Russia national football team

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This article is about the men's football team. For the women's team, see Russia women's national football team.

Russia
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Наши парни (Our Guys)
Сборная (The National Team)
AssociationRussian Football Union (RFS)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachValeri Karpin
CaptainVarious
Most capsSergei Ignashevich (127)
Top scorerArtem Dzyuba
Aleksandr Kerzhakov (30)
Home stadiumLuzhniki, Various
FIFA codeRUS
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 37 Increase 4 (16 September 2021)[1]
Highest3 (April 1996)
Lowest70 (June 2018)
First international
Russian Empire Finland 2–1 Russian Empire 
(Stockholm, Sweden; 30 June 1912)
As Russian Federation:
 Russia 2–0 Mexico 
(Moscow, Russia; 16 August 1992)
Biggest win
 Soviet Union 11–1 India 
(Moscow, Soviet Union; 16 September 1955)[2]
 Finland 0–10 Soviet Union 
(Helsinki, Finland; 15 August 1957)
As Russian Federation:
 Russia 9–0 San Marino 
(Saransk, Russia; 8 June 2019)
Biggest defeat
 Germany 16–0 Russian Empire 
(Stockholm, Sweden; 1 July 1912)
As Russian Federation:
 Portugal 7–1 Russia 
(Lisbon, Portugal; 13 October 2004)
World Cup
Appearances11 (first in 1958)
Best resultFourth place (1966, as Soviet Union)
Quarter-finals (2018, as Russia)
European Championship
Appearances12 (first in 1960)
Best resultChampions (1960, as Soviet Union)
Semi-finals (2008, as Russia)
FIFA Confederations Cup
Appearances1 (first in 2017)
Best resultGroup stage (2017)

The Russia national football team (Russian: Сборная России по футболу, romanized: Sbornaya Rossii po futbolu) represents the Russian Federation in men's international football and is controlled by the Russian Football Union (Russian: Российский Футбольный Союз, Rossiyskiy Futboľnyj Soyuz), the governing body for football in Russia. Russia's home ground is the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and their current head coach is Valeri Karpin.

Although a member of FIFA since 1912 (as the Soviet Union before 1990), Russia first entered the FIFA World Cup in 1958. They qualified for the tournament 11 times in total, with their best result being their fourth-place finish in 1966. Russia has been a member of UEFA since 1954. They won the first edition of the European Championship in 1960 and were runners-up in 1964, 1972 and 1988. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia's best result was in 2008, when the team won bronze medals.[4]

History[]

Main articles: Russian Empire national football team, Soviet Union national football team, and CIS national football team

After the breakup of the Soviet Union (which led to the break-up of the Soviet Union National Football Team) Russia played its first international match against Mexico on 16 August 1992 winning 2–0 with a team of former Soviet Union players, including some born in other former Soviet republics.

Beginning[]

Led by manager Pavel Sadyrin, Russia were in Group 5 for the qualification campaign for the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in the United States which consisted of Greece, Iceland, Hungary and Luxembourg. The suspension of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reduced the group to five teams. Russia eventually qualified alongside Greece with six wins and two draws. Russia went to the US to start a new era of Russian football as an independent country. The Russian squad consisted of veterans like goalkeeper Stanislav Cherchesov, Aleksandr Borodyuk and players like Viktor Onopko, Oleg Salenko, Dmitri Cheryshev, Aleksandr Mostovoi, Vladimir Beschastnykh, and Valeri Karpin (some of these Russian players could have chosen to play for example the Ukraine national football team but the Ukrainian Association of Football had failed to secure recognition in time to compete in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification[5]).

In the final tournament, Russia was drawn into group B with Cameroon, Sweden, and Brazil. This was considered a strong group with Russia having limited chances of qualifying for the second round. In their first two games in Detroit Russia lost 2–0 to Brazil and 3–1 to Sweden. Teetering on elimination, Russia defeated Cameroon 6–1 in San Francisco with Oleg Salenko scoring record five goals in a single match. Russia was eliminated from the tournament with three points from one win and two losses. Sadyrin was later sacked following what was a poor performance.

Euro 1996[]

Russia's UEFA Euro 1996 match against Italy on a stamp of Azerbaijan

After Sadyrin was sacked, Oleg Romantsev was appointed coach to lead Russia to UEFA Euro 1996. Romantsev was expected to qualify Russia for the final tournament and perform well. In his squad he selected many players from the 1994 FIFA World Cup such as Viktor Onopko, Aleksandr Mostovoi, Vladimir Beschastnykh, and Valeri Karpin. During qualifying, Russia overcame Scotland, Greece, Finland, San Marino, and the Faroe Islands to finish in first place with eight wins and two draws.

