One win in thirty years: This is the worst national team in the world

Can you find San Marino on the map? Have you even heard of it? If not, we could hardly blame you. It's a micro-state you could walk around in a day, a nice little place with a rich history. However, their national football team is not very good, to say the least.

To pinpoint San Marino on a map, you'd really need a pin and its point. It's only a dot in Italy. If you don't know what you're looking for, you are certainly going to miss it. But we aren't here to discuss geography nor history. This is about football.

The Sammarinese national team is the worst. It's not our opinion, but a fact. On the FIFA Rankings list, they are ranked 210th – and there is no one below them. It's not a great position to be in. That goes without saying. You won't be winning any World Cups. You won't even qualify for one. Winning a football match is like a dream that never comes alive. And scoring a goal is something you cherish for a lifetime.

Since their football association's admission to UEFA and FIFA, San Marino have been competing in the qualifications stage for every World Cup and every European Championship. In all those games, they've never won. Just two draws in 66 games is not the kind of record you'd write home about. They've done ever worse in their attempts to reach a European Championship, either. Since 1990, they played 76 matches and only got a single draw. It was a proud day for the tiny nation as their goalless draw against Estonia in 2014 gave them the only point to date.

You'd think that they'd probably done better in friendlies – and you'd be right. In 20 friendlies they'd played since 1992, they'd won just once. A 1-0 home win over another tiny country Liechtenstein in 2004 is the stuff of dreams for the proud team.

That's one win ever. And that was in a friendly. But it's not like San Marino didn't have some good times.

Not many national teams would find a reason to celebrate a 4-1 defeat. But not many nations are like San Marino, and players representing the tiny country were left delighted after scoring their first goal in a year-and-a-half on Tuesday. David Tomassini scored from close range three minutes after coming off the bench to mark his country's first goal since a 3-1 defeat to Kazakhstan in November 2019. It was the nation's first away goal since a 5-1 loss to Azerbaijan in September 2017. The players were left jubilant as they flooded to celebrate with Tomassini despite the game being over as a contest with five minutes left to play.

Although a big deal, Tomassini's friendly goal is not the country's most important one. It wasn't even the one that brought them their only-ever victory. Sammarinese football fans love to talk about the one they scored against England in 1993. Davide Gualtieri, a computer salesman from San Marino, scored just 8.3 seconds after kick-off in the World Cup qualifying match against Three Lions to give his country the lead. It was the stuff of dreams. It was all downhill from then on, of course, as England romped to a 7-1 win, but it's still one of the proudest days in the country's long history.

"I will never forget that moment. I had dreamt about it but I never thought it would happen. It was so hard for us to score against anybody, let alone a team as big as England."

Back in 2021, San Marino captain Dante Rossi could tell you about his beloved country for days. But, for him, the word 'country' takes on a special meaning. Born in Guerrico, a small Argentinian town with fewer than 900 people near Buenos Aires, the 33-year-old defender had to wait almost ten years before obtaining dual nationality via his maternal grandfather from San Marino.

"The law in San Marino prevented me from obtaining it sooner. Thinking back on all my efforts to obtain a nationality of a country that is so close to my heart also made me very emotional. Getting to wear this jersey was a dream. San Marino has always been a part of my life. I've always been curious to learn more about my grandfather's roots, which are also mine. San Marino is a passionate nation. I always knew it was the oldest republic in the world. I knew its geography and how it's landlocked in Italy with its famous Monte Titano. I learned its dialect and its way of life."

Dante Rossi in action against England's Phil Foden (©AFP)

San Marino aren't a successful team in terms of results, but they are true winners when it comes to playing for what you believe in. They sing the national anthem with pride, they run out onto the pitch, and they give their all to represent the 33,000 people who never stop believing in the boys in blue shirts.