Montenegro national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Montenegro women's national football team.

The Montenegro men's national football team (Montenegrin: Fudbalska reprezentacija Crne Gore) has represented Montenegro in international football since 2007. It is controlled by the Football Association of Montenegro, the governing body for football in Montenegro. Montenegro's home ground is Podgorica City Stadium in Podgorica.

Montenegro

Nickname(s)	Hrabri sokoli / Храбри соколи (The Brave Falcons)
Association	Football Association of Montenegro (FSCG)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Miodrag Radulović
Captain	Stevan Jovetić
Most caps	Fatos Bećiraj (86)
Top scorer	Stevan Jovetić (33)
Home stadium	Podgorica City Stadium
FIFA code	MNE
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	70 2 (26 October 2023)^[1]
Highest	16 (June 2011)
Lowest	199 (June 2007)
First international
Montenegro 2–1 Hungary  (Podgorica, Montenegro; 24 March 2007)
Biggest win
San Marino 0–6 Montenegro  (Serravalle, San Marino; 11 September 2012)
Biggest defeat
England 7–0 Montenegro  (London, England; 14 November 2019)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 1998 as FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro Never qualified as Montenegro)
Best result	As FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro: Round of 16 (1998) As Montenegro: Never qualified
European Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2000 as FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro Never qualified as Montenegro)
Best result	As FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro: Quarter-finals (2000) As Montenegro: Never qualified

Montenegro is one of the world's youngest international teams, having joined FIFA and UEFA in 2007, following the restoration of Montenegrin independence in 2006. Montenegro played its first official international match against Hungary in March 2007, and competed in their first FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2010.

History

Formation

 

Montenegro national team squad in EURO 2020 qualifiers

Following the independence of Montenegro from Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia was set to represent both Serbia and Montenegro in the Euro 2008 qualifying stage. UEFA, however, would be willing to include Montenegro as a late entry if FIFA ratified a separate Montenegrin Football Association before September 2006. However, this did not occur before the competition began.^[3]

In October 2006, Montenegro was granted provisional membership of UEFA, with a debate regarding full membership scheduled at a full UEFA Congress in January 2007.^[4] Montenegro's first FIFA World Ranking was joint 199th place, the last place on the list by default.

First matches

 

Mirko Vučinić was the first captain of Montenegro

On 26 January 2007, the Montenegro FA was granted full membership of UEFA.^[5] The team played its first FIFA-recognized friendly match against Hungary on 24 March 2007 at Stadion Pod Goricom in Podgorica. Montenegro won 2–1 in front of 12,000 spectators. Striker Mirko Vučinić scored the country's first goal in the 62nd minute.^[6][7] On 31 May 2007, Montenegro was admitted as FIFA's 208th member.^[8] Montenegro's first coach was Zoran Filipović. In 23 matches, Filipović recorded eight victories, eight draws and seven defeats. He left in January 2010 when his contract expired. During his tenure, Montenegro rose to 73rd position in the FIFA rankings. Montenegro played at the 2007 Kirin Cup, but finished in last place behind Japan and Colombia. On 26 March 2008, Montenegro recorded one of its best results with a 3–1 win over Norway.

First competitive matches

On 6 September 2008, Montenegro played their first World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria at the Podgorica City Stadium. Bulgaria took the lead in the 11th minute with a goal from Stiliyan Petrov. Mirko Vučinić scored in the 61st minute to tie the game, before Igor Burzanović put Montenegro ahead 82nd minute from a penalty. However, a last-minute equalizer from Blagoy Georgiev denied Montenegro their first competitive win. In their next match on 10 September, they achieved another notable result when they held the Republic of Ireland to a 0–0 draw. Another near-upset came in a narrow 2–1 loss against Italy. After Alberto Aquilani's early strike, Vučinić quickly equalized, but Aquilani scored the winning goal ten minutes later. Their second match against Italy ended 2–0 in favour of the world champions. Another disappointment came when the team could only draw 0–0 against Georgia, followed by a 2–2 draw against Cyprus after being two goals down. On 5 September 2009, Montenegro took an early lead against Bulgaria in Sofia with Stevan Jovetić putting them 1–0 up, only for Bulgaria to recover and win 4–1. After drawing 1–1 with Cyprus, Montenegro finally registered their first competitive win, beating Georgia 2–1. They then drew 0–0 with the Republic of Ireland at Croke Park. They finished fifth in the group with nine points, below Cyprus on goal difference.

