San Marino win first competitive game

Updated: Sep 5, 2024, 10:38 pm

Sept 5 (Reuters) - San Marino won their first ever competitive match by beating Liechtenstein 1-0 in the Nations League on Thursday, 20 years since their only other victory, also against Liechtenstein.

The Nations League D game was hardly a clash of the titans, with San Marino bottom of FIFA's rankings at 210th and Liechtenstein 199th, but Nicko Sensoli's goal in the 53rd minute will make him a national hero.

San Marino's only other success came in their 69th game, a 1-0 win over Liechtenstein in a 2004 friendly.

Their fans have endured 140 matches without a win since then and the 19-year-old Sensoli's goal sparked wild celebrations at the San Marino stadium.

Sensoli was not even born when San Marino last won, and there was a long wait for the final whistle with eight minutes of added time before victory was confirmed to leave the hosts top of three-team Group 1, which also includes Gibraltar.

(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Ed Osmond)