FIFA World Cup Qualifier Group K
Latvia v England
Daugava Stadium
Riga, Latvia
This limited edition 27 page A5 programme included information on the 2 games that Latvia played in October, against Andorra on the 11th and England on the 14th. It included a free poster from the game between England and Latvia at Wembley on 24 Mar 25 (the only previous meeting).
It was great to see actual paper tickets issued to the away fans even if they were a little boring. To be fair the FA managed to secure an allocation of 2,546 tickets but with 6,911 members registering their interest the cap cut off to guarantee a ticket was fairly high at 41 caps. The good news for us, was that I was safe on 50 caps and Sue had a rare success in the 30% ballet, making the cut despite only 40 caps. The cost of a ticket in the uncovered end was a bit steep at £53 😕
The Latvian FA were selling e-tickets online and some crafty England fans managed to navigate their website to successfully make a purchase for the Home End.
Pano of the 10,461 capacity Daugava Stadium taken from Tribune C. To the left is the Main stand and ViP area which is in Tribune B. Opposite is Tribune A, reserved for home fans. The other long side is dominated by a massive TV screen and a row of trees. Latvia played here between 1991-2000 but switched to using Skonto Stadium as their main venue. That said, their last three WC qualifiers have been played at the Daugava Stadium, against Serbia (L 0:1) in Sep 25 and a month later they faced Andorra (D 2:2) and England (L0:5)
The England faithful in Tribune C
Latvia 0 England 5
Attendance 10,404
England qualified for the 2026 World Cup Finals in style with an emphatic 5-0 win. Anthony Gordon opened the scoring after 26 mins when he skinned Latvia's Raivis Andris Jurkovskis before curling home a great strike. Harry Kane bagged his 75th goal on 44 mins with a drilled shot from the edge of the box. After the break Harry Kane scored England's third (his 76th) from the spot after he had been pulled down in the box during a corner. On 58 mins Latvia scored an unfortunate own goal when Tonisevs deflected the ball into his own net. In the latter stages Latvia poured forward and were caught out on the break when Eze scored a cracker on 86 mins after driving into the Latvian half and letting rip with a sweet strike.
Anderson secured his second MOTM award on the bounce after his performance against Serbia in Belgrade was followed with another against Wales at Wembley 3 days ago. Despite being a Red Dog he thoroughly deserves the front page
Day 1 - Arrival and Riga Night life
Our 2.5 hour Ryan Air flight from Stansted, departed on time at 1335 landing in Riga at 1805
We took the Number 22 bus from the airport which dropped us off at Autoosta (Bus station). The apartment was only a 5 min walk from the Bus stop
After a quick freshen up we hit the first bar, the traditional ALA (Folk club basement)
The beer was outstanding but really strong (6%)
The food was delicious, this is the 'Chicken roulade' wrapped in smoked bacon and cheese
Riga Black Balsam is the traditional drink, we sampled the black current version which was awful! so we repeated this a number of times 😆
After a quick drink in the Funny Fox and Tikki Bar we met some Swedish business men and headed to Rock Cafe
Party time
Swedish Mafia
Time for bed (or maybe one more)
Day 2 - Riga culture day
18th century former artists' studio in the lower right apartment
Kaleju lela 45, Riga
The Corner House is the former KGB HQ in Latvia. It was acquired by the Soviets during the first Soviet occupation of Latvia (1940-41) but between 1941 - 44 came under German occupation. The Soviets then 'liberated' the Baltic states and the KGB remained in the Corner House from 1944-90
Cells
Our guide in a mock interrogation of a tourist in our group
Exercise Yard
Execution Room with bullet holes in the wall
Riga's Old Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Gertrude
Riga's Nativity of Christ Orthodox Cathedral has suffered immensely during recent history. In WW1 occupying German troops converted it to a Lutheran Church. After the war it was converted back and even though it was damaged by artillery fire during the Latvian War of Independence in 1919, it continued to hold services until 1961. In 1961 the Soviet authorities closed it and ordered it to become a planetarium and 'house of knowledge' for scientific-atheistic propaganda. The Soviet reconstruction was savage but in 1991 the restoration project began and was completed in 2014
Freedom Monument honours soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence (1918- 1920)
Suzie H reporting from Riga
The Laima clock is an important cultural landmark in Riga. It was constructed in 1924 and was known as the Big Clock but from 1936 it began to carry the name of the confectionary company famous for chocolate. During the Latvia SSR period it was a political information stand but now it is a popular meeting place for everybody, including lovers
The Powder Tower (1650) used to store gunpowder in the defensive wall, but now part of the Latvian War Museum
Riga's Old Town (Vecriga) has a maze of cobbled streets
We booked this restaurant but never made it
House of the Blackheads
Our visit included a complimentary glass of Riga Black
Cheers (Ovacijas)
Mrs H at the Blackhead's ball
The House of the Blackheads was a warehouse and meeting place for merchants. It was the placed to be for the those that qualified for the Brotherhood of Blackheads; a guild for unmarried merchants, shipowners and foreigners.
