Estonia

Konstantin Vassiljev retired with 159 caps, and Karol Mets now captains a squad. That generation peaked in the autumn of 2011, when Estonia beat Russia 1–0 in a World Cup qualifier in Tallinn — the first competitive home defeat Russia had ever suffered — and followed it with a play-off run that pushed the team to 47th in the FIFA rankings the following March, its highest position since independence. Neither campaign ended in a finals appearance; Estonia has never reached the World Cup or the European Championship.

The team traces its competitive history back to 17 October 1920, when it played Finland in its first international, months after the War of Independence ended. The Soviet occupation shut the side down, and it did not take the field again as a recognised national team until 3 June 1992, a 1–1 draw with Slovenia. Mart Poom carried the shirt into England during those rebuilding years, at Arsenal and then Sunderland, and Ragnar Klavan followed a similar path later, at Liverpool and Watford.

Estonia plays its home matches at Lilleküla Stadium in Tallinn, known commercially as the A. Le Coq Arena, in front of a shirt that gave the side its nickname: Blueshirts. The one trophy that keeps returning to Tallinn is the Baltic Cup, won six times, most recently in 2024, with the next title on offer in 2026.