The Malta women’s team is poised to make national history on Tuesday afternoon when they meet Latvia in a UEFA Nations League showdown.
With just one point needed, a draw would be enough to lift Malta into League B of the upcoming Euro 2025 qualifying campaign.
It is a feat no national senior side has ever managed.
The men’s selection has been in this position twice and failed to capitalise on the moment.
Malta coach Manuela Tesse said the players were aware of the importance of winning the group and securing promotion from League C.
Inspiration for all girls
“It is important, both for them as players as well as for the development of the women’s game in Malta,” she said. “My players want to be an inspiration for all the young girls who want to play football on this island.”
The game will kick off at 4pm at the Centenary Stadium and Malta, currently at the top of its League C group, has a three-point advantage over Latvia.
Unlike the men’s football leagues, the next women’s Euro qualifications will see all European teams divided across three leagues – 16 in League A and League B while the remaining nations will feature in League C.
Should Malta make it to the second-tier, this would rank them among Europe’s top 32 countries in women’s football. The feat has already been achieved at youth level when the Malta U-19 women’s selection clinched promotion to League A in 2022.
Malta, ranked 86th in the world, started as clear favourites to win the four-team League C group, which also includes Moldova, ranked 114th, Andorra (179) and Latvia.
However, the Latvians, who sit in 119th position, have shown remarkable improvement since suffering a 1-0 defeat to Malta last September.
The Baltic side have collected 10 points from their last four matches, scoring 16 goals, to boost their promotion chances.
In the five games they played so far, Malta has been buoyed by the presence of Inter forward Haley Bugeja whose eight goals means she leads the tournament’s scoring charts across all leagues.
Meanwhile, if Malta loses to Latvia, the Baltic side will be promoted while the Maltese team will drop into the promotion play-offs against one of the three best-ranked teams that finish third in their League B groups with Slovenia (40), Croatia (60) and Hungary (42) occupying those slots at the moment.
Hoping to beat the record attendance for a women’s team game in a local venue – currently at 764, the Maltese will be banking on the home crowd to capitalise on this opportunity.
A historic moment
After the men failed this objective twice, the women can become the first senior national team to complete the mission and deliver a historic moment in the Malta FA’s 123rd year of its existence.
In 2020, the Malta men’s team needed a two-goal win in their final fixture but were held to a draw by the Faroe Islands and the same scenario repeated itself two years later with Malta suffering a 2-1 defeat to Estonia in Tallinn.