In the final tournament Russia was in Group C with Germany, Czech Republic, and Italy. Group C was considered the 'group of death' with Russia dubbed the weakest team, and they were eliminated after losing 2–1 to Italy and 3–0 to Germany despite a goalless first half in the latter game. Russia's last game against the Czech Republic ended 3–3. Germany and Czech Republic went on to meet in the final.

1997–99[]

Boris Ignatyev managed Russia in their unsuccessful qualification campaign for the 1998 FIFA World Cup

After Euro 96, Boris Ignatyev was appointed manager for the campaign to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, retaining players from Euro 96 such as Viktor Onopko, Aleksandr Mostovoi, and Valeri Karpin. In the qualifying stage Russia was in Group 5 with Bulgaria, Israel, Cyprus, and Luxembourg. Russia and Bulgaria were considered the two main contenders to qualify from the group with Israel considered a minor threat. Russia began the campaign with two victories against Cyprus and Luxembourg and two draws against Israel and Cyprus. They continued with victories against Luxembourg and Israel. Russia suffered their only defeat of the campaign with a 1–0 loss to Bulgaria. They ended the campaign with a 4–2 victory in the return game over Bulgaria and qualify for the play-off spot. In the play-offs, Russia was drawn with Italy. In the first leg Russia drew 1–1. In the away leg, Russia were defeated 1–0 and failed to qualify for the World Cup.

After failing to qualify for the World Cup in France, Russia were determined to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2000 co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands. Anatoliy Byshovets was appointed as Russia manager. He made very few changes to the squad by recalling players from the previous generations but did call up striker Aleksandr Panov. Russia were drawn in Group 4 for the qualifying round with France, Ukraine, Iceland, Armenia, and Andorra. Russia and France were considered as favorites for the top two spots with Ukraine being an outside contender. Russia began their campaign with three straight defeats to Ukraine, France, and Iceland. Outraged by this result, the Russian Football Union immediately sacked Byshovets and reappointed Oleg Romantsev as manager. The reappointment of Romanstev as manager brought a complete turn-around to Russia's campaign. They went on to win their next six games including a 3–2 victory over eventual champions France at the Stade de France. In their last game against Ukraine, a win for Russia would have resulted in outright qualification as the winners of the group, having an identical head-to-head record with France (a 3–2 win and a 3–2 loss), while possessing a superior goal difference. Russia took a 1–0 lead; however the game finished 1–1 after a mistake by the goalkeeper Aleksandr Filimonov late in the game.[6] Russia finished third in the group, failing to qualify for their second major tournament in succession.

Revival[]

Oleg Romantsev remained as manager of the national team to supervise their qualification campaign to the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. In the preliminary stage Russia was in Group 1 with Slovenia, FR Yugoslavia, and Switzerland, Faroe Islands, and Luxembourg. Russia were once again considered the favourites to qualify along with either Switzerland or Yugoslavia. Russia finished their campaign in first place to qualify directly managing seven wins, two draws, and a loss.

Russia was drawn into Group H with Belgium, Tunisia, and Japan. In their first game Russia achieved a 2–0 victory over Tunisia, but lost their next match to Japan 1–0, causing riots to erupt in Moscow.[7] For their last game against Belgium, Russia needed a draw to take them to the second round, but lost 3–2 and was eliminated.

Georgi Yartsev managed Russia at Euro 2004

Romantsev was sacked immediately following the tournament and replaced with CSKA's Valery Gazzaev. His task looked difficult as Russia's group consisted of Switzerland, Republic of Ireland, Albania, and Georgia with the Irish considered favourites and an improving Swiss side as an increasing threat. Russia began their campaign with home victories against the Republic of Ireland and Albania, but lost their next two games away to Albania and Georgia. Gazzaev was sacked after a disappointing draw with Switzerland in Basel, and Georgi Yartsev was then appointed manager. He managed to qualify Russia for a play-off against Wales after home victories to Switzerland and Georgia. In the first play-off leg Russia drew 0–0 with Wales in Moscow, but a Vadim Evseev header gave Russia a 1–0 victory in the away leg in Cardiff to qualify for Euro 2004. The victory was overshadowed when Russian midfielder Yegor Titov tested positive for drugs; amidst calls for Russia to be disqualified, Titov was given a one-year ban on 15 February 2004.