Golden era

During the UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign, the team recorded further success. They opened their campaign with a 1–0 victory over Wales; Mirko Vučinić scored the only goal. A few days later, the team defeated Bulgaria 1–0 in Sofia. The next month, they beat Switzerland 1–0 and then recorded a 0–0 draw in London against England. On 4 June 2011, Montenegro drew 1–1 against Bulgaria, with Radomir Đalović scoring for Montenegro early in the second half, but Ivelin Popov scoring minutes later, to keep Montenegro second in the group, behind England on goal difference. Montenegro were beaten 2–1 by Wales in Cardiff. They were still second in Group G, but Switzerland closed the gap between them to only three points. In the June 2011 FIFA rankings, Montenegro recorded their highest ranking of 16th. On 7 October, Montenegro came back from 2–0 down to draw 2–2 against England in Podgorica, after Wayne Rooney was sent off. Wales beat Switzerland 2–0 to ensure Montenegro won a play-off place, putting the team two matches away from qualifying for Euro 2012. In their last match in the qualifiers, Montenegro lost 2–0 to Switzerland in Basel. On 13 October, the draw for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs was held in Kraków, Poland. Montenegro were paired with the Czech Republic, but they lost 3–0 on aggregate and failed to qualify. Montenegro were drawn in Group H in the qualifiers, along with England, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova and San Marino. In their first match, Montenegro tied against Poland in a 2–2 draw. On 11 September, Montenegro played against San Marino in Seravalle. In a one-sided match, Montenegro won 6–0,^[9] the biggest win in the team's history. Montenegro then beat Ukraine 1–0 in Kyiv,^[10] with the only goal scored by Dejan Damjanović. In their last match in 2012, Montenegro faced San Marino in Podgorica on 14 November, and won 3–0. Montenegro played their fifth qualifier match against Moldova in Chișinău on 22 March 2013, winning 1–0 through Mirko Vučinić's goal. Montenegro then returned to Podgorica to play the second-placed England. The outcome was a 1–1 draw. Leading their World Cup qualifying group, Montenegro hosted Ukraine on 7 June 2013. They suffered their first defeat in the group, losing 4–0. The match also saw Montenegro finish the match with nine men after Vladimir Volkov and Savo Pavićević were sent off. Their last four matches yielded just a single point; a 1–1 draw in Poland. Their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign finished with a 5–2 home defeat to Moldova, and they finished third behind England and Ukraine.

Ups and downs

On 23 February 2014 in Nice, Montenegro were drawn for qualification in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group G alongside Russia, Sweden, Austria, Moldova and Liechtenstein. Though they opened their campaign with a 2–0 win over Moldova, they failed to qualify with a 0–0 tie against Liechtenstein, a 1–0 loss to Austria and a 1–1 tie at home to Sweden. On 27 March 2015, Montenegro's home match against Russia was abandoned after 67 minutes due to crowd violence, after the Russian left-back Dmitri Kombarov was hit by a projectile. The score was 0–0 and Russia had missed a penalty moments before the match was abandoned. The Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was hit by a flare, causing a second 33-minute delay.^[11] The abandoned match was ruled a 3–0 win in Russia's favour. Montenegro finished fourth at the end of the campaign and placed 95th on the FIFA ranking list. Montenegro participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification and were placed with Poland, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Romania. Poland and Romania had been participants in the UEFA Euro 2016, but Montenegro began by drawing 1–1 away to Romania, beating Kazakhstan 5–0 at home and defeating Denmark 1–0. However, they then lost 3–2 away to Armenia despite leading 2–0, and were defeated 2–1 at home by Poland. Montenegro then rebounded, beating Armenia 4–1 and Kazakhstan 3–0. They later eliminated Romania with a 1–0 victory, but losses to the Danes and Poles ended Montenegro's chance of qualifying.

