Malta’s most significant sports athletes

Malta may not be seen as one of the world’s athletic superpowers but the country is mad about its favourite sports. Like most areas around the world, its citizens turn out in their thousands to watch football, while there are other popular pastimes here, including rugby, basketball, athletics and sailing.

As a small country, Malta has delivered a more modest range of professional sportspeople, but some have made significant impacts globally.

Football’s finest

While there is some debate, some will argue that the best footballer to come out of Malta was Andre Schembri. Born in Floriana, the attacking player began his career with local teams Hibernians and Marsaxlokk. Hibernians are one of the most successful sides in the country’s history and they’re the favourites to win the league again this season in the global betting markets, any player who stands out here will attract attention from abroad.

Schembri subsequently enjoyed a long career around Europe, playing for teams in Germany, Hungary, Greece and Portugal. Recently retired, the Maltese international’s most notable achievement was winning the domestic Premier League with Marsaxlokk in 2007.

Andre Schembri’s closest rival as the best Maltese footballer of all time is Michael Mifsud. Another forward who played for many clubs around Europe, Mifsud finished his career as the national team’s leading goal-scorer and appearance-maker.

At a domestic level, the forward won three Maltese Premier League titles with Valletta, plus two wins in the Super Cup and an FA Trophy success. Of the two top Maltese players, Mifsud just edges this battle on trophies won.

A competitive cueman

For a time, Malta had a player capable of competing in different cue sports. Tony Drago was a left hander who is remembered fondly in the snooker fraternity. Born in the capital Valletta in 1965, he was an entertainer who played quickly and liked to take on risky shots.

Drago won just two non-ranking titles in his snooker career, but he enjoyed more success as a pool player. On the shorter table, the Maltese won six tournaments, including the World Pool Masters in 2003.

He still competes on the seniors tours and Tony Drago is a popular figure on both circuits.

Yasmin Zammit Stevens

Weightlifting is one of the hardest disciplines in world sport, and in Yasmin Zammit Stevens, Malta has a serious competitor. Going into the Paris Games of 2024, Malta had yet to win an Olympic medal of any colour, but Yasmin Zammit Stevens had made the country proud in this elite competition.

She represented her country at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after competing in previous regional international events. To date, Zammit Stevens’ most notable achievement came in weightlifting’s 2021 Commonwealth Championships in Tashkent where she claimed the bronze medal.

Katryna Esposito

Malta sent a compact team to the Paris 2024 Olympics, as their quest for that elusive first medal continued. One of their main hopes lay with Katryna Esposito, a judo exponent who had enjoyed success in the sport at other tournaments.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Esposito landed Malta’s first ever medal at the event when she won bronze in the 48 kg class. Sadly, she couldn’t build on that breakthrough in Paris, but she’s still only 23, and there will be more to come from Katryna Esposito.

Michael Field-Buss

The name Michael Field-Buss won’t mean much to Maltese sports fans, but he was a trailblazing athlete who others can follow. Born in Imtarfa in 1964, Field-Buss is one of only a few Maltese players to have made a mark in cricket.

He didn’t play internationally, but he enjoyed an eight year career with Essex and Nottinghamshire in the English game. At a time when Malta is making their way into the international cricket arena, aspiring young stars already have someone to look up to.

Gianluca Chetcuti

Another Maltese Olympian hoping to make a mark in future Games is shooter Gianluca Chetcuti. There are high hopes for this young athlete who was chosen as the country’s flagbearer at the closing ceremony of the Small Games in San Marino in 2017.

Chetcuti won gold in the double trap competition at those games and has enjoyed more success moving forward. He’s now in the prime of his career, so could Gianluca Chetcuti be the athlete to end Malta’s long wait for an Olympic medal?

These athletes have combined to help put Malta on the map in sporting terms, and the challenge is there for others to follow. One of the biggest aims would be for the country to earn any type of medal in the summer Olympics, and that would hopefully inspire a generation of new athletes.

It would be great to see the national soccer team qualify for a major tournament too. There’s a long way to go for all involved, but the platform is there, and Malta will have legitimate targets for future success.