Russia were drawn in Group A with hosts Portugal, Spain, and Greece. They were not among the favourites to progress and tournament preparations were hampered by injuries to defenders Sergei Ignashevich and Viktor Onopko.[8] Russia started their tournament against Spain but a late goal from Juan Carlos Valerón put Russia on the brink of another group stage elimination.[9] Four days later, Russia became the first team officially eliminated after a 0–2 defeat to Portugal.[10] The final game of the group resulted in a surprising 2–1 victory over eventual champions Greece with Dmitri Kirichenko scoring one of the fastest goals of the tournament.[11]

In the 2006 World Cup qualifying tournament, Russia was drawn into Group 3 with Portugal, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. Russia began qualification with a 1–1 draw against Slovakia on 4 September 2004 in Moscow and then beat Luxembourg 4–0, but suffered a 7–1 defeat against Portugal in Lisbon, which remains Russia's worst defeat. Victories against Estonia and Liechtenstein seemed to put them back on track but a 1–1 draw with Estonia on 30 March 2005 in Tallinn was a major disappointment which saw the end of Georgi Yartsev's reign. Under new manager Yuri Semin, Russia were able to rekindle their hopes with a 2–0 win against Latvia before a 1–1 draw in Riga on 17 August 2005. Russia seemed to redeem themselves with victories against Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and a 0–0 draw against Portugal. In their final game Russia needed to win against Slovakia in Bratislava. After a 0–0 draw Slovakia advanced to the play-offs above Russia on goal difference.

Euro 2008[]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group E
Manager Guus Hiddink and midfielder Sergei Semak meet the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, after reaching the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2008

Having failed to qualify Russia for the 2006 World Cup, Yuri Semin stepped down several weeks later and Russia began looking for a new manager. It was clear that a foreign manager would be needed as most of the high-profile Russian coaches were not successful with the national team. On 10 April 2006, it was announced that then Australia manager Guus Hiddink would lead Russia in the Euro 2008 qualification campaign.[12]

For the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, Russia were drawn into Group E with England, Croatia, Israel, Macedonia, Estonia, and Andorra. For much of the campaign, it was between Russia and England to obtain the final qualifying place behind Croatia. Russia lost 3–0 away to England, and in the return game in Moscow, fell to an early goal from Wayne Rooney. During the second half Russia came from behind to win 2–1 with Roman Pavlyuchenko scoring both goals. On 17 November 2007, Russia suffered a 2–1 defeat to Israel to put qualification hopes in jeopardy, but Russia still managed to qualify one point ahead of England by beating Andorra 1–0 while England lost 3–2 to Croatia.

In the Euro 2008 tournament, Russia were drawn into Group D with Sweden and Euro 2004 group rivals Spain and Greece. In a preparation friendly against Serbia, leading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak was injured and would miss the tournament. Russia lost their opening match 4–1 to Spain in Innsbruck but then beat Greece 1–0 with a goal by Konstantin Zyryanov. The third game saw Russia defeat Sweden 2–0 through goals by Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrey Arshavin, resulting in Russia advancing to the quarter-finals in second place behind Spain. This was the first time ever since the fall of USSR, that saw Russia qualified from the group stage of a major tournament.

In the quarter-final against the Netherlands, Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a volley ten minutes after half-time. With four minutes left in the match, Ruud van Nistelrooy scored, to make it 1–1 and put the game into extra time. But Russia regained the lead when Andrey Arshavin raced down the left flank and sent a cross towards substitute Dmitri Torbinski, who tapped the ball into the net. Arshavin then beat Edwin van der Sar, ending the match 3–1, and sent Russia through to their first major semi-final since the breakup of the USSR. In the semi-finals Russia was once again matched up against Spain, and lost 3–0.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification[]

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4
Russia lost 0–1 against Germany in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification in October 2009

Russia was drawn to Group 4 in qualification for 2010 FIFA World Cup, competing with Germany, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein. The team started the campaign with a 2–1 victory over Wales but on 11 October lost 2–1 to Germany. Russia's form then improved, and by winning 3–1 away to Wales on the same day as Finland drew 1–1 to Liechtenstein, guaranteed them at least a play-off spot. The match at the Luzhniki Stadium against Germany to top the group was watched by 84,500 fans. Miroslav Klose scored the only goal of the game in the 35th minute, sending the Germans to the finals in South Africa and Russia to a play-off.