Having failed to reach the World Cup, Montenegro had a dismal performance in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League C. The team was grouped with Serbia, Romania and Lithuania. Montenegro only managed two victories, all against Lithuania, and suffered two losses to Serbia, one defeat to Romania at home and an away draw to the Romanian side as well. This effectively denied Montenegro a chance to qualify to the UEFA Euro 2020 playoff.

Worst campaign

The Euro 2020 qualifiers for Montenegro have been the worst in the team's short history. After an unsuccessful Nations League campaign, the team started off with a 1–1 away draw to Bulgaria, following a controversial penalty for the hosts. It was followed with a 1–5 loss at home to England despite having taken an early lead. On the day of the match with Kosovo, Serbian coach Ljubiša Tumbaković and two players originated from Serbia, due to political reasons, abandoned the national team, betraying the squad in unprecedented condition before the two crucial matches for qualifiers. Montenegro managed to avoid defeat against Kosovo (1–1), however they lost to Czech Republic 0–3. The same result occurred in the rematch, one month later. With no chances to qualify directly, Montenegro failed to win the match against last placed Bulgaria (0–0), and lost to Kosovo (0–2). At the end of their worst campaign, Montenegro suffered their biggest defeat in history. On 14 November 2019, they were defeated against England in London 7–0. Not only did they finish the qualifying campaign without a single victory, Montenegro managed to score only three goals in eight matches, but conceded 22. Also, throughout the entire qualifying campaign the team had troubles with injuries to key players, most notably Stevan Jovetić and Stefan Savić.

Comeback

The team topped the group in 2020–21 UEFA Nations League above Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Cyprus and were promoted into League B. They were also an important team in fight to qualify for 2022 FIFA World Cup. They were 4th of 6 teams in group with Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Latvia and Gibraltar.

Stadium and facilities

Main article: Podgorica City Stadium

Montenegro play home matches at the Podgorica City Stadium (Montenegrin: Stadion pod Goricom). The stadium's capacity is 15,230, but international matches reduce this to between 10,700 and 13,000.

Camp FSCG

Main article: Camp FSCG

The Football Association of Montenegro owns Camp FSCG, a Montenegrin training ground. Built in 2007, the centre has a total area of 54,000 square metres.^[12] It is located on Ćemovsko polje, a plain located in the outskirts of Podgorica outskirts between the settlements of Stari Aerodrom and Konik. It consists of six pitches with stands and floodlights,^[13] and House of Football – the seat of the Football Association of Montenegro.^[14]

The camp currently represents an important asset for the whole Montenegrin football system. The grounds are home to all Montenegrin national teams (men and women) and numerous local teams from Podgorica. CAMP FSCG meets the criteria for Montenegrin First League games and UEFA competitions for young players.

Team image

 

Montenegrin supporters

Nickname

Under the official FIFA Trigramme, the team's name is abbreviated as MNE, which is also the country's ISO 3166-1 code. The team's nickname is "The Brave Falcons" (Montenegrin: Hrabri Sokoli).

Kits and colours

Montenegro's traditional home colours are red, with a gold trim. This reflects the country's flag. The team's away kits have usually been white, with a red trim.

The current kit is produced by the Italian company Legea.

Manufacturer	Period
daCapo	2007–2008
Legea	2008–present

Supporters

At competitive matches, the Montenegrin home ground Podgorica City Stadium is often filled to capacity. The stadium is regarded as too small to meet the needs of the national team. Demand for the World Cup qualifier against Italy in 2009 was 30,000 tickets; 40,000 for the Euro 2012 qualifying match against England in 2011.

