10 Best Luxembourg Football (Soccer) Players of All Time

Luxembourg national football team at the UEFA EURO 2016 Qualifying round – Group C photo by Bogdan Zayats – Wikimedia commons

10 Best Luxembourg Football (Soccer) Players of All Time

Luxembourg’s national squad has had little international success, never qualifying for a European Championship or World Cup. The national team is currently rated 93rd in the FIFA World Ranking (as of December 2021). 

Since the 1934 World Cup, Luxembourg has competed in every FIFA World Cup qualifying match, and since the Euro in 1964, it has competed in every UEFA European Championship qualifying match.

As of 2020, they have never achieved qualification for any of these important competitions. The country with the most qualifying attempts in both of these tournaments without ever making it to the championship rounds is Luxembourg. They did, however, take part in six Olympic football competitions between 1920 and 1952.

With the 2022 world cup scheduled to kick off on Sunday, November 20 in Qatar, Luxembourg did not manage to secure a spot. This however is no indication of a lack of soccer talent in the European nation. Luxembourg boasts a diverse scope of talented soccer players from every region of the nation.

Here are the 10 best Luxembourg football players of all time.

1. Robby Langers

Robert ‘Robby’ Langers is a former Luxembourg footballer. He began his career with Union Luxembourg before being loaned to German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach at the age of 20.

Langers made his Luxembourg debut in a World Cup qualification match against Yugoslavia in September 1980. He went on to win 73 caps for Luxembourg over the next eighteen years, scoring eight goals. He appeared in 35 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.

He played his final international game in May 1998, against Cameroon, in which he came on as a second-half substitute and was himself substituted a few minutes later in his honour In 1987, he was named Luxembourgish Sportsman of the Year.

He appeared on the Ballon d’Or shortlist in 1989. He scored eight goals for Luxembourg in his 73 international appearances.

2. Gerson Rodrigues

Gerson Rodrigues photo by AiPee213-100 – Wikimedia commons

Rodrigues, Gerson Correia Leal is a Luxembourgian footballer who is on loan from the Ukrainian Premier League club Dynamo Kyiv and also plays for the Luxembourg national team.

Rodrigues, a goal-scoring midfielder, is the first Luxembourgian footballer to participate in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Rodrigues made his international debut in 2017 for Luxembourg.

On March 21, 2019, he scored his first goal for the national team and Luxembourg’s second of the game as they came back from a goal down to defeat Lithuania 2-1 in UEFA Euro 2020 qualification.

Rodrigues scored the only goal in a memorable 1-0 victory away to Ireland in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification on March 27, 2021.

Three days later, Rodrigues followed this up by scoring the opening goal for Luxembourg against his country of birth, European champions Portugal, to take a shock lead, but they eventually fell to a 1–3 defeat.

3. Danel Sinani

Danel Sinani photo by AiPee213-100 – Wikimedia commons

Professional footballer Danel Sinani is a winger for the Norwich City in the EFL Championship. He plays for the Luxembourg national team. He was born in Belgrade to Gorani’s parents. He debuted for Luxembourg on the world stage in 2017.

Because Sinani’s parents are from Draga, Kosovo approached him about representing them internationally. Sinani declined the discussion since he considers Luxembourg to be his home.  During Luxembourg’s 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D season, Sinani scored three goals.

4. Leandro Barreiro

Leandro Barreiro Martins (Mainz, 35) photo by Steffen Prößdorf – Wikimedia commons

A midfielder for both the Luxembourg national team and Bundesliga team Mainz 05, Leandro Barreiro Martins is a professional football player. Barreiro was born in Luxembourg and is a descendant of Angola.

Barreiro committed to Mainz in his first professional deal. On February 8th, 2019, he made his Mainz debut in a 5-1 Bundesliga defeat to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Barreiro made his international debut for the Luxembourg national football team on March 22, 2018, in a 1-0 friendly victory against Malta.

5. Olivier Thill

Olivier Thill, Ayaz Guliyev photo by Artyom Gusev – Wikimedia commons

Midfielder Olivier Thill is a professional footballer from Luxembourg. From 2015 until 2018, Thill began playing club football as a senior with FC Progrès Niederkorn.

Thill made his international debut in 2017 with the Luxembourg national team. Thill used the new regulation by FIFA that announced that, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all the contracts of foreign players in Ukraine were suspended until 30 June 2022.

The players were allowed to sign with clubs outside Ukraine until that date and Thill went on to sign a contract with Turkish club Eyüpspor through June 30, 2022, on March 30, 2022.

6. Christopher Martins

Christopher Martins 2022 photo by Anton Zaitsev – Wikimedia commons

A professional football player from Luxembourg named Christopher Martins Pereira now competes for Spartak Moscow in the Russian Premier League as a defensive midfielder or central midfielder. Martins played for Luxembourg at the under-17, under-19, and under-21 levels at youth international competitions.

He was qualified to play for both Cape Verde and Luxembourg at the international level, but he declined a call-up from the senior team of Luxembourg in March 2013 since he had not yet made up his mind about which country he wanted to represent.

He was called up by Luxembourg once more, and on September 8, 2014, at the age of 17, he made his debut.

7. Guy Hellers

Guy Hellers is a former midfielder and current football manager from Luxembourg. He succeeded Dane Allan Simonsen as the head coach of the Luxembourg national team in 2004.

Luc Holtz succeeded Hellers as coach of Luxembourg after Hellers’ resignation in 2010. Hellers made his international debut for Luxembourg against Greece in a qualifying match for the 1982 European Championship. He went on to collect 55 caps and score 2 goals.

In 27 FIFA World Cup qualifying games, he participated. The World Cup qualifying encounter against Cyprus in October 1997 marked his last appearance for his country. In the upset match against the Czech Republic in 1995, he scored the game’s lone goal.

8. Carlo Weis

Retired Luxembourgish defender Carlo Weis played football for several years. From November 1995 until Jeff Strasser passed him in 2008, he held the record for most appearances for Luxembourg.

In a friendly game against Poland in March 1978, Weis made his international debut for Luxembourg. He went on to receive a record-breaking 87 caps throughout a 20-year international career, contributing to one goal. He participated in 30 World Cup qualifying games.

In a friendly encounter against Cameroon in May 1998, he participated in his last international competition. At age 41, Weis ended his playing career after the 1999–2000 season.

9. Jeff Strasser

Jeff Strasser photo by Thomas Hilmes – Wikimedia commons

Jeff Strasser is the current manager of Progrès Niederkorn and a former professional football player from Luxembourg.  Strasser earned his Luxembourg debut against Greece in a World Cup qualification match in October 1993. He had a record 88 caps as of December 2008, scoring six goals.

He took part in 29 FIFA World Cup qualification games. Since taking over from Carlo Weis in November 2008, he has held Luxembourg’s all-time cap record.

10. David Turpel

David Turpel photo by Bogdan Zayats – Wikimedia commons

David Turpel is a forward for Progrès Niederkorn and a member of the Luxembourg national football team. Turpel, a Luxembourg City native, played club football for Swift Hesperange, Virton, Etzella Ettelbruck, and F91 Dudelange.

He debuted for Luxembourg internationally in 2012. For the 2017–18 campaign, he received the Luxembourg footballer of the year award.

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