However, they have the chance of a swift redemption on Monday night when they play at home against Cyprus, a fixture that gives them a good chance of recording a first win since narrow single-goal victories against tiny Gibraltar back in March. Before that, their previous win was another single-goal effort against almost-as-tiny Andorra in March 2025.

Latvia is currently ranked a lowly 137th in the world, while Cyprus are ranked 124th. They arrive in Rīga off the back of a 2:1 loss...