Andorra celebrates first draw since 2005, ends 58-match losing streak


Rarely has a scoreless stalemate in front of the home fans tasted so sweet.

But 11 years of nothing but losing will do that to a team.

Andorra's 0-0 draw with fellow minnow Faroe Islands in World Cup qualifying on Saturday's match in Andorra La Vella ended its run of 58 competitive defeats.

It was the first point in qualifying for the Pyrenees mountain principality, population 80,000, since a scoreless draw with Finland in September 2005.

Faroe Islands finished with 10 men after Joan Edmundsson was booked a second time with 15 minutes to play.

Andorra is ranked 200th in the world from 211 national teams, with only San Marino and Gibraltar below them in Europe.

The tiny nation in the Pyrenees has only competed in qualifiers for European championships and World Cups since Euro 2000, after being recognized by the ruling bodies FIFA and UEFA in 1996.

Andorra's team, made up mostly of part-timers, has taken only six points in 100 games in which it has been outscored 310-25.

All points until Saturday came in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, the only win in October 2004, 1-0 over Macedonia, and goalless draws in Macedonia and against Finland.

Andorra have won just four games overall since the debut 21 years ago, with a 2-0 in San Marino in February their first success since the Macedonia victory in 2004.

Koldo Alvarez' team is now unbeaten in two games, with signs of improvement also including narrow one-goal defeats against group leaders Switzerland and Latvia in earlier 2018 qualifiers.

While Andorra savored its point at the bottom of Europe Group B, Switzerland stayed at the top of the group standings after edging Latvia 1-0 in Geneva.

Josip Drmic headed in a cross from Admir Mehmedi two minutes after going on as a substitute for the Swiss in the 64th.

It was the forward's first international goal since November 2015 and ending a scoring drought for both country and club that had lasted just over a year.

Only Andris Vanins' goalkeeping saved Latvia from a bigger loss.

Switzerland increased its point haul to 15. Faroe Islands has five points, ahead of Latvia with three.

Later, Portugal played Hungary.

The winner of each of the nine groups in Europe qualifies for the 2018 World Cup. The eight best second-place finishers enter a playoff.