Montenegro's loudest and most loyal supporters are named Ultra Crna Gora (Ултра Црна Гора; Ultra Montenegro). As an ultras group, their support consists of standing up and singing for 90 minutes both home and away. They occupy the north and south stands of Podgorica City Stadium. Choreography is usually performed at the beginning of games. Ultra Crna Gora consists of many subgroups, mostly named after Podgorica's neighborhoods and Montenegrin towns in other parts of the country.

Results and fixtures

Main article: Montenegro national football team results

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2022

Montenegro   v   Slovakia

17 November 2022 International friendly	Montenegro	2–2	Slovakia	Podgorica, Montenegro
18:00	Savić   76', 90+7' (pen.)	Report	15' Hancko   47' Kucka   87'   90+4' Adam Zreľák	Stadium: Podgorica City Stadium Attendance: 1,109 Referee: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Slovenia   v   Montenegro

20 November 2022 (2022-11-20) Friendly	Slovenia	1–0	Montenegro	Ljubljana, Slovenia
15:00 UTC+1	Zajc   42'	Report		Stadium: Stožice Stadium Attendance: 11,165 Referee: Christopher Jäger (Austria)

2023

Bulgaria   v   Montenegro

24 March 2023 (2023-03-24) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Bulgaria	0–1	Montenegro	Razgrad, Bulgaria
21:45 UTC+2		Report	Krstović   70'	Stadium: Huvepharma Arena Attendance: 9,234 Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (Azerbaijan)

Montenegro   v   Serbia

27 March 2023 (2023-03-27) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Montenegro	0–2	Serbia	Podgorica, Montenegro
20:45 UTC+1		Report	Vlahović   78', 90+6'	Stadium: Podgorica City Stadium Attendance: 9,831 Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

Montenegro   v   Hungary

17 June 2023 (2023-06-17) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Montenegro	0–0	Hungary	Podgorica, Montenegro
18:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Podgorica City Stadium Attendance: 6,761 Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

Montenegro   v   Czech Republic

20 June 2023 (2023-06-20) Friendly	Montenegro	1–4	Czech Republic	Podgorica, Montenegro
20:45 UTC+2	Camaj   66'	Report	Chytil   28' M. Sadílek   57' Provod   75' Hložek   85'	Stadium: Podgorica City Stadium Attendance: 1,792 Referee: Matthew De Gabriele (Malta)

Lithuania   v   Montenegro

7 September 2023 (2023-09-07) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Lithuania	2–2	Montenegro	Kaunas, Lithuania
21:45 UTC+3	Paulauskas   71' Černych   90 +4'	Report	Krstović   78' Savić   89'	Stadium: Darius and Girėnas Stadium Attendance: 11,328 Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (Sweden)

Montenegro   v   Bulgaria

10 September 2023 (2023-09-10) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Montenegro	2–1	Bulgaria	Podgorica, Montenegro
18:00 UTC+2	Savić   45+1' Jovetić   90+6'	Report	Borukov   79'	Stadium: Podgorica City Stadium Attendance: 4,232 Referee: Harm Osmers (Germany)

Montenegro   v   Lebanon

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12) Friendly	Montenegro	3–2	Lebanon	Podgorica, Montenegro
18:00 UTC+2	Kuč   16', 19' Osmajić   69'	Report	Darwich   65' Tneich   80'	Stadium: Podgorica City Stadium Attendance: 1,337 Referee: Eldorjan Hamiti (Albania)

Serbia   v   Montenegro

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Serbia	3–1	Montenegro	Belgrade, Serbia
20:45 UTC+2	Mitrović   9', 73' Tadić   77'	Report	Jovetić   36'	Stadium: Rajko Mitić Stadium Attendance: 25,884 Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

Montenegro   v   Lithuania

16 November 2023 (2023-11-16) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Montenegro	v	Lithuania	Podgorica, Montenegro
18:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Podgorica City Stadium

Hungary   v   Montenegro

19 November 2023 (2023-11-19) UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Hungary	v	Montenegro	Budapest, Hungary
15:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Puskás Aréna

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Miodrag Radulović
Assistant coach	Miodrag Džudović
Goalkeeping coach	Dragoje Leković

