Luxembourg's national football team, the Red Lions, are set to face Italy's 'Squadra Azzurra' in an international friendly at the Stade de Luxembourg on home soil on Wednesday. Luxembourg have faced Italy nine times in their history, but victory has always eluded them.
Out of those encounters, Italy have emerged victorious eight times, with the only exception being a hard-fought draw.
The two teams last met 12 years ago, ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In a friendly played in Perugia, Luxembourg pulled off a memorable result, holding Italy to a 1-1 draw.
Maxime Chanot scored an 85th-minute equaliser, cancelling out Claudio Marchisio's early opener and securing Luxembourg's solitary point in their meetings with Italy.
Earlier encounters have generally followed a familiar pattern. In a friendly in April 1988, Luxembourg suffered a 3-0 defeat at home at Stade Josy Barthel, with Ferri, Bergomi, and De Agostini all finding the net for Italy.
World Cup qualifiers have also seen Italy dominate. In December 1981, Luxembourg lost 1-0 to an Italian goal from Collovati in Naples. Just over a year before, in October 1980, Collovati and Bettega scored, beating Luxembourg 2-0 on home soil.
The two countries also met in qualification for the 1978 World Cup. Luxembourg lost 3-0 in Rome, with goals from Bettega, Graziani, and Causio.
The home leg did not fare much better for the Red Lions, who went down 4-1. After Graziani, Antognoni, and a brace from Bettega put Italy 4-0 ahead, Nico Braun managed a late consolation goal for Luxembourg.
Italy's dominance stretches back further still. In the run-up to the 1974 World Cup, the Azzurri recorded comfortable victories: 5-0 in Genoa, thanks to four goals from Riva and another from Rivera, and 4-0 in Luxembourg, where Riva again scored twice, with Chinaglia and Capello also on the score sheet.
The very first meeting between the two sides took place little over a century ago, at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. There, Italy won the round of 16 by 2-0 before being eliminated by Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
Their next encounter is set for Wednesday evening, when Luxembourg and Italy will face off for the tenth time in an international friendly. The sold-out match kicks off at 8.45pm, and RTL will be broadcasting it live on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg and RTL Play.
