Of the 210 international teams in the world, San Marino are ranked stone-cold last. Before their UEFA Nations League campaign began in September, La Serenissima had never won a competitive game. Now, not only have they achieved two victories over Liechtenstein, but the minnows have achieved a miraculous promotion to League C of the Nations League.
The format of the Nations League is designed to allow teams of all levels to play competitive matches against others sides of a (theoretically) similar quality. San Marino have been in League D from the point of the competition's inception in 2018 up until Sunday night.
But a stunning 3 - 1 away to Liechtenstein gave the lowest ranked side in the world promotion to the third tier of the competition.
Several deplorable records have been shattered by Sunday's victory, the most notable being that this was San Marino's first ever away win. It was also the first time the landlocked nation had scored three times in a game, competitive or not.
Speaking of competitive matches, San Marino hadn't won a single competitive game in their 38-year history coming into this Nations League season, but have now won two competitive matches in the last three months against rivals Liechtenstein.
But perhaps the greatest stats of them all are that despite playing well over 200 internationals, this was the first time the side had either scored three times in a match or come from behind to win.
This result, along with a 1 - 1 draw with Gibraltar on Friday night, secured with a 91st-minute penalty from Nicola Nanni, earned San Marino their first ever promotion of any sort.
So where can San Marino realistically go?
For a small nation, entirely landlocked by Italy, the expectations have never been high heading into a game, except maybe from that home game against Gibraltar on Friday.
The smallest nation in the FIFA World Rankings have put on a show for the international football community, with major social media accounts such as 433 highlighting their incredible achievement.
As a League D group winner, if results go their way in the UEFA World Cup Qualifiers next season, San Marino stand a very real chance of getting to a European World Cup play-off.
Of course La Serenissima have made fantastic progress, but that likely won't be enough to make an impression in such a play-off, but even getting the opportunity to play in a competitive play-off match would be an exceptional opportunity.
The FIFA World Ranking picture might not improve massively for the current bottom side given the lack of weight the Nations League holds. It also has to be mentioned that San Marino are some 32 points off 209th-placed Anguilla; there are only 24 points between 1st-placed Argentina and 2nd-placed France.
But there is still course for optimism. Robert Cevoli, who only took over in December last year, has worked wonders in his first year in the job.
Across their 220 internationals (including nine unofficial games), San Marino have three wins and twelve draws, with 205 defeats; two of those wins have come in the ten matches under Cevoli, as have two of the draws.
Cevoli was full of praise for his side's achievement on Sunday night, saying after the game:
"Finishing (the first half) 1 - 0 down was an insult to football, but the boys were brilliant and deserved what they've managed to achieve."
San Marino's journey will go to new heights in League C in the 2026-2027 season, but in the interim years, the chance to really develop their team and thrive under Cevoli is one they absolutely must make the most of as they look to climb off the bottom of the FIFA World Rankings.
留言