Coaching history

Manager	Career	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	GF	GA	Win %
Zoran Filipović	2006–2009	23	8	8	7	28	31	34.78%
Zlatko Kranjčar	2010–2011	13	6	2	5	14	11	46.15%
Branko Brnović	2011–2015	34	11	9	14	44	50	32.35%
Ljubiša Tumbaković	2016–2019	26	7	7	12	33	33	26.92%
Miodrag Džudović	2019 (acting)	2	0	1	1	1	4	00.00%
Faruk Hadžibegić	2019–2020	13	5	4	4	13	16	38.46%
Miodrag Radulović	2020–present	21	5	4	12	19	32	23.80%

Players

In international football, players can normally only play for one national team once they play in all or part of any match recognised as a full international by FIFA. However, an exception is made in cases where one or more newly independent states are created out of a former state. Based on current FIFA rules, a player will be eligible to play for Montenegro, even if he had previously represented Serbia and Montenegro or any other country, if at least one of the following statements applies:^[15]

• The player was born in Montenegro;
• At least one of their parents and/or at least one of their grandparents was born in Montenegro;
• The player has lived in Montenegro continuously for any five-year period.

Due to mixed ancestries, it is likely that a high percentage of the players eligible to play for Montenegro will also remain eligible to play for Serbia, and vice versa. However, once they have played for either Serbia or Montenegro in any competitive fixture, they are no longer eligible to play for any other nation.

Current squad

The following players were called up for games against Lebanon on 12 October and against Serbia on 17 October 2023.^[16]

Caps and goals as of 17 October 2023, after the match against Serbia.^[17][18]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Milan Mijatović	(1987-07-26) 26 July 1987 (age 36)	34	0	Borac Banja Luka
12	1GK	Danijel Petković	(1993-05-25) 25 May 1993 (age 30)	25	0	Kisvárda
13	1GK	Suad Ličina	(1995-02-08) 8 February 1995 (age 28)	0	0	Sutjeska Nikšić
15	2DF	Stefan Savić (vice-captain)	(1991-01-08) 8 January 1991 (age 32)	71	9	Atlético Madrid
6	2DF	Žarko Tomašević	(1990-02-22) 22 February 1990 (age 33)	64	5	Astana
23	2DF	Adam Marušić	(1992-10-17) 17 October 1992 (age 31)	57	3	Lazio
3	2DF	Risto Radunović	(1992-05-04) 4 May 1992 (age 31)	32	1	FCSB
	2DF	Igor Vujačić	(1994-08-08) 8 August 1994 (age 29)	29	0	Rubin Kazan
2	2DF	Andrija Vukčević	(1996-10-11) 11 October 1996 (age 27)	6	0	Juárez
22	2DF	Miloš Milović	(1995-12-22) 22 December 1995 (age 27)	4	0	Navbahor Namangan
5	2DF	Marko Tući	(1998-12-04) 4 December 1998 (age 24)	3	0	Gangwon
	2DF	Slobodan Rubežić	(2000-03-21) 21 March 2000 (age 23)	1	0	Aberdeen
16	3MF	Vladimir Jovović	(1994-10-26) 26 October 1994 (age 29)	54	0	Jablonec
8	3MF	Marko Janković	(1995-07-09) 9 July 1995 (age 28)	43	1	Qarabağ
18	3MF	Nebojša Kosović	(1995-02-24) 24 February 1995 (age 28)	33	1	Meizhou Hakka
	3MF	Marko Bakić	(1993-11-01) 1 November 1993 (age 29)	24	0	OFI
4	3MF	Marko Vukčević	(1993-06-07) 7 June 1993 (age 30)	18	1	Varaždin
19	3MF	Miloš Raičković	(1993-10-02) 2 October 1993 (age 30)	17	0	Aktobe
20	3MF	Stefan Lončar	(1996-02-19) 19 February 1996 (age 27)	12	0	Debrecen
7	3MF	Driton Camaj	(1997-03-07) 7 March 1997 (age 26)	10	1	Kisvárda
14	3MF	Edvin Kuč	(1993-10-27) 27 October 1993 (age 30)	2	2	Ballkani
	3MF	Andrija Radulović	(2002-07-03) 3 July 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Vojvodina
	3MF	Vladan Bubanja	(1999-02-21) 21 February 1999 (age 24)	1	0	Lokomotiva
10	4FW	Stevan Jovetić (captain)	(1989-11-02) 2 November 1989 (age 33)	72	33	Olympiacos
9	4FW	Stefan Mugoša	(1992-02-23) 23 February 1992 (age 31)	53	15	Incheon United
21	4FW	Milutin Osmajić	(1999-07-25) 25 July 1999 (age 24)	20	2	Preston North End
11	4FW	Nikola Krstović	(2000-04-05) 5 April 2000 (age 23)	12	2	Lecce
17	4FW	Dušan Bakić	(1999-02-23) 23 February 1999 (age 24)	4	0	Dinamo Minsk