On 14 November, Russia faced Slovenia in the first-leg of their two-legged play-off, where they won 2–1 with two goals from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.[13] In the return match, Russia lost 1–0 in Maribor, and Slovenia qualified for the finals on the away goals rule.[14] On 13 February 2010, it was confirmed that Hiddink would leave his position as manager, with the expiration of his contract on 30 June.[15]

Euro 2012[]

Russia directly qualified for Euro 2012 by winning qualifying Group B, defeating Slovakia, the Republic of Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia and Andorra.

Final tournament[]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 Group A
Russia against Poland in Euro 2012.

Russia were drawn into Group A with Poland, Czech Republic, Greece. Led by Dick Advocaat, Russia were considered before the start of the tournament as possible dark horses, because they had been unbeaten for nearly 15 games and managed to record an impressive 3–0 win against Italy only one week before the Euro 2012's opening game kick-off. Living up to the high expectations set for them, The Sbornaya started off the tournament well with a sensational 4–1 win over the Czech Republic and temporarily went top of the group with three points. Alan Dzagoev netted twice and Roman Shirokov and Roman Pavlyuchenko scored. In the second game against co-host Poland, Dick Advocaat's side saw Dzagoev continue his fine form. He netted the opener, but Poland managed to equalise in the second half. Despite having drawn, the result wasn't seen as a bad one. The Sbornaya went full of confidence into their final game against Greece, a team that they were meeting for the third Euro in a row. However, things did not go as expected as Greece scored the opener late in the first half. The game finished with a 1–0 loss which eliminated the Russians from the tournament to the disbelief of the supporters.

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Czech Republic 3 2 0 1 4 5 −1 6 Advance to knockout phase
2  Greece 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4[a]
3  Russia 3 1 1 1 5 3 +2 4[a]
4  Poland (H) 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host
Notes:
  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Head-to-head result: Greece 1–0 Russia.

The group stage exit was considered to be one of the biggest surprises of the Euro and resulted in a hostile reaction from fans and media. Advocaat and most of the team, such as Andrey Arshavin, were heavily criticized for their perceived overconfidence.

2014 FIFA World Cup[]

Qualification[]

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group F

In July 2012, the Italian Fabio Capello was named as the new Russian manager, after being sacked by England in February.[16]

Russia competed in Group F of World Cup qualification and qualified in first place after a 1–1 draw with Azerbaijan in their last game. In January 2014, after qualification had been achieved, Capello was rewarded with a new four-year contract to last up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[17]

Group F
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Russia 10 7 1 2 20 5 +15 22 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup — 1–0 3–1 1–0 2–0 4–1
2  Portugal 10 6 3 1 20 9 +11 21 Advance to second round 1–0 — 1–1 3–0 1–1 3–0
3  Israel 10 3 5 2 19 14 +5 14 0–4 3–3 — 1–1 1–1 3–0
4  Azerbaijan 10 1 6 3 7 11 −4 9 1–1 0–2 1–1 — 2–0 1–1
5  Northern Ireland 10 1 4 5 9 17 −8 7 1–0 2–4 0–2 1–1 — 1–1
6  Luxembourg 10 1 3 6 7 26 −19 6 0–4 1–2 0–6 0–0 3–2 —
Source:[citation needed]

Final tournament[]

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup Group H

Russia played in Group H against South Korea, Belgium and Algeria.

In their first group match, against South Korea, goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev fumbled a long-range shot from Lee Keun-ho, dropping it over the line to give the Koreans the lead. Russia then went on to equalise through substitute Aleksandr Kerzhakov, who drew equal to Vladimir Beschastnykh's record 26 goals for Russia, and the match finished 1–1.[18] In the second match, Russia held Belgium at 0–0 at the Maracanã until substitute Divock Origi scored the only goal in the 88th minute. The final group stage match between Algeria and Russia on 26 June ended 1–1, advancing Algeria and eliminating Russia. A win for Russia would have seen them qualify, and they led the game 1–0 after six minutes through Aleksandr Kokorin. In the 60th minute of the game, a green laser was shone in Akinfeev's face while he was defending from an Algerian free kick, from which Islam Slimani scored to equalise. Both Akinfeev and Russian coach Fabio Capello blamed the laser for the decisive conceded goal.[19][20]

