Our prediction for this match:
AEK Arena will host Thursday’s friendly international between Cyprus and Latvia. The Cypriotes desperately needed a win against Lithuania and they managed to get one thanks to Ioannis Pitas’ goal. Temur Ketsbaia’s troops did well to put an end to their seven-game losing run in all competitions, but they do not want to stop now. There are no fresh injury worries in the home team ahead of the visit of Latvia.
The former Soviet republic, on the other hand, failed to impress in the EURO 2024 qualifiers, with the team losing seven of their eight group games. As Paolo Nicolato should use this warm-up match to test as many players as possible, we are tempted to put our money on Cyprus. It has to be noted that the two national teams meet for the first time on the international stage.
Highlighted Team (Cyprus):
![Cyprus](https://footballpredictions.com/wp-content/plugins/fp-highlights/imageid/team/762.png)
Cyprus’ first match took place back in July, 1949, only one year after they became a member of FIFA. The Cypriotes played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Maccabi Tel Aviv and seven days later they played their first international game. Cyprus suffered a 3-1 loss to Israel in Tel Aviv back then and in November, 1960 they had their first official match as an independent country.
The Cyprus national football team shared the spoils with Israel in the 1962 World Cup qualifier and three years later they recorded their first international win (3-1 over Greece). Cyprus suffered their biggest loss on May 21, 1969, with the team losing to West Germany 12-0 and in 2000 they hammered Andorra 5-0 which is considered the team’s biggest win.
The Cypriotes have yet to qualify for the finals of the FIFA World Cup or the European Championship, but their victory over Bosnia in Zenica in the Euro 2016 qualifiers will be remembered. GSP Stadium in Nicosia is considered the national team’s home ground.