In 1935, one year after the establishment of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) the first “United Cyprus Team” was formed. This team comprised of football players from various local big clubs (APOEL, ANORTHOSIS, AEL and OLYMPIAKOS). The reason why the team was called “United Cyprus Team” was because Cyprus was not an independent state at the time.
The “United Cyprus Team” played one and only match, in 1936 against PANATHINAIKOS at the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, in Athens. Unfortunately, there are no relevant records regarding this match. The development of the “United Cyprus Team” was prevented by some important factors at the time, such as, the lack of financial resources as well as the difficulty to visit a country abroad.
The second “United Cyprus Team” was formed 14 years later. In July 1949 the team travelled to Israel where it took part in friendly matches. Specifically, on the 23rd and 27th July the team played against the United Team of Tel Aviv (3-0 and 2-2 respectively), where as on the 30th July 1949 the “United Cyprus Team” lost 3-1 against the National Team of Israel.
On the 7th March 1954, the “United Cyprus Team” met with the National Team of Israel at the G.S.P. Stadium, a match which resulted to a 3-1 loss for the Cypriot side. Two months later, on May 6th, the two teams met once again at the G.S.E. Stadium and the match ended with a 2-2 draw.
Following the independence of Cyprus (1960), the Cyprus A’ National Team was officially formed and since then, it takes part in all the qualification phases of the European (UEFA) and World (FIFA) Cups.
Below are some of the most important periods of the Cyprus A’ National Team:
13.11.1960 : The first official match (Cyprus – Israel, 1-1)
17.02.1968 : The 1st victory (Cyprus – Switzerland, 2-1) in an official match for the European Championship qualification phase, 1968.
14.02.1973 : The 1st victory (Cyprus – Northern Ireland, 1-0) in an official World Cup qualification phase, 1974.
12.02.1983 : Draw (1-1) against the reigning World Champions, Italy, in Limassol.
12.04.1987 : The first away match point (Poland – Cyprus, 0-0) in an official match.
16.06.1992 : The first away match victory in an official match (Faroe Islands – Cyprus, 0-2).
29.03.1995 : Draw (1-1) against the reigning European Champions, Denmark, in Limassol.
15.11.2000 : Biggest, in score, victory (Cyprus – Andorra, 5-0) for an official match, in Limassol.
The other Cyprus National Teams are active and take part in all the respective UEFA championships, as follows:
Under-21,since 1977
Under-18 & Under-19,since 1979
Under-16 & Under-17,since 1985
The Cyprus Futsal National Team was first brought into action in 1998 when it took part in the “1st UEFA European Futsal Championship”. Apart from the season 1999/2000, the Cyprus Futsal National Team has taken part in all the qualification phases of the UEFA European Futsal Championships, since 2001. In 2003 it participated, for the first time, at the “5th FIFA World Futsal Championship”.
The Cyprus Women’s National Team was formed in 2002 and played its first friendly match with the respective team of Greece in Paralimni on 25.09.2002. Moreover, in the same year, two more friendly matches were held in Athens on the 6th and 8th December 2002 between the two teams.
The Cyprus Women’s Under-17 National Team was formed in 2007 for the first time and participated at the 1st UEFA Women’s Under-17 European Championship for the season 2007/2008.
The Cyprus Women’s Under-19 National Team was formed in 2008 for the first time and participated at the 8th UEFA Women’s Under-19 European Championship for the season 2008/2009.
The CFA supports any effort made with regards to football and the international representation of Cyprus. Specifically, the CFA renders its services to National teams that are not part of the Association such as the Armed Forces, Hearing Impaired, Futsal, Universities and other National Teams.
