The Malta national team represents this island country in the international football competitions. It is controlled by the Malta Football Association which dates back to an early 1900 year. Malta became a member of FIFA in 1959 and joined UEFA the following year.
The team made its debut in a 2-3 loss to Austria in February 1957. A football dwarf on the international arena, Malta was never resplendent with great achievements. However, throughout its history the team had some competitive wins over strong European squads. Thus, it beat Greece 2-0 and Iceland 2-1 in UEFA European Championship qualifiers. Malta overmatched Estonia 1-0 in a 1993 World Cup qualifier. And in 2006, the team was integral to success to break down powerhouse Japan in a World Cup qualifier.
It’s noteworthy that Malta had an encounter with Austria in February 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the team’s international debut. In March 2008, the Maltese squad celebrated their biggest ever 7-1 win over another minute country Liechtenstein. By the way, their biggest defeat was a 1-12 thrash by football giant Spain in 1983.
Malta had the 139th position in the FIFA World ranking, as of September 2012.
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