Latvia U-17 Crush Lithuania 5-1 in Baltic Cup Opener

Latvia's U-17 men's football team secured a convincing victory on Sunday in Finland, crushing Lithuania 5-1 (1-0) in the opening game of the Baltic Cup. The squad, composed of players born in 2010 and later, delivered a strong performance.

Miroslavs Mogiļevičs opened the scoring in the 45th minute with an assist from Zahars Maligins. In the second half, Latvia continued to dominate: Daņila Sļusarevs made it 2-0 in the 50th minute, and Loiks Mballa extended the lead to 3-0 in the 54th minute. Lithuania pulled one back through Gvids Valatkevičs (57th minute), but Latvia quickly restored the three-goal buffer. In the 73rd minute, Zahars Maligins scored and was immediately substituted. Edvards Gross, who had come on seven minutes earlier, sealed the win with a goal in the 88th minute – 5-1.

Up next, Latvia will face Estonia on Tuesday in Tammela, followed by a match against hosts Finland on Thursday. Head coach Andrejs Gluščuks has named ten players from local clubs and others from Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain.

Last year's U-17 Baltic Cup in Estonia saw Latvia emerge as champions, beating Finland 2-1, Estonia 4-2, and Lithuania 5-4. In February, the same age group won the "Riga Cup" tournament in Riga. March brought two friendlies against North Macedonia (1-2 and 2-0), and in May they participated in the UEFA Development Tournament in Finland (0-4 vs Ireland, 2-1 vs Iceland, 2-2 vs Finland, win on penalties).

Latvia, as host of the 2027 European U-17 Championship, has already secured a spot in the final tournament but will still participate in qualification. The first qualifying round in November in Croatia will also include Belgium and Kosovo. The 2025 final tournament will be held in Riga, Jūrmala, and Jelgava.