History
Their first match was a friendly on 23 July 1949, against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Tel Aviv which ended in a 3–3 draw, one year after becoming a member of the world governing body FIFA. Seven days later the team had its first international game, a 3–1 defeat against Israel in the same city. In November 1960, following independence from British rule, Cyprus drew its first post-independence official match 1–1 against Israel, as part of the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament.
Cyprus' first international victory was a 3–1 win against Greece on 27 November 1963 in a friendly. On 17 February 1968 Cyprus recorded their first competitive win, beating Switzerland 2–1 in a European Championship qualifying match in Nicosia.
In 1974, the national team enjoyed one of their most famous victories when they beat a Northern Ireland side 1–0 in Nicosia. On 12 February 1983, as part of the Euro 1984 qualifiers, Cyprus held world champions Italy to a 1–1 draw in Nicosia, followed a month later by the same result against Czechoslovakia. Four years later, in Euro 1988 qualification, Cyprus recorded their first ever point achieved in an away match, against Poland. In 1989 they drew 1–1 with France in World Cup qualifying match. Despite a number of triumphs on home soil, Cyprus had to wait until 1992 to record their first away win, a 2–0 victory against the Faroe Islands.
Results in qualifying tournaments have also improved considerably in recent times. In the qualifying stages for the 1996 UEFA European Championship, Cyprus drew 1–1 with holders Denmark. Four years later, they missed out on a place in the 2000 European Football Championship by a solitary point, 3–2 victories against Spain and Israel and a 4–0 defeat of San Marino contributing to the team finishing on 12 points, just one point behind Israel who qualified for the Euro 2000 play-offs.
On 15 November 2000 Cyprus scored their biggest win in history by beating Andorra in Limassol 5–0 in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.
On 7 October 2006, as part of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Cyprus caused a major upset by beating the Republic of Ireland 5–2 at home with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambides each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis one goal. On 15 November 2006, they caused another surprise by holding the World Cup semi-finalists Germany to a 1–1 draw at home. On 13 October 2007, they beat Wales 3–1 in Nicosia. Also on 17 October 2007 Cyprus came close to a historic away victory in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland, but the hosts equalised in the last minute of the game, and the match ended 1–1. On 3 September 2010, as part of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Cyprus claimed a historic result against Portugal after drawing 4–4 in Guimarães.
Read more about this topic: Cyprus National Football Team
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