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called on the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Miloš Dragojević	(1989-02-03) 3 February 1989 (age 34)	2	0	Mladost DG	v.   Bulgaria, 10 September 2023
GK	Matija Šarkić	(1997-07-23) 23 July 1997 (age 26)	7	0	Millwall	v.   Bulgaria, 10 September 2023
GK	Lazar Carević	(1999-03-16) 16 March 1999 (age 24)	2	0	Vojvodina	v.   Hungary, 17 June 2023^PRE
DF	Nikola Šipčić	(1995-05-17) 17 May 1995 (age 28)	7	0	Tenerife	v.   Lebanon, 12 October 2023^INJ
DF	Marko Vešović	(1991-08-28) 28 August 1991 (age 32)	48	2	Qarabağ	v.   Czech Republic, 20 June 2023
DF	Jonathan Drešaj	(2000-03-15) 15 March 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Dečić	v.   Czech Republic, 20 June 2023
MF	Aleksandar Šćekić	(1991-12-12) 12 December 1991 (age 31)	40	0	Partizan	v.   Bulgaria, 10 September 2023
MF	Sead Hakšabanović	(1999-05-04) 4 May 1999 (age 24)	33	1	Stoke City	v.   Bulgaria, 10 September 2023
MF	Vukan Savićević	(1994-01-29) 29 January 1994 (age 29)	19	0	Giresunspor	v.   Bulgaria, 10 September 2023
MF	Novica Eraković	(1999-11-12) 12 November 1999 (age 23)	4	0	Omonia Nicosia	v.   Czech Republic, 20 June 2023
MF	Aleksandar Boljević	(1995-12-12) 12 December 1995 (age 27)	26	2	Željezničar	v.   Serbia, 27 March 2023
MF	Nikola Vukčević	(1991-12-13) 13 December 1991 (age 31)	51	1	Free Agent	v.   Slovenia, 20 November 2022
FW	Viktor Đukanović	(2004-01-29) 29 January 2004 (age 19)	2	0	Hammarby IF	v.   Lebanon, 12 October 2023^INJ
FW	Uroš Đurđević	(1994-03-02) 2 March 1994 (age 29)	12	0	Sporting Gijón	v.   Bulgaria, 10 September 2023
Notes ^INJ = Withdrew due to injury ^PRE = Preliminary squad/standby ^RET = Retired from the national team ^SUS = Serving suspension ^WD = Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Player records

Main article: Montenegro national football team records and statistics

As of 18 October 2023^[19]

Players in bold are still active at international level.

Most capped players

 

Fatos Bećiraj is Montenegro's most capped player.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Fatos Bećiraj	86	15	2009–2022
2	Stevan Jovetić	72	33	2007–
3	Stefan Savić	71	9	2010–
4	Žarko Tomašević	64	5	2010–
5	Elsad Zverotić	61	5	2008–2017
6	Adam Marušić	57	3	2015–
7	Vladimir Jovović	54	0	2013–
8	Stefan Mugoša	53	15	2015–
9	Nikola Vukčević	51	1	2014–
10	Marko Simić	50	2	2013–

Top goalscorers

 

Stevan Jovetić is the national team top scorer.

