Paolo Nicolato: Contract Extended to 2026

An atypical approach – the Latvian Football Federation (LFF) has agreed with the head coach of the national team, Paolo Nicolato, to extend the contract until April 2026.

At the end of March, the national team of Latvia will meet twice with Gibraltar in order to keep its place in the C division of the UEFA Nations League. Of course, depending on the outcome of the duel, it will be decided whether to continue the cooperation. An unsuccessful result would, of course, be a failure, which would mean looking for something new. And at the same time, any positive outcome will do, also, for example, 1:0 and 0:0 LFF board will not turn their noses up. The players of the Latvian national team are positive about the Italian’s work methods and skills and would like him to remain in the position of head coach, Nicolato also said that he would like to stay, although he also said that he is tired of the negativity prevailing in Latvian football about the results of the national team. Although the performance is improving, the statistics are modest – three wins and seven draws in 20 games under Nicolato’s leadership. Gibraltar ranks 202nd out of 210 national teams in the world ranking, Liechtenstein and San Marino are below from Europe, in the D division of the Nations League they did not lose a single time in four matches against these teams – a win against San Marino and three draws. Having already hired Nicolato in February 2024, his task was to keep a place in Division C, which has not yet been fulfilled, finishing last in the group with North Macedonia, Armenia and the Faroe Islands.