Herzegovina Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45
Report
Stadium: AEK Arena
Attendance: 2,355
Referee: Lawrence Visser (Belgium)
12 October 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification San Marino  0–4  Cyprus Serravalle, San Marino
15:00 Report
Stadium: San Marino Stadium
Attendance: 598
Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (Azerbaijan)
15 November 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Cyprus  0–2  Austria Limassol, Cyprus
19:00 Report
Stadium: Alphamega Stadium
Attendance: 6,012
Referee: Urs Schnyder (Switzerland)
18 November 2025 Friendly Cyprus  2–4  Estonia Limassol, Cyprus
21:45 (UTC+3)
Report
Stadium: Alphamega Stadium
Referee: Orel Grinfeld (Israel)

Coaching staff

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Manager Greece Akis Mantzios
Assistant Manager Greece Pavlos Sokratidis
Assistant Manager Cyprus Panayiotis Engomitis
Goalkeeping Coach Cyprus Nicos Constantinidis
Physical Trainer Cyprus Panicos Sakki
Physical Trainer Cyprus Ioakim Ioakim
Match Analyst Cyprus Giorgos Christodoulou

Coaching history

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As of 7 Oct 2024.[6][7]

Players

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Current squad

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The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Austria on 15 November and a friendly against Estonia on November 18.[8]

Caps and goals updated as of 15 November 2025, after the match against Austria.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Joël Mall (1991-04-05) 5 April 1991 (age 34) 19 0 Swiss Football Association Servette
12 1GK Fabiano (1988-02-29) 29 February 1988 (age 37) 3 0 Cyprus Football Association Omonia
22 1GK Neofytos Michail (1993-12-16) 16 December 1993 (age 31) 16 0 Cyprus Football Association Pafos
2 2DF Andreas Shikkis (2002-01-13) 13 January 2002 (age 23) 6 0 Cyprus Football Association Apollon Limassol
3 2DF Nikolas Panagiotou (2000-05-12) 12 May 2000 (age 25) 18 0 Cyprus Football Association Omonia
7 2DF Anderson Correia (1991-05-06) 6 May 1991 (age 34) 19 0 Cyprus Football Association Aris Limassol
15 2DF Christos Sielis (2000-02-02) 2 February 2000 (age 25) 12 0 Hellenic Football Federation Panetolikos
16 2DF Stelios Andreou (2002-07-24) 24 July 2002 (age 23) 27 1 Polish Football Association Widzew Łódź
18 2DF Petros Ioannou (1999-01-20) 20 January 1999 (age 26) 0 0 Cyprus Football Association AEK Larnaca
2DF Konstantinos Laifis (1993-05-19) 19 May 1993 (age 32) 70 5 Cyprus Football Association APOEL
2DF Kostas Pileas (1998-12-11) 11 December 1998 (age 26) 14 1 Cyprus Football Association Pafos
4 3MF Hector Kyprianou (2001-05-27) 27 May 2001 (age 24) 11 0 The Football Association Watford
5 3MF Charalampos Charalampous (2002-04-04) 4 April 2002 (age 23) 27 2 Cyprus Football Association Aris Limassol
6 3MF Giannis Satsias (2002-12-28) 28 December 2002 (age 22) 9 1 Cyprus Football Association APOEL
8 3MF Ioannis Kousoulos (1996-06-14) 14 June 1996 (age 29) 48 4 Cyprus Football Association Omonia
13 3MF Ioannis Kosti (2000-03-17) 17 March 2000 (age 25) 16 0 Hellenic Football Federation Levadiakos
19 3MF Antonio Foti (2003-11-03) 3 November 2003 (age 22) 2 0 German Football Association Borussia Dortmund II
20 3MF Grigoris Kastanos (1998-01-30) 30 January 1998 (age 27) 76 8 Italian Football Federation Hellas Verona
23 3MF Charalampos Kyriakou (1995-02-20) 20 February 1995 (age 30) 73 0 Romanian Football Federation Dinamo București
3MF Kostakis Artymatas (1993-04-15) 15 April 1993 (age 32) 80 1 Cyprus Football Association Anorthosis Famagusta
9 4FW Nikolas Koutsakos (2003-11-14) 14 November 2003 (age 22) 6 1 Cyprus Football Association APOEL
10 4FW Pieros Sotiriou (1993-01-13) 13 January 1993 (age 32) 67 12 Cyprus Football Association APOEL
11 4FW Andronikos Kakoullis (2001-05-03) 3 May 2001 (age 24) 33 6 Cyprus Football Association Aris Limassol
14 4FW Evangelos Andreou (2002-09-24) 24 September 2002 (age 23) 1 0 Cyprus Football Association Omonia
17 4FW Loizos Loizou (2003-07-18) 18 July 2003 (age 22) 45 3 Israel Football Association Hapoel Tel Aviv
21 4FW Marinos Tzionis (2001-07-16) 16 July 2001 (age 24) 40 3 Romanian Football Federation UTA Arad
4FW Ioannis Pittas (1996-07-10) 10 July 1996 (age 29) 53 11 Bulgarian Football Union CSKA Sofia

Recent call-ups

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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 Demetris Demetriou (1999-01-15) 15 January 1999 (age 26) 12 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol v.  Romania, 10 June 2025
DF Giorgos Malekkidis (1997-07-14) 14 July 1997 (age 28) 8 0 Cyprus Apollon Limassol v. Romania, 9 September 2025
DF Evagoras Antoniou (2002-11-04) 4 November 2002 (age 23) 0 0 Cyprus APOEL v.  Romania, 10 June 2025
MF Rafail Mamas (2001-03-04) 4 March 2001 (age 24) 2 0 Cyprus AEL Limassol v.  Romania, 10 June 2025
FW Marios Ilia (1996-05-19) 19 May 1996 (age 29) 16 1 Cyprus Pafos v.  Romania, 10 June 2025
FW Stavros Gavriel (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 (age 23) 4 0 Belgium Zulte Waregem v.  Romania, 10 June 2025
FW Ruel Sotiriou (2000-08-24) 24 August 2000 (age 25) 1 0 England Bristol Rovers v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 24 March 2025
  • INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
  • PRE Preliminary squad.
  • RET Retired from international football.
  • SUS Suspended

Player records

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As of 15 October 2025[9]
Players in bold are still active with Cyprus.

