On March 25, 2022, Beijing time, The European team Latvia hosted a warm-up match at home against Kuwait, who did not reach the round of 12. As a result, in the 90-minute match, the two teams were tied 1-1. Kuwait quickly scored a goal at the start of the round of 12, and in the 55th minute of the second half, Latvia equalized. After that, the two teams did not build again, Kuwait in the last moment, although almost broke the Latvian team, but there were no dangers, and finally the two teams shook hands and made peace.
It is worth mentioning that this is the second time in the history of Kuwait that the team has played against Latvia. Although Latvia is a European team, it is only ranked 135th, while Kuwait is 8 places lower than Latvia and ranks 143rd. This is a big factor in Kuwait's failure to reach the round of 12. In terms of actual combat effectiveness, Kuwait is not worse than Vietnam (98th), but in international official competitions, Vietnam has played more than Kuwait, so this ranking does not accurately represent true strength. Kuwait used to be the bitter master of the Chinese team, and the national football team has encountered the stumbling block of Kuwait on the journey of the World Cup many times.
Latvia are the weakest teams in Europe, and in the group stage of the European qualifiers, they have only beaten Gibraltar, who is 203rd in FIFA, and have not won a single victory. But that doesn't mean they're weak, and they're not even at a disadvantage against Asian teams, even against teams like Saudi Arabia and Australia.
In the match against Kuwait, although Kuwait scored the first half, it was only an unexpected situation. According to the statistics after the game, Latvia has 63% of the possession, 6 of the 10 shots on goal, in terms of attack, Latvia has a total of 84, while Kuwait has only 40. Therefore, the above data can also reflect the huge gap between Latvia and Kuwait.
To a large extent, this actually represents the gap between European and Asian football, and the last teams in Europe play like asian middle-rate teams, which is a very realistic situation.
Of course, Latvia did not beat Kuwait in this match, and Latvia also created the second time since 2003 that it was unable to beat Kuwait. This record, which lasted 19 years, does not know whether Latvia has a chance to break it.
Next, Latvia will welcome another FIFA-ranked Azerbaijani team on March 29, and the two teams will have a warm-up match. Then in June, they will open the UEFA Nations League D-class league against Andorra, Liechtenstein and Cyprus.