Luxembourg: historical WC qualification victory vs Switzerland at Zurich

On Wednesday, Luxembourg beat Switzerland 1-2 in Zurich, clinching their first victory in World Cup qualification since 1972.

Since beating Turkey 2-0 on 22 October 1972, Luxembourg played 73 World Cup qualification matches, drawing twice and losing 71.

It has been by far the longest winless streak among European countries in World Cup qualification, according to Infostrada.

San Marino currently have the longest running winless streak as they have not won in World Cup qualification since September 1992, a 37-match run.

Longest winless streaks in World Cup qualification – European countries
# Nation Drawn Lost Start date Match that ended streak

73 Luxembourg 2 71 10 Dec 1972 Switzerland - Luxembourg (10 Sep 2008) 1-2
39 Malta 4 35 14 Nov 1971 Estonia - Malta (12 May 1993) 0-1
37 San Marino 2 35 09 Sep 1992
34 Malta 4 30 19 Jun 1993
31 Cyprus 1 30 08 May 1973 Faroe Islands - Cyprus (16 Jun 1992) 0-2
21 Liechtenstein 1 20 24 Apr 1996 Luxembourg - Liechtenstein (13 Oct 2004) 0-4
19 Finland 2 17 16 Jun 1937 Finland - Poland (26 Sep 1965) 2-0
18 Turkey 2 16 24 Sep 1980 Turkey - East Germany (30 Nov 1988) 3-1
17 Latvia 6 11 05 Oct 1937 Latvia - Belarus (30 Apr 1997) 2-0
17 Armenia 6 11 10 Sep 1997 Armenia - Andorra (26 Mar 2005) 2-1
17 Albania 3 14 09 Sep 1992 Albania - Northern Ireland (10 Sep 1997) 1-0
17 Luxembourg 0 17 11 Mar 1934 Luxembourg - Portugal (08 Oct 1961) 4-2

Bold: streak still running

Cyprus – Italy want three points: WC 2010 Qualifying

At Larnaca, Cyprus National Team will be receiving Italy with the idea to disturb two or three points Road to South Africa 2010, On Saturday.

It seems that Italy can’t have any problem to defeat Cyprus. But, as it happened with Malta – Portugal, they have a draw in their head to head history. Also, Italy won only two times with a quiet difference.

Can Cyprus repeat a draw? Can Cyprus make history as in UEFA Champions League?

Foggia 21/12/1991 ITA 2:0 (1:0) CYP Euro Group matches
Limassol 22/12/1990 CYP 0:4 (0:3) ITA Euro Group matches
Perugia 22/12/1983 ITA 3:1 (0:0) CYP Euro Preliminary round
Limassol 12/02/1983 CYP 1:1 (0:0) ITA Euro Preliminary round
Cosenza 01/11/1967 ITA 5:0 (2:0) CYP Euro Preliminary round
Nicosia 22/03/1967 CYP 0:2 (0:0) ITA Euro Preliminary round