'Dream with no limits' - world's worst team bid to make history

It is 17 years since San Marino captain Matteo Vitaioli, the player with the most appearances in the country's history, first represented his national team. He is yet to celebrate a victory.

Two decades and 140 games interspersed with crushing defeats and the odd near-miss have passed since San Marino, the world's fifth-smallest country, recorded the only win in the team's history - a 1-0 friendly victory against Liechtenstein.

But Vitaioli and his team-mates have the chance to write a new chapter for their country on Thursday when they look to claim their first ever competitive victory against the only opponent they have ever beaten - with Liechtenstein visiting in their Nations League opener.

Only 11 spots currently separate the two teams in the Fifa world rankings, with Liechtenstein 199th on that list and currently on a 40-match winless streak.

Surrounded by Italy and overlooked by the spectacular Mount Titano, San Marino has a population of just 33,000 and covers a mere 61 square kilometres - roughly half the size of Manchester.

According to Fifa's calculations, it is home to the world's worst national football team - a side ranked 210th who have lost 196 of the 205 fixtures they have contested.

"The worst memory was the match away to the Netherlands in 2011, which ended 11-0," Vitaioli tells BBC Sport. "It was already eight or nine with a lot of time left and I remember the supporters cheering on the Netherlands to see more goals."

San Marino's sole victory remains that 1-0 friendly win over Liechtenstein in April 2004, when an early goal from Andy Selva, the nation's all-time leading scorer with eight goals, sealed a moment that would go down in folklore.

The wait since has not been for a want of trying by San Marino's predominantly amateur group of players who, regardless of the scoreline, take immense pride in wearing the nation's sky blue kit.

Vitaioli, a graphic designer by day, recently celebrated the birth of his daughter and is well rehearsed in balancing international football with the demands of everyday life, fitting in training in the evenings after work.

"It is complicated," Vitaioli says. "But the love for the national team of your home country and the opportunity that playing international football represents - there are many professionals who never get the opportunity and honour to play the games we do - that makes the sacrifices worthwhile."

Amid winless decades, painful double-figure defeats - the biggest a 13-0 thrashing by Germany in 2006 - and with no hope of qualifying for a major tournament any time soon, the humble backgrounds of the San Marino players has helped them stick together.

It also means those seemingly small moments - scoring an inconsequential goal in a heavy defeat or even securing a goalless draw - are made all the sweeter.

"I have been part of the national team for almost 20 years. Fundamental in every group was the team spirit, the capacity of the players to make a team," Vitaioli adds.

"When you are playing tough matches, they can become complicated, and if you cannot rely on a solid group those games can hurt badly.

"We are friends sharing the same honour - but also the same burden."

There have been signs of progress. San Marino ended a two-year wait for a competitive goal to equalise against Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark in October, triggering scenes of jubilation on the pitch.

La Serenissima - 'the Most Serene' - fell to a 2-1 defeat in that Euro 2024 qualifying match but the scoreline appeared a mere footnote to those in sky blue, who had taken the first step of a record streak.

They then made it goals in back-to-back games for the first time in 18 years by also netting in a 3-1 loss to Kazakhstan and made history four days later, scoring in a third consecutive match for the first time when Filippo Berardi converted a 97th-minute penalty in a 2-1 defeat by Finland.

"If someone had told me years ago that I would score a couple of goals on the international stage in a San Marino shirt I would have taken them for a fool, I would not have believed them," says Berardi, now his nation's joint-second highest scorer with two goals.

"To score on the international stage with San Marino, with all the issues the team must overcome, drives even more feelings than scoring with another team would.

"You only have to look at the very first goal I scored, against Kazakhstan in 2019. The game was close to the final whistle and we were losing 3-0 but the players went crazy for a goal that apparently was useless."

San Marino were ultimately unable to improve their overall record of just one point - a goalless draw with Estonia in 2014 which remains Vitaioli's happiest memory with the team - from the 86 European Championship qualifiers they have contested.

But, while it is certainly not all about results for San Marino's players, there is a sense a second victory may be getting closer.

"I have felt something change in our minds," says Berardi. "Our self-esteem has improved and I feel we are so close to getting a positive result again, whether that is a draw or eventually a win.

"It would be the ultimate dream to be part of the next San Marino team to celebrate a victory. Probably it would represent the best satisfaction that I have ever felt - and not only for me but the coach, my team-mates and the people in San Marino."

That sense of momentum is something manager Roberto Cevoli, appointed in January, hopes to build on as San Marino aim to change the narrative.

Proud to lead his home country, Cevoli says he is driven to give something back to football in San Marino after beginning his playing and managerial careers there.

There would be no better way than to end that 20-year wait.

"I want to dream with no limits," says Cevoli.

"I am fully aware of the troubles the national team has to overcome differently from other national teams, but I hope to continue the progress the team has shown."