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

Malta – Portugal: it is not so easy match for the Lusitans road to South Africa 2010

At Ta' Qali, Malta and Portugal will be playing the first match-day for the WC2010 Qualifying.

Knowing Malta, it seems that Portugal will win very easy. But be careful: although Portugal always won there, they never enjoy an easy game. Is possible a surprise? Why not. On 1987 they drew but Portugal (that included uncapped Yannick Djaló) seems to be powerful these days.

Here we have Portugal – Malta history:

Porto 19/06/1993 POR 4:0 (3:0) MLT WC First stage
Ta' Qali 24/01/1993 MLT 0:1 (0:0) POR WC First stage
Porto 20/02/1991 POR 5:0 (3:0) MLT EURO Group matches
Ta' Qali 09/02/1991 MLT 0:1 (0:1) POR EURO Group matches
Ta' Qali 20/12/1987 MLT 0:1 (0:0) POR EURO Group matches
Funchal 29/03/1987 POR 2:2 (1:1) MLT EURO Group matches
Lisbon 12/10/1985 POR 3:2 (1:0) MLT WC First stage
Ta' Qali 10/02/1985 MLT 1:3 (0:2) POR WC First stage