The team is for Latvian players aged 17 or under at the start of a two-year UEFA European Under-17 Championship cycle, so players appearing for the team can actually be up to 19 years of age.

Prior to Latvia's independence in 1991, Latvian players were eligible for selection to the Soviet Union U-16 team.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Latvian Football Federation was admitted to UEFA as a full member in 1992, and the Latvia U-16 team played their first competitive matches in the first phase of the qualifying tournament for the 1994 European U-16 Championship.

The team's competitive debut came on 18 September 1993 against Russia U-16 and they finished their first qualifying campaign as 3rd out of 3 teams, behind Russia and Norway.

[1] Although the team has continued to participate in every under-16 and under-17 European Championship qualifying cycle since 1994, the team has never qualified for any of the tournaments.