Roland Statue in Riga
At a height of 130 meters, St Peter's Church is Riga's tallest church and was completed at the end of the 15th century. The weather vane is a 'rooster' but the one that stands today is the 7th version, as the others have all succumbed to the elements
From the Bell Tower of St Peter's Church you get a bird's eye view of Riga Cathedral and beyond
A blustery day but the views of the Old Town, Riga bay and the Daugava River are breath taking
A few pints in the Kiwi Bar with Lee the Yid
........and then young Harry pops up
Day 3 - Missed bus and the market
After missing our planned excursion to Lithuania and the 'Hill of Crosses' we decide to get some breakfast at the central Market, which proved to be a bad idea
The Central market in Riga was constructed using material from the former Zeppelin hangars at Vainode Airport, Kurzeme which operated during WWI. After the Latvian War of Independence the structures were taken down and moved to Riga to help in the construction of Riga's market.
At 1100 we had the bad luck to meet Lee the Yid and proceeded to go on a session that would last until closing time at 1700. 8 different groups of people sat on the spare chairs during our stay (Ex KGB man, Danish man with Latvian girlfriend, two Chinese girls, American family, Ex Boxer from London and a lady who disliked Russians)
The market bar was so cheap because it is classed as a shop and not a bar. They circumnavigate the rules by pouring the beer in a bottle first and then decanting it into a beer glass
The market is really popular with foodies checking out Latvian, Russian, Uzbek and Georgian food. To be honest we were not that impressed with our chicken!
The beer was good yet very strong. We were drinking the 'Rigas Ekstras' which was 5.8%
Lee the Yid and the Cockney Boxer
After ticket collection Sue had to go to bed for an early night, me and Lee headed across to the Karjala Bar and met up with 'Big Tone'
I met up with the 'Odd couple' in the Rock Cafe in the old town but had to head home shortly after. Thankfully I met Harry who walked me home via the Burger Bar!
Day 4 - Matchday and the Hill of Crosses
Thankfully our tour operator agreed to switch our date for the excursion to the Hill of Crosses and the Latvian city of Jelgava. At 0900 sharp we met at the Riga cathedral and headed off
One foot in Latvia
.....and one in Lithuania
At last we have made it to the Hill of Crosses
The Soviet government considered the crosses and the hill a hostile and harmful symbol. In 1961 wooden crosses were broken and burnt, metal ones used as scrap metal, while stone and concrete crosses were broken and buried. The hill itself was destroyed with bulldozers many times and even guarded by the Soviet Army and KGB. In 1978 and 1979 the Soviets attempted to flood the territory, but despite all attempts to stop people visiting, crosses would reappear overnight.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991 the politics changed and the 'Hill of Crosses' became a much loved symbol of Lithuanian and Christian unity
On 7 Sep 1993 Pope John Paul II visited and blessed all of Lithuania and Christian Europe
Next stop was St Simeon and St Ann's Orthodox Church in Jelgava about 46 km from Riga
3rd stop was the Tea House "Silva" for some Latvian cuisine
The 'Solyanka' was absolutely devine😋
Final stop was Jelgava Palace built between 1763-72 as a residence for the Dukes of Courland.
On returning to Riga we headed straight to the eastern suburbs to a local boozer called 'Alus Rume Trofeja' where we had a fantastic pizza and great real ale. When more footie fans came in it became really crowded and I ended up being on the receiving end of an angry bloke who had just had his pint knocked over him. Never mind!
We walked the 1.2 km from the pub to the stadium
Nice to see the Police out in force
The best thing about this stadium are the floodlights
Queue at the away end for the security and ticket checks for entry into Tribune C
Floodlight Porn
Sue and Steve on England duty
View from the uncovered away end
TV scoreboard in the trees
Teams coming out
The teams emerge from the bowels of Tribune B
Latvian national anthem sung by angels
Scoreboard in the trees
Another angle of Tribune A and B
Tribune B with lights
All 4 floodlights lighting up the Daugava Stadium
The scoreboard showing 2:0 to the England
Towards the end of the 1st Half the rains starts teaming down
4:0 to England and we are off to the pub
In less than 15 mins we are back in the warmth of the 'Alus Rume Trofeja', meeting up with Tim and Ian from Southend, Wigan Steve and an earlier encounter with Bish
The night is young so we take a bolt to Riga Old town to meet up with Colin, Ian and the Engineer in the Shakespeare. This is taken from the Tiki Bar around 4 AM.
Day 5 - Riga to Stansted
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