In the world of sports, there are bad teams. And then there’s San Marino men’s soccer.
Well, on Thursday, players representing Europe’s third-smallest country gave all of the 33,660 Sammarinese population something to smile about.
San Marino — ranked dead last by FIFA at 210 — had not won a match since April of 2004 and had never won a competitive match in program history. And despite some admirable showings in recent years (like a 2-1 loss to Denmark), San Marino’s 20-year winless streak seemed endless.
That all changed in Thursday’s UEFA Nations League D group stage matchup against Liechtenstein. Behind a 58th minute goal from Nicko Sensoli — a 19-year-old in the fourth division of Italian soccer — San Marino was able to end the streak with a 1-0 win. The scenes in San Marino were electric — almost a state of shock between the players and fans in the stands.
https://twitter.com/SweeperPod/status/1831795156288466981
https://twitter.com/TheEuropeanLad/status/1831794785981755839
That’s what sports is all about right there.
The soccer world also couldn’t believe that San Marino won a match.
This was how Twitter/X reacted
https://twitter.com/lawseyitfc/status/1831795738264924525
https://twitter.com/SickosCommittee/status/1831795498975687029
https://twitter.com/AdamED98/status/1831796079068918106
https://twitter.com/BCAFCBH/status/1831796692955627542
https://twitter.com/_Zeets/status/1831797470407618890
https://twitter.com/ryan_bamz/status/1831796848245485942
https://twitter.com/karan_tejwani26/status/1831800273897189447
https://twitter.com/MichaelBattista/status/1831796286917636235
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