Group H

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Belgium 3 3 0 0 4 1 +3 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Algeria 3 1 1 1 6 5 +1 4
3  Russia 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2
4  South Korea 3 0 1 2 3 6 −3 1
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria

Euro 2016[]

Qualification[]

Russia were placed in Group G of UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying alongside Sweden, Austria, Montenegro, Moldova and Liechtenstein. Russia began their campaign well with a 4–0 win against Liechtenstein. This was followed by a string of shaky performances by Russia, two 1–1 draws against Sweden and Moldova and two 1–0 losses against Austria. Russia were awarded a 3–0 victory against Montenegro due to crowd violence. At this stage, Russia looked to be finishing third in their group before they bounced back by winning their remaining matches against Sweden, Liechtenstein, Moldova and Montenegro to finish second in their qualifying group above Sweden and qualify for UEFA Euro 2016.

Group G

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Austria 10 9 1 0 22 5 +17 28 Qualify for final tournament
2  Russia 10 6 2 2 21 5 +16 20
3  Sweden 10 5 3 2 15 9 +6 18 Advance to play-offs
4  Montenegro 10 3 2 5 10 13 −3 11
5  Liechtenstein 10 1 2 7 2 26 −24 5
6  Moldova 10 0 2 8 4 16 −12 2
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Final tournament[]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2016 Group B

During the group stages of the tournament, UEFA imposed a suspended disqualification on Russia for crowd trouble during a group match against England.[21] Russia were knocked out of the competition in their final group match which was against Wales (a 3–0 defeat); prior to this they had only collected a single point from a 1–1 draw against England which was followed by a 2–1 loss to Slovakia.

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Wales 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6 Advance to knockout phase
2  England 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5
3  Slovakia 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
4  Russia 3 0 1 2 2 6 −4 1
Source: UEFA

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup[]

Russia qualified for the 2017 Confederations Cup as hosts, yet once again produced a dismal performance. After defeating New Zealand 2–0 from the beginning,[22] Russia disappointed its fans by losing 0–1 to Portugal[23] and 1–2 to Mexico, thus once again crashed out from the group stage of a major FIFA tournament.[24] Despite this dismal performance, Stanislav Cherchesov, appointed as coach of Russia after Euro 2016, was allowed to keep the job as the RFU considered the tournament as a preparation for Russia's 2018 World Cup rather than an official one.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 3 2 1 0 7 2 +5 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Mexico 3 2 1 0 6 4 +2 7
3  Russia (H) 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
4  New Zealand 3 0 0 3 1 8 −7 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host
Russia 2–0 New Zealand
  • Boxall Goal 31' (o.g.)
  • Smolov Goal 69'
 Report
Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg
Attendance: 50,251
Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)
Russia 0–1 Portugal
Report Ronaldo Goal 8'
Otkritie Arena, Moscow
Attendance: 42,759
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)
Mexico 2–1 Russia
 Report Samedov Goal 25'
Attendance: 41,585
Referee: Fahad Al-Mirdasi (Saudi Arabia)

2018 FIFA World Cup[]

Russian team during the penalty shoot-out in the first knockout round against Spain at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

On 2 December 2010, Russia were selected to host the 2018 World Cup and automatically qualified for the tournament.[25][26] During the friendly matches prior to the tournament, Russia did not have good results. The team lost more games than it won and this made their FIFA ranking fall to 70th, the lowest among all World Cup participants.[27][28] Russia were drawn to play Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay in the group stage.

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group A

Despite a series of poor results in warm-up games, however, Russia began their World Cup campaign with a 5–0 demolition of Saudi Arabia, who were three places above them in the rankings,[29] on 14 June in the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[30] On 19 June, Russia won their second game of the group stage, beating Egypt by a scoreline of 3–1,[31] taking their goal difference to +7 with only two matches played.[32] The win over Egypt all but secured Russia's advancement into the knockout stage for the first time since 1986, when they played as the Soviet Union; and also for the first time in their history as an independent state.[33] They officially qualified for the knockout stage the next day, following Uruguay's 1–0 win over Saudi Arabia.[34] Russia's final group game was against two-time world champions (1930 and 1950) and powerhouse Uruguay, with Russia losing 3–0,[35] meaning that they would finish second in the group.

