Forza Titani – San Marino’s surprisingly successful campaign

San Marino is the worst national football team in the world according to the FIFA rankings, coming in 210^th place. They have never qualified for a major tournament, and they have nearly 200 competitive losses to their name, with only three victories – two of which came in 2024.  

San Marino, a micronation located entirely within Italy, has a population of 33,600 people and is the fifth smallest country in the world. Most of their national team’s players are semi-professional and work other day jobs, paling in comparison to the nations dominating the top of the rankings such as Spain, Brazil or England.  

Despite this, the San Marino national team has gained a devoted following. The Sammarinese ultras, mainly hailing from Italy, call themselves the Brigata Mai 1 Gioia, which roughly translates to “Never Any Joy Brigade”. The name came about due to the fact that the ultras had never seen their team win a match since the brigade’s inception in late 2004. The Titani’s plight gained further attention on social media, thanks to a San Marino fan account on X, formerly Twitter, who devotedly follows all their matches, and has over 180,000 followers! There’s something tantalising and endearing of the footballing spirit in this attention – everyone supporting the sport’s biggest underdogs. Before September, every match was the same – praying for a win but walking away in defeat, or if they were lucky, leaving with a draw.  

The Titani’s fate changed in their 2024 Nations League campaign, securing their first-ever competitive victory and their first-ever away win. Both victories came against Liechtenstein, who they also beat in 2004 – making Liechtenstein the only team ever to be beaten by San Marino. Their first win of the campaign came in September, with a 1-0 victory at their national stadium: their first win in 20 years. The goal scorer, Nicko Sensoli, was not even born when they achieved their last victory in 2004. Fans could not believe it, with one fan online saying the team “wrote history”, labelling the team “the golden generation of Sammarinese football”.  

In the post-match interview, the Sammarinese manager, Roberto Cevoli, who was appointed at the start of the year, called San Marino “his destiny” and said the match was a “perfect evening.” Goal scorer Sensoli said that it was “an incredible feeling” to score and dedicated the victory to everyone in San Marino.  

Their success in the Nations League, however, faltered slightly afterwards, with a 0-1 loss to Gibraltar, which the two teams followed up with a 0-0 draw. In the time between their September victory and their November draw, San Marino also lost two friendly matches to Moldova and Andorra respectively.  

However, they managed to dig in deep after their draw in order to remain unbeaten in November. Their 1-3 away win on 18 November was a match of many firsts for San Marino: it was their first-ever away win, the first time the team had scored more than one goal in a competitive fixture, and the first time they scored more than twice in any match. It was also the first time that the Titani had come from a losing position to win the match. Cevoli, speaking in a post-match interview, said it was a testament to how the players’ mentality had changed and that the team were now “reaping the fruits of the work [they] did together” in training.  

This November success meant that San Marino recorded their longest unbeaten streak of two matches. Amongst wild celebrations online, the national team’s official X account joked that they would win against Manchester City, after the Premier League holders failed to secure any wins in November. Their underdog tale has won the hearts of people across the globe, and their success has united the football community in excitement and amazement.  

So, what has changed? How did San Marino top their Nations League group? We may never know. Perhaps it is due to behind-the-scenes magic in training, the support of fans globally, or some newfound momentum with the arrival of Cevoli and younger players receiving call-ups to the team.  

The future for San Marino looks bright – with a promotion to League C for the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League, the football team’s biggest success to date. If they succeed in League C, it is possible they could qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Only time will tell if their success continues, but the whole of the footballing community is behind them, hoping that their next win will come before 2044.