There were more in this period only in the past and in 2020
17 October Ukrainian national team will meet with the national Malta team in the match of the seventh round of the group stage of Euro 2024 qualification. Maltese lost all six previous qualifying matches, scoring one goal in them. However, 2023 has already become one of the most successful years for the dwarf country’s team in recent times.
This year Malta won two of the eight matches played. And this is the second best result in the last 10 years. More successful in this period were 2022, in which Malta won five matches out of 10, setting its own record, and 2020 – won four matches out of eight.
2020 has become a unique year for the Malta national team. Then, for the first time since 2012, the Maltese won more victories than defeats, having played more than five matches. Moreover, in eight matches in 2020, the Maltese lost only once, with three draws. Two matches were friendly (victories over Liechtenstein and Gibraltar), six were within the League of Nations. In this tournament, Malta beat Andorra and Latvia, lost to the Faroe Islands, and also tied for world championships with the same Faroe Islands, Andora and Latvia. By the way, at the end of the year, Malta rose eight positions in the FIFA rankings, moving to 176th place.
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The Maltese made a similar leap in the world rankings last year, jumping from 175th place to 167th. A year ago, Malta beat Kuwait, Israel, Azerbaijan in friendly matches, and twice against San Marino in Nations League matches. In test matches a year ago, Malta lost to Venezuela and Ireland, having defended a draw in the game with Greece. There were two defeats to Estonia in the Nations League.
This season, Malta, in addition to losing six Euro 2024 qualifying matches (twice each to Italy and North Macedonia, once each to England and Ukraine), won two control matches – against Gibraltar and Luxembourg. Both with the same score – 1:0.
Malta approaches the match against Ukraine occupying 171st place in the FIFA rankings, while the blue-and-yellows are in 24th position. By the way, the Maltese had their highest place in 1994 and 1995 – 66th. By the way, in 1995, Malta was last ahead of Ukraine, which was just beginning its independent path in world football, in the FIFA rankings. The blue-yellows were in 67th position at the time.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