Advancing from their group in second place, Russia faced Spain at the Round of 16 in Moscow. Spain were considered one of the tournament favorites with many accomplished players at club and international level, having won 2010 edition. Russia managed to surprise Spain in one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history; beating them in a penalty shootout after the match ended 1–1 in regular time.[36] BBC Sport and The Guardian described this as one of the biggest tournament surprises, considering how Russia were the lowest-ranked team prior to the competition, and according to some, had one of the worst teams of the competition.[37][38] Against the Spaniards who were known for their Tiki-taka, Coach Stanislav Cherchesov used a defensive 5-3-1-1 formation to sit deep and defend with 10 men, and conceded no goals from open play as Spain's only goal was from a free kick set piece while Russia tied the game thanks for a penalty awarded for a handball.[39] Igor Akinfeev, who saved two penalties including a foot-save to deny Spain's Iago Aspas, was voted as Budweiser Man of the Match. The win against Spain sent supporters and residents of Russia into wild celebrations, as they reached the quarter-finals for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union.[40] Match TV commentator Denis Kazansky said "From the first day we had not been expecting much from our team. Then thoughts turned to winning the thing. What we have seen is a significant change in people's attitudes, and in the history of Russian football".[41]

Russia football supporters at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Russia then played Croatia in the quarter-finals held at Sochi, on 7 July.[42][43][44] Coach Stanislav Cherchesov reverted to a four-man defense which successfully exploited Croatia offensive set-up which proved vulnerable to Russia's counter-attacking.[39] Russia scored first (a spectacular strike by Denis Cheryshev which was his fourth goal of the tournament and was later nominated for the Puskas Award) and last (a header from Mário Fernandes at the 115th minute) as the match finished 2–2 after extra time, and then were eliminated 3–4 in the penalty shootout.[45] Nonetheless, this stands as Russia's best World Cup performance ever since the dissolution of the USSR. The team visited the FIFA Fan Fest in Moscow on Sunday July 8, 2018 to thank their supporters and say goodbye.[41][46] Following the World Cup run, Russia's position in the FIFA ranking rose from 70 to 40.

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Uruguay 3 3 0 0 5 0 +5 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Russia (H) 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6
3  Saudi Arabia 3 1 0 2 2 7 −5 3
4  Egypt 3 0 0 3 2 6 −4 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host

In the round of 16:

  • The winners of Group A will advance to play the runners-up of Group B.
  • The runners-up of Group A will advance to play the winners of Group B.
Russia 5–0 Saudi Arabia
  • Gazinsky Goal 12'
  • Cheryshev Goal 43', 90+1'
  • Dzyuba Goal 71'
  • Golovin Goal 90+4'
 Report
Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Attendance: 78,011[47]
Referee: Néstor Pitana (Argentina)
Russia 3–1 Egypt
 Report
  • Salah Goal 73' (pen.)
Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg
Attendance: 64,468[48]
Referee: Enrique Cáceres (Paraguay)
Uruguay 3–0 Russia
 Report
Cosmos Arena, Samara
Attendance: 41,970[49]
Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal)

Knockout stage[]

Round of sixteen
Spain 1–1 (a.e.t.) Russia
 Report
  • Dzyuba Goal 41' (pen.)
Penalties
 3–4
Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Attendance: 78,011[50]
Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
Quarter-finals
Russia 2–2 (a.e.t.) Croatia
 Report
Penalties
 3–4
Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi
Attendance: 44,287[51]
Referee: Sandro Ricci (Brazil)

2018–19 UEFA Nations League[]

Main article: 2018–19 UEFA Nations League B

Russia participated in the UEFA Nations League for the first time, where they were drawn with Turkey and fellow World Cup last eight Sweden. Russia had a promising start, with two wins over Turkey and a home draw to Sweden.[52][53] However, Russia wasted its opportunity to promote to League A after getting a 0–2 away defeat to Sweden, thus losing their first place to the Swedes instead and was forced to stay in League B.[54]

Euro 2020[]

Qualification[]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group I

In qualification, the Russian side was drawn in a group with Belgium as its most difficult opponent. Outside Belgium, those remaining opponents were Kazakhstan, San Marino, Cyprus and Scotland.

With the exception of its 1–3 loss to the Belgians away,[55] Russia defeated other group opponents. The Russian team defeated San Marino 9-0 after the two 7–0 wins in 1995 and in 2015.[56] Alongside the victory against San Marino, Russia defeated Scotland, Cyprus and Kazakhstan twice and eventually qualified for the UEFA Euro 2020.[57] Russia consolidated its second place in the group despite being thrashed by no.1 ranking Belgium 1–4 at home.[58]

Final tournament[]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 Group B

Russia lost their first match against Belgium in a 3–0 defeat, but won their second match against Finland 1–0. However, Russia were knocked out of the competition in their final group match against Denmark where they lost 4–1.

