San Marino have finally ended a run of 20 years without a victory by beating Liechtenstein 1-0 in the UEFA Nations League.

FIFA’s lowest ranked team bottom of the federation’s ranking of 210 national sides had only previously won one game in their history, a 1-0 victory over the same opposition in 2004 but they added to that on Wednesday night after Nicko Sensoli scored to beat their 199th ranked opponents.

Two decades and 140 games and interspersed with crushing defeats and the odd near-miss have passed since San Marino, the world’s 5th smallest country, recorded the only win in the team’s history a 1-0 friendly victory against Liechtenstein.

Vitaioli and his teammates have the chance to write a new chapter for their country on Thursday when they look to claim their first ever competitive victory against the only opponent they have ever beaten with Liechtenstein visiting in their Nations League opener. Only 11 sports currently separate the two teams in the Fifa world rankings, with Liechtenstein 199th on that list and currently on a 40 match winless streak.

Amazingly, goal scorer Sensoli wasn’t even born. The 19 year old midfielder, who is on loan at Serie D club Sangiuliano, broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute. He capitalized on a defensive mistake Sandro Wieser where he proceeded to lob on rushing goalkeeper Benjamin Buchel.

Buchel got some of the ball, but was powerless to stop it from trickling into the back of the net. His strike sparked wild celebrations from his teammates, who valiantly defended for their lives in the closing stages. And the relief and relation was there for all to see after the final whistle where each of their squad members have become San Marino heroes of life.

San Marino will now be looking to make it two wins on the bounce in their history when they face Moldova ranked 152nd by FIFA in next week’s friendly. Meanwhile Liechtenstein are hoping their winless run will come to an end against 198th ranked Gibraltar on Sunday in their second Nations League fixture.