Latvia's greatest achievement came in 2004 when they surprised everyone by qualifying for the European Championships beating Turkey in a play-off. Latvia had a very tough group and had to play Czech Republic, Germany and Holland. Latvia did manage to draw with Germany but lost the other two.

This is the only time that the Latvia National team has managed to qualify for a major competition. They were unable to build on this and finished a disappointing 5th place in their World Cup qualifying group. They failed to beat any of the teams that finished above them.