Malta women's national football team
The Malta women's national football team represents the Malta Football Association in international women's football matches sanctioned by UEFA.[2] As of June 2017, Malta ranks 94th in the FIFA Women's World Rankings.[3]
Association | Malta Football Association | ||
---|---|---|---|
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
Head coach | Mark Gatt | ||
Captain | Dorianne Theuma | ||
Most caps | Dorianne Theuma (64) | ||
Top scorer | Dorianne Theuma (21) | ||
Home stadium | Centenary Stadium | ||
FIFA code | MLT | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 103 | ||
Highest | 74 (August 2003) | ||
Lowest | 113 (December 2006) | ||
First international | |||
(Bucharest, August 10, 2003) | |||
Biggest win | |||
(Ta'Qali, April 6, 2013) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
(Ta'Qali, September 9, 2009) |
History
The team first appeared in official competitions in the 2005 European Championship's qualifying, debuting on August 10, 2003 in Bucharest with a 3–0 loss to Romania. Malta lost all eight games, with a 1–35 goal average. The team's first goal was scored by Sarah Caruana on November 16, 2003, against Croatia.[4]
After 13 losses, Malta achieved its first tie on June 7, 2006 against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last match of the 2007 World Cup's qualifying. The team played for the first time against elite national teams in the 2011 World Cup's qualifying, losing all games including a record 0–13 defeat to Spain. On March 3, 2011 Malta won an official match for the first time in the 2013 European Championship qualifying's preliminary round, beating Georgia 1–0 with a goal by D'Agostino in injury time.
On April 6, 2013 Malta attained its first crushing win by beating Luxembourg 6–0 in the 2015 World Cup qualifying's preliminary round. The team also defeated Latvia and tied with Albania to top the group and make it past a preliminary round for the first time in its fourth attempt.[5]
The team was coached from its foundation to 2015 by Pierre Brincat, then from 22 January 2015 by former U19 coach Mark Gatt.[6]
World Cup record
World Cup Finals | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Result | GP | W | D* | L | GF | GA | GD | |
Did not enter | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | ||
− | − | − | − | − | − | − | |||
− | − | − | − | − | − | − | |||
− | − | − | − | − | − | − | |||
Did not qualify | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | ||
− | − | − | − | − | − | − | |||
− | − | − | − | − | − | − | |||
− | − | − | − | − | − | − | |||
Total | 0/7 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
Current squad
The following 20 players were named to the squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying Group B matches against
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GK | Janice Xuereb | 1 August 1996 | |||
GK | Rachelle Lynn Borg | 16 January 1998 | ||||
3 | DF | Ann-Marie Said | 2 July 1994 | |||
4 | DF | Emma Lipman | 23 February 1989 | |||
5 | DF | Stephania Farrugia | 11 September 1991 | |||
9 | DF | Alishia Sultana | 9 April 1997 | |||
16 | DF | Charlene Zammit | 18 January 1991 | |||
20 | DF | Nicole Sciberras | 28 April 2001 | |||
DF | Jasmine Turner | 17 December 1994 | ||||
6 | MF | Dorianne Theuma (captain) | 17 May 1984 | |||
8 | MF | Rachel Cuschieri | 26 April 1992 | |||
14 | MF | Shona Zammit | 15 June 1996 | |||
15 | MF | Jade Flask | 4 August 1996 | |||
17 | MF | Veronique Mifsud | 1 February 2003 | |||
18 | MF | Emma Xuereb | 5 January 1992 | |||
7 | FW | Ylenia Carabott | 2 March 1989 | |||
10 | FW | Martina Borg | 24 October 1996 | |||
13 | FW | Maria Farrugia | 9 January 2001 | |||
17 | FW | Brenda Borg | 1 May 1997 | |||
FW | Claudette Xuereb | 30 August 1996 |
Overall official record
Competition | Stage | Result | Opponent | Position | Scorers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 Euro qualifying | Regular stage (Class B) | 0–3 0–8 0–1 0–2 0–3 1–4 0–9 0–5 | 5 / 5 | Caruana | |
2007 World Cup qualifying | Regular stage (Class B) | 1–4 0–1 1–4 1–3 0–1 1–1 | 4 / 4 | D'Agostino Theuma, Tonna Theuma | |
2009 Euro qualifying | Preliminary round | 0–0 2–4 0–8 | 4 / 4 | Carabott 2 | |
2011 World Cup qualifying | Regular stage | 0–13 0–9 0–8 0–6 0–2 0–6 0–2 1–5 | 5 / 5 | N. Pace | |
2013 Euro qualifying | Preliminary round | 1–0 0–2 1–1 | 2 / 4 | D'Agostino Cuschieri | |
2015 World Cup qualifying | Preliminary round | 1–1 6–0 2–0 | 1 / 4 | Theuma Theuma 2, Buttigieg, Carabott, Cuschieri, Xuereb Cuschieri, Theuma | |
Regular stage | 0–2 0–2 0–5 0–8 0–3 0–5 0–11 0–5 0–8 0–5 | 6 / 6 |
Most capped players
Below is a list of the 10 players with the most caps for Malta, as of 23 June 2015. (bold denotes players still available for selection).
# | Player | Period | Caps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dorianne Theuma | 2003–present | 64 | 21 |
2 | Rebecca D'Agostino | 2003–2014 | 57 | 4 |
3 | Ylenia Carabott | 2005–present | 56 | 11 |
4 | Natasha Pace | 2003–2014 | 48 | 3 |
5 | Rachel Cuschieri | 2007–present | 42 | 6 |
6 | Charlene Zammit | 2009–present | 33 | 0 |
6 | Mandy Debono | 2006–present | 33 | 0 |
6 | Maria Azzopardi | 2003-2011 | 33 | 0 |
9 | Stefania Farrugia | 2007–present | 32 | 1 |
10 | Kathleen Saliba | 2004-2012 | 31 | 1 |
References
- "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
- "Malta - Women's". UEFA. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: Women's Ranking". FIFA. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- Duret, Sébastien; Morrison, Neil (19 June 2005). "European Women Championship 2005 - Match Details". www.rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- Aquilina, Domenic (18 April 2013). "Malta proud to make history". UEFA. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- Lia, Gianluca (8 February 2015). "Interview with Malta women's national team head coach Mark Gatt". Women's Soccer United. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- Lia, Gianluca (2 November 2019). "Gatt names squad for upcoming Women's EURO qualifiers". Times of Malta. Retrieved 13 November 2019.