Football in Luxembourg
CountryLuxembourg
Governing bodyLuxembourg Football Federation
National team(s)Men, U21, U19, U17
Women
National competitions
Luxembourg Cup
Coupe FLF
Club competitions
International competitions

Football in Luxembourg is governed by the Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF), which is a member of FIFA and UEFA.[1] The FLF organises the men's, women's and futsal national teams, in addition to the main domestic competitions, the National Division and the Luxembourg Cup.

Despite football being so popular, Luxembourg has rarely had a club pass the second round of qualifying for the Champions League. However, in the 2018-19 Europa League, F91 Dudelange became the first team from Luxembourg to qualify to the group stage of a major European Competition when they beat CFR Cluj of Romania in the Play-Offs 5-2 on aggregate.

The first match of the national team was played on 29 October 1911 (defeat 1–4 against France [2]), while the first women's game was a 0–4 defeat to Slovakia on 18 November 2006.[3]

History

The oldest football club in Luxembourg is Fola Esch, founded as the "Football and Lawntennis Club" on 9 December 1906 by English language teacher Jean Roeder.[4] Being the oldest club in the country, they are also part of the Club of Pioneers, a group set up by Sheffield FC to join together the oldest clubs in each country.

It wasn't until 1908 that enough clubs had been created to form the Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF).[5] The following year, in 1909, the FLF organised the first National Division league, which would be won by Racing Club Luxembourg.[6] Racing were also the first team to win the inaugural Luxembourg Cup 12 years later.[7] The women's league started in the 1971–73 season and was won by the Atert Bissen women's team.[8] A women's cup competition started in 2001–02, where the Progrès Niederkorn women's team won the trophy.[9]

Luxembourg, as a nation, was affiliated with FIFA in 1910, and then with UEFA in 1954. The first match of the national team was a 1–4 defeat at home to France on 29 October 1910.[10] It was only in 2006 that the national women's team played their first game, a 0–4 defeat to Slovakia at home in the 2009 UEFA Euro Qualifying stage.[11] The country hosted their first, and so far only, national tournament in 2006 when they hosted the Euro Under-17 Euro tournament,[12] where they failed to progress beyond the group stage. Until 2017, Luxembourg were consistently ranked outside the top 100 teams by FIFA,[13] but after some good results, namely in the UEFA Nations League, they are now ranked 84th.

The national stadium, the Stade de Luxembourg was opened in September 2021, replacing the outdated Stade Josy Barthel, first inaugurated in 1931, as the home of the country's national team.[14]

Since the turn of the century, the domestic league has been dominated by F91 Dudelange, having won 14 league titles as well as 7 Luxembourg Cup titles. This is still some way behind the most successful team in the country, Jeunesse Esch, with 28 league titles, however Dudelange was only founded as recently as 1991. They added to this success by becoming the first Luxembourgish team to qualify for the group stage of the Europa League in 2018–19, after dropping out of the Champions League Qualification Stage.[15]

Rankings

FIFA Ranking

FIFA World Rankings as of 21 December 2023.[16]
Rank Change Team Points
81Steady  Bulgaria1289.9
82Steady  Gabon1289.52
83Steady  Luxembourg1285.41
84Steady  Zambia1284.56
85Steady  Bolivia1284.55

UEFA Coefficient

UEFA Coefficient Rankings as of 23 October 2018.[17]
Rank Change Team Points
41Increase 2  Lithuania6.75
42Decrease 2  Latvia5.625
43Increase 5  Luxembourg5.25
44Increase 2  Armenia5.25
45Increase 2  Malta5.125

League system

LevelLeaguePromotion/Relegation
1 National Division
14 clubs		Relegated 2–3 clubs
2 Division of Honour
14 clubs		PromotedRelegated 2–4 clubs
3 1. Division Serie 1
14 clubs		 1. Division Serie 2
14 clubs		PromotedRelegated 4–6 clubs
4 2. Division Serie 1
14 clubs		 2. Division Serie 2
14 clubs		PromotedRelegated 3–6 clubs
5 3. Division Serie 2
10 clubs		Promoted 3–6 clubs

Source: [18][19]

Seasons in Luxembourg Football

The National Division started with the 1909–10 season, which was won by Racing Club Luxembourg. The Luxembourg Cup was started twelve seasons later, with the 1921–22 edition being won by Racing Club Luxembourg. During the 1912–13 and 1940–41 to 1943–44 there were no competitive competitions held in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg Clubs in European Competitions

Luxembourg football clubs have participated in European football competitions since Spora Luxembourg first took part in the 1956–57 European Cup. In total, 23 different clubs have since represented Luxembourg in European competition. Of these, 14 are still in existence while the remaining 9 were merged into a new or existing team.

In the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, F91 Dudelange became the first Luxembourgish club to compete in the group stage of a modern European competition.

National team

The national team has had limited international success and has never qualified for a European Championship or World Cup. [20][21] According to the FIFA World Ranking, the national team is currently ranked 98th (June 2020).[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Luxembourg's emphatic rise has created an unforeseen problem". www.irishtimes.com.
  2. ↑ "Live Scores - Luxembourg - Matches". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  3. ↑ "Live Scores - Luxembourg - Women's - Matches". FIFA. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "CS Fola Esch - Historique" [CS Fola Esch - History] (in French). CS Fola Esch. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "Luxembourg - Association Information". FIFA. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  6. ↑ Schöggl, Hans. "Luxembourg 1909/10". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  7. ↑ Stokkermans, Karel. "Luxembourg - List of Cup Finals". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  8. ↑ Garin, Erik. "Luxembourg - List of Women Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  9. ↑ Schöggl, Hans. "Luxembourg - List of Women Cup Winners". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "Live Scores - Luxembourg - Matches". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Live Scores - Luxembourg - Women's - Matches". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  12. ↑ "Under-17 - Russian determination wins out". UEFA.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  13. ↑ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  14. ↑ Jacquemot, Patrick (16 August 2021). "Le Stade de Luxembourg va sonner creux". Luxemburger Wort - Edition francophone (in French).
  15. ↑ Colin, Jean-François. "Revue de presse: entre extase et incrédulité" [Press review: between ecstasy and disbelief] (in French). Wort.lu. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  16. ↑ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "Member Associations-UEFA Coefficients". UEFA. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  18. ↑ "Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football". FLF. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  19. ↑ "National Division". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  20. ↑ Ames, Nick (10 September 2018). "Luxembourg thrive among their peers and can dream of Euro 2020 place - Nick Ames". the Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  21. ↑ "When Saturday Comes - Life of Luxe". Wsc.co.uk. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  22. ↑ FIFA.com. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - Associations - Luxembourg - Men's - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.