Most appearances

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Ioannis Okkas is Cyprus' most capped player with 103 appearances.
Rank Name Caps Goals Career
1 Ioannis Okkas 103 27 1997–2011
2 Constantinos Charalambidis 93 12 2003–2017
3 Michalis Konstantinou 84 32 1997–2012
4 Pambos Pittas 82 7 1987–1999
5 Kostakis Artymatas 80 1 2012-present
6 Constantinos Makrides 77 5 2004–2016
7 Grigoris Kastanos 76 7 2015-present
8 Nicos Panayiotou 74 0 1994–2006
9 Charalampos Kyriakou 73 0 2014-present
10 Demetris Christofi 72 9 2008–2023

Top goalscorers

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Rank Name Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Michalis Konstantinou 32 86 0.37 1997–2012
2 Ioannis Okkas 27 103 0.26 1997–2011
3 Pieros Sotiriou 12 67 0.18 2012–present
Constantinos Charalambidis 12 93 0.13 2003–2017
5 Ioannis Pittas 11 53 0.21 2019–present
Efstathios Aloneftis 10 62 0.11 2005–2017
7 Marios Agathokleous 9 38 0.24 1994–2003
Demetris Christofi 9 72 0.13 2008–2023
9 Fivos Vrahimis 8 18 0.44 1977–1982
Milenko Špoljarić 8 21 0.38 1997–2001
Siniša Gogić 8 37 0.22 1994–1999
Andreas Sotiriou 8 39 0.21 1991–1999
Grigoris Kastanos 8 76 0.11 2015–present

Competitive record

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All-time record

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As of 18 November 2025
Competition Played Won Draw Lost GF GA
FIFA World Cup qualification 132 18 17 97 102 331
European Championship qualification 122 19 15 88 101 316
Friendly matches 139 38 35 66 151 212
UEFA Nations League 26 6 6 14 17 46
Total 420 81 73 265 372 905

FIFA World Cup

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FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950 Did not enter Did not enter
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958 Withdrew Withdrew
Chile 1962 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 2 7
England 1966 4 0 0 4 0 19
Mexico 1970 6 0 0 6 2 35
West Germany 1974 6 1 0 5 1 14
Argentina 1978 6 0 0 6 3 24
Spain 1982 8 0 0 8 4 29
Mexico 1986 6 0 0 6 3 18
Italy 1990 8 0 1 7 6 20
United States 1994 10 2 1 7 8 18
France 1998 8 3 1 4 10 15
South Korea Japan 2002 10 2 2 6 13 31
Germany 2006 10 1 1 8 8 20
South Africa 2010 10 2 3 5 14 16
Brazil 2014 10 1 2 7 4 15
Russia 2018 10 3 1 6 9 18
Qatar 2022 10 1 2 7 4 21
Canada Mexico United States 2026 8 2 2 4 11 11
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030 To be determined To be determined
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total 0/19 132 18 17 97 102 331

UEFA European Championship

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UEFA European Championship record Qualifying record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
France 1960 Not a UEFA member Not a UEFA member
Spain 1964 Did not enter Did not enter
Italy 1968 Did not qualify 6 1 0 5 3 25
Belgium 1972 6 0 0 6 2 26
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 6 0 0 6 0 16
Italy 1980 6 0 1 5 2 19
France 1984 8 0 2 6 4 21
West Germany 1988 8 0 1 7 3 16
Sweden 1992 8 0 0 8 2 25
England 1996 10 1 4 5 6 20
Belgium Netherlands 2000 8 4 0 4 12 21
Portugal 2004 8 2 2 4 9 18
Austria Switzerland 2008 12 4 2 6 17 24
Poland Ukraine 2012 8 0 2 6 7 20
France 2016 10 4 0 6 16 17
Europe 2020 10 3 1 6 15 20
Germany 2024 8 0 0 8 3 28
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 2028 To be determined To be determined
Italy Turkey 2032
Total 0/16 122 19 15 88 101 316

UEFA Nations League

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UEFA Nations League record
Season Division Group Pld W D L GF GA P/R Rank
2018–19 C 3 6 1 2 3 5 9 Same position 36th
2020–21 C 1 8 2 2 4 4 10 Same position 46th
2022–23 C 2 6 1 2 3 4 12 Same position 45th
2024–25 C 2 6 2 0 4 4 15 Same position 43rd
Total 26 6 6 14 17 46 36th

Head-to-head record

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As of 18 November 2025.

  Positive record   Neutral record   Negative record

Honours

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Friendly

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References

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Notes
Citation
  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 November 2025. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  3. ^ uefa.com (13 October 2015). "Bosnia and Herzegovina in play-offs, Cyprus out". Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  4. ^ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – Qualifiers – Europe". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015.
  5. ^ "Cyprus vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina – Football Match Summary – August 31, 2017 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  6. ^ "Cyprus Football Association – Εθνική Ανδρών: Προπονητές". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  7. ^ "Cyprus National Team Coaches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  8. ^ "CΑρχίζει προετοιμασία η Εθνική Ανδρών, κλήση για Πέτρο Ιωάννου". Cyprus Football Association. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
  9. ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Cyprus – Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
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