Following Russia's exit from the competition, Stanislav Cherchesov was sacked as coach.[59]

Pos Team
  • v
  • t
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Belgium 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9 Advance to knockout phase
2  Denmark (H) 3 1 0 2 5 4 +1 3[a]
3  Finland 3 1 0 2 1 3 −2 3[a]
4  Russia (H) 3 1 0 2 2 7 −5 3[a]
Source: UEFA
(H) Host
Notes:
  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Tied on head-to-head points (3). Head-to-head goal difference: Denmark +2, Finland 0, Russia −2.

2020–21 UEFA Nations League[]

Main article: 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B

Being forced to stay in League B for wasting the final decisive game, Russia once again reunited with Turkey, and also had to face Serbia and Hungary. Russia began comfortably, beating Serbia and Hungary with ease to take the first place.[60][61] In their last two games, they suffered two losses in Turkey and 0–5 in Serbia and finished the group in second place, remaining in League B.

Team image[]

Kits and crests[]

Following the break up of the Soviet Union, the Russian Football Union opted for a new identity, replacing the red and white Adidas kits with strips supplied by Reebok. Reebok presented the team in red, blue and white kits reflecting the readopted national flag of Russia. In 1997, Nike decided on a simpler design using just blue and white. The design, used at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004, consisted of mainly a white base with blue trim and the opposite combination for the away kit. After failing to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Nike moved in another direction by reintroducing red, this time as the home kit, while white being reversed as the away colour.[62][63] This trend was continued by Adidas, who took over as suppliers in September 2008.[64] The 2009–10 season marked yet another major change in the kit design with the introduction of the maroon and gold as the primary home colours. This combination however proved to be short lived as a return to red and white was made in 2011. The edition of the kit used at Euro 2012 featured a red base with gold trim and a Russian flag positioned diagonally while the away kit was a minimalistic white with red trim combination. The 2014 FIFA World Cup kit made a return to the maroon and gold colour scheme once again, with Russian flag-coloured stripes built horizontally into the sleeves, the front includes the pattern in different shades of maroon depicting the Monument to the Conquerors of Space. The away 2014 kit was mostly white with blue trim, the top of the front below the trim shows the view of Earth from space. The sides and back of the collar were made in the colours of the Russian flag. The 2018 FIFA World Cup kit did not have much decorations in it, except for the coat of arms. Home red shirt had a very similar design to the uniform of Soviet Union Olympic football team it used at the 1988 Summer Olympics, the last major tournament as of 2018 that Russia or USSR won. The back side of the inside of the shirt had "Together to Victory" (Russian: Вместе к победе) slogan printed below the collar. The Russian national team's official shirt supplier since 2008 is Adidas.

Kit suppliers[]

Kit supplier Period Notes
Germany Adidas 1992–1993
United Kingdom Reebok 1993–1996
United States Nike 1997–2008
Germany Adidas 2008–present

Kit deals[]

Kit supplier Period Contract
announcement		 Contract
duration		 Value Notes
Germany Adidas 2008–present
2008-09-08
 2008–2018 Undisclosed[65]
2018-05-31
 2018–2022 Undisclosed[66]

Results and fixtures[]

Main article: Russia national football team results (2020–present)

2020[]

8 October 2020 Friendly Russia  1–2  Sweden Moscow, Russia
19:15 UTC+3
  • Sobolev Goal 90+1'
 Report
  • Isak Goal 21'
  • Johansson Goal 72'
 Stadium: VEB Arena
Referee: Halis Özkahya (Turkey)
11 October 2020 Nations League Russia  1–1  Turkey Moscow, Russia
20:45
  • Miranchuk Goal 28'
 Report
Stadium: VTB Arena
Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
14 October 2020 Nations League Russia  0–0  Hungary Moscow, Russia
20:45 Report Stadium: VTB Arena
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)
12 November 2020 Friendly Moldova  0–0  Russia Chișinău, Moldova
20:00 UTC+3 Report Stadium: Zimbru Stadium
Referee: Radu Petrescu (Romania)
15 November 2020 Nations League Turkey  3–2  Russia Istanbul, Turkey
18:00
Report
Stadium: Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
18 November 2020 Nations League Serbia  5–0  Russia Belgrade, Serbia
20:45
Report Stadium: Red Star Stadium
Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)