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Average	Career
1	Stevan Jovetić	33	72	0.45	2007–
2	Mirko Vučinić	17	46	0.37	2007–2017
3	Stefan Mugoša	15	53	0.30	2015–
	Fatos Bećiraj	15	86	0.17	2009–2022
5	Stefan Savić	9	71	0.12	2010–
6	Dejan Damjanović	8	30	0.27	2008–2015
7	Radomir Đalović	7	26	0.27	2007–2012
8	Andrija Delibašić	6	21	0.29	2009–2013
9	Elsad Zverotić	5	61	0.08	2008–2017
	Žarko Tomašević	5	64	0.08	2014–

Competitive record

Montenegro have participated in seven qualification rounds for World Cup or European Championship tournaments. Montenegro have never qualified, and their biggest success was reaching the play-offs for Euro 2012.^{[citation needed]}
Montenegro first tried to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but they finished fifth in their group. They had more success in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, when they finished second in their group to reach the play-offs, but lost to the Czech Republic.^{[citation needed]}
In the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, Montenegro finished third, and two years later, in the qualifiers for Euro 2016, they finished fourth in their group. They again finished third in their 2018 World Cup qualifying group. Worst performance came in the qualifiers for Euro 2020, as Montenegro finished last-placed in the group without single victory.^{[citation needed]}

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
FIFA World Cup qualifiers	40	13	13	14	61	58	+3
UEFA European Championship qualifiers	41	7	9	15	22	48	−26
UEFA Nations League	16	7	3	6	20	12	+8
Friendly games	50	18	13	18	59	62	−3
Overall	137	45	38	54	162	180	−18

Updated: 18 October 2023

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Part of   Yugoslavia									Part of   Yugoslavia
1934
1938
1950	Part of   Yugoslavia									Part of   Yugoslavia
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994	Part of   FR Yugoslavia									Part of   FR Yugoslavia
1998
2002
2006	Part of   Serbia and Montenegro									Part of   Serbia and Montenegro
2010	Did not qualify									5th	10	1	6	3	9	14
2014										3rd	10	4	3	3	18	17
2018										3rd	10	5	1	4	20	12
2022										4th	10	3	3	4	14	15
2026	To be determined									To be determined
Total	0/22									—	40	13	13	14	61	58

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record										Qualification record								Qualification play-offs record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960	Part of   Yugoslavia									Part of   Yugoslavia								Part of   Yugoslavia
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996	Part of   FR Yugoslavia									Part of   FR Yugoslavia								Part of   FR Yugoslavia
2000
2004	Part of   Serbia and Montenegro									Part of   Serbia and Montenegro								Part of   Serbia and Montenegro
2008	Did not enter									Did not enter								—
2012	Did not qualify									PO	8	3	3	2	7	7		2	0	0	2	0	3
2016										4th	10	3	2	5	10	13		—
2020										5th	8	0	3	5	3	22
2024	To be determined									TBD	3	1	1	1	1	2
Total	0/3									—	30	7	9	13	21	44		2	0	0	2	0	3

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Year	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2018–19	C	4	6	2	1	3	7	6		35th
2020–21	C	1	6	4	1	1	10	2		34th
2022–23	B	3	6	2	1	3	6	6		28th
2024–25	B	To be determined
Total			18	8	3	7	23	14	28th

Head-to-head record

Below is a summary of Montenegrin national team results against every opponent country.

