San Marino, the world’s lowest-ranked international team, have won promotion to the third tier of the Nations League following their 3-1 victory over Liechtenstein.
The minnows, ranked 210th by football’s world governing body FIFA, defied the odds to finish top of Group D with seven points from three games.
It is also the first time San Marino have scored three goals in a single game.
FINAL DEL PARTIDO
🇱🇮 LIECHTENSTEIN 1-3 SAN MARINO 🇸🇲
LOS MUCHACHOS HAN JUGADO EL PARTIDO DE SU VIDA, GOLEAMOS EN EL CLÁSICO, GANAMOS POR PRIMERA VEZ EN LA HISTORIA DE VISITANTE Y ASCENDIMOS A LA LIGA C DE LA NATIONS LEAGUE 🏆
GRACIAS TOTALES, TE AMO SAN MARINO 🇸🇲 pic.twitter.com/g4FtVFsYmZ
— San Marino Fútbol 🇸🇲 (@SanMarinoTeam) November 18, 2024
This comes after their famous 1-0 victory over Liechtenstein in September, the side’s first win in 20 years.
They also earned a 1-1 draw with Gibraltar on Friday, with a stoppage-time penalty from Nicola Nanni earning San Marino a valuable point.
San Marino, a landlocked country of just over 30,000 people surrounded by north-eastern Italy and which covers just 61 square kilometres, has become a byword for footballing misery due to their team’s struggles to end their winless streak.
While Eritrea, who have not played a match since 2020, are unofficially unranked by FIFA, San Marino have been rooted to the bottom of the world standings since November 2023.
(Giuseppe Maffia/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
