History The first all-national Latvian championship – the Virslīga – which succeeded the
Riga Football League and other, parallel regional leagues, was organized in 1927. It succeeded the previous Latvian Championship () that was held from 1922 to 1926 in similar fashion. The Virslīga lasted until the
Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940. After
World War II, between 1945 and 1991 the
championship of Soviet Latvia was the main footballing competition in the
Latvian SSR. With Latvia regaining full independence in
August 1991, the newly re-established Latvian Football Federation (LFF) decided to reorganise its competitions within the Virslīga from 1992. The same year Latvia returned to
FIFA and became a member of
UEFA.
Format Latvian Higher League is usually played from early March till November. Although the team count in the league has changed multiple times (10 in 2007 and 2020, 9 in 2019 and 2021, and 8 in 2015–2018), since 2022, a total of 10 teams participate in the Virslīga. Each side plays 36 games during the season, with 18 games being played at home and the other 18 away. At the end of each season, the lowest placed team in the league gets automatically relegated to the
Optibet Nākotnes Līga, with Nākotnes Līga winner replacing them, while the second lowest placed team gets to play in a 2 leg relegation playoff (
Pārspēles) against the runner-up of the Nākotnes Līga, for the last spot in the league. The winner of Virslīga qualifies for the
UEFA Champions League first qualification round, while runners-up and 3rd place teams qualify for the
UEFA Conference League first qualification round. A winter off-season league cup, the
Virslīga Winter Cup, was played in January of each year from 2013 to 2017, which was replaced in 2018 by the
Virslīga Cup (). However, since 2024, a revamped off-season tournament,
Livonia Cup, is being played from January till February, with teams from Latvia's and Estonia's leagues taking part. == Sponsorships and name changes ==