As of 18 October 2023

Opponent	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Albania	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2	000.00
Armenia	3	1	0	2	6	5	+1	033.33
Austria	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2	000.00
Azerbaijan	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	066.67
Belarus	4	2	2	0	4	1	+3	050.00
Belgium	1	0	1	0	2	2	+0	000.00
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	0	3	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Bulgaria	8	3	4	1	9	9	+0	037.50
Colombia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Cyprus	5	2	3	0	9	3	+6	040.00
Czech Republic	5	0	0	5	1	13	−12	000.00
Denmark	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1	033.33
England	6	0	3	3	5	19	−14	000.00
Estonia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Finland	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	000.00
Georgia	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	050.00
Ghana	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Gibraltar	2	2	0	0	7	1	+6	100.00
Greece	2	1	0	1	2	2	+0	050.00
Hungary	4	2	2	0	7	5	+2	050.00
Iceland	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Israel	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	000.00
Iran	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Italy	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	000.00
Japan	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Kazakhstan	4	3	1	0	11	0	+11	075.00
Kosovo	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2	000.00
Latvia	4	2	2	0	5	2	+3	050.00
Lebanon	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	100.00
Liechtenstein	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2	050.00
Lithuania	3	2	1	0	8	3	+5	066.67
Luxembourg	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	066.67
Moldova	4	3	0	1	7	5	+2	075.00
North Macedonia	3	1	0	2	4	7	−3	033.33
Netherlands	2	0	1	1	2	6	−4	000.00
Northern Ireland	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Norway	4	1	0	3	4	6	−2	025.00
Poland	4	0	2	2	6	9	−3	000.00
Republic of Ireland	2	0	2	0	0	0	+0	000.00
Romania	7	3	2	2	7	6	+1	042.86
Russia	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	000.00
San Marino	2	2	0	0	9	0	+9	100.00
Serbia	4	0	0	4	2	9	−7	000.00
Slovakia	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2	000.00
Slovenia	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	000.00
Sweden	3	0	1	2	3	6	−3	000.00
Switzerland	2	1	0	1	1	2	−1	050.00
Turkey	4	0	2	2	5	7	−2	000.00
Ukraine	2	1	0	1	1	4	−3	050.00
Uzbekistan	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Wales	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	066.67
51 Teams	142	47	39	56	169	187	−18	033.10

FIFA rankings

Main article: Montenegro national football team records and statistics

See also

•  Association football portal

• Montenegro men's national football team results
• Montenegro men's national football team records and statistics
• List of Montenegro international footballers
• Montenegro women's national football team
• Montenegro women's national under-17 football team
• Football in Montenegro
• Sport in Montenegro

Notes

References

1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
2. Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
3. "Serbia to take spot in Euro 2008". BBC Sport. 23 May 2006. from the original on 2 September 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
4. Mark Chaplin (2006). . UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
5. Simon Hart (2007). . UEFA.com. UEFA. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
6. "Soccer-Montenegro beat Hungary 2–1 in international debut". Reuters.co.uk. Reuters. 24 March 2007. from the original on 11 January 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
7. . UEFA.com. UEFA. 2007. Archived from the original on 4 June 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
8. . FIFA.com. FIFA. 2007. Archived from the original on June 3, 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
9. . vijesti.me (in Montenegrin). Vijesti. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
10. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ – Matches – Ukraine-Montenegro". FIFA.com. FIFA. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2016.^{[dead link]}
11. "Montenegro Arrests Fans for Football Violence". balkaninsight.com. Balkan Insight. 31 March 2015. from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
12. "Sportski objekti na teritoriji Glavnog grada Podgorica". from the original on 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
13. "Fudbalski savez Crne Gore". from the original on 2014-06-05. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
14. "VIDEO: Zavirite u novu Kuću fudbala - CDM". from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
16. "RADULOVIĆ OBJAVIO SPISAK ZA LIBAN I SRBIJU" (in Serbian). 2 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
17. "Finland-Montenegro | UEFA Nations League 2023 | UEFA.com". UEFA. from the original on 2022-03-10. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
18. "Most Montenegro Caps - EU-Football.info". eu-football.info. from the original on 2022-03-28. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
19. Mamrud, Roberto. "Montenegro - Record International Players". RSSSF. from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2023-02-02.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Montenegro national football team.

• Football Association of Montenegro (in Montenegrin)
• Montenegro on FIFA.com (in English)
• Montenegro on UEFA.com (in English)
• List of players (in English)
• Montenegro national team match reports (in English)