2021[]

24 March 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Malta  1–3  Russia Ta' Qali, Malta
20:45
Report
Stadium: National Stadium
Referee: Peter Kjaesgaard (Denmark)
27 March 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Russia  2–1  Slovenia Sochi, Russia
15:00 (17:00 UTC+3)
  • Dzyuba Goal 26', 35'
 Report
Stadium: Fisht Olympic Stadium
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Marco Di Bello (Italy)
30 March 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Slovakia  2–1  Russia Trnava, Slovakia
20:45
Report
Stadium: Štadión Antona Malatinského
Attendance: 0
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)
1 June 2021 Friendly Poland  1–1  Russia Wrocław, Poland
20:45 UTC+2
Report
  • Karavayev Goal 21'
 Stadium: Stadion Miejski
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)
5 June 2021 Friendly Russia  1–0  Bulgaria Moscow, Russia
17:00
(18:00 UTC+3)
  • Sobolev Goal 84' (pen.)
 Report Stadium: VTB Arena
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus)
12 June 2021 UEFA Euro 2020 Belgium  3–0  Russia Saint Petersburg, Russia
22:00 UTC+3
  • Lukaku Goal 10', 88'
  • Meunier Goal 34'
 Report Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium
Attendance: 26,264
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
16 June 2021 UEFA Euro 2020 Finland  0–1  Russia Saint Petersburg, Russia
16:00 UTC+3 Report
Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium
Attendance: 24,540[67]
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
21 June 2021 UEFA Euro 2020 Russia  1–4  Denmark Copenhagen, Denmark
21:00 UTC+2
  • Dzyuba Goal 70' (pen.)
 Report
Stadium: Parken Stadium
Attendance: 23,644
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)
1 September 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Russia  0–0  Croatia Moscow, Russia
21:45 Report Stadium: Luzhniki Stadium
Attendance: 18,708
Referee: Roi Reinshreiber (Israel)
4 September 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Cyprus  0–2  Russia Nicosia, Cyprus
16:00 Report
Stadium: GSP Stadium
Attendance: 1,645
Referee: Alejandro Hernández (Spain)
7 September 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Russia  2–0  Malta Moscow, Russia
21:45
  • Smolov Goal 10'
  • Bakayev Goal 84' (pen.)
 Report Stadium: Otkritie Arena
Attendance: 10,508
Referee: Ali Palabıyık (Turkey)
8 October 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Russia  v  Slovakia Kazan
21:45 Stadium: Ak Bars Arena
11 October 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Slovenia  v  Russia Kazan, Russia
21:45 Stadium:
11 November 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Russia  v  Cyprus Saint Petersburg
20:00 Stadium: Krestovsky Stadium
14 November 2021 2022 World Cup qualification Croatia  v  Russia Split
16:00 Stadium: Stadion Poljud

Coaching staff[]

Position Name
Head Coach Russia Valeri Karpin
Assistant Coach Russia Nikolai Pisarev[68]
Assistant Coach Russia Viktor Onopko[68]
Goalkeeping Coach Turkmenistan Witaliý Kafanow[68]
Fitness Coach Spain Luis Martínez[68]
Analyst Spain Jonatan Alba[68]

Manager history[]

As of 7 September 2021[69]
Name Tenure Matches Won Drawn Lost Win %
Russia Pavel Sadyrin 1992–1994 23 12 6 5 52.17
Russia Oleg Romantsev 1994–1996, 1998–2002 60 36 14 10 60
Russia Boris Ignatyev 1996–1998 20 8 8 4 40
Russia Anatoliy Byshovets 1998 6 0 0 6 0
Russia Valery Gazzaev 2002–2003 9 4 2 3 44.44
Russia Georgi Yartsev 2003–2005 19 8 6 5 42.11
Russia Yuri Semin 2005 7 3 4 0 42.86
Russia Aleksandr Borodyuk (caretaker) 2006 2 0 1 1 0
Netherlands Guus Hiddink July 2006 – June 2010 39 22 7 10 56.41
Netherlands Dick Advocaat July 2010 – July 2012 24 12 8 4 50
Italy Fabio Capello July 2012 – July 2015 33 17 11 5 51.52
Russia Leonid Slutsky August 2015 – June 2016 13 6 2 5 46.15
Russia Stanislav Cherchesov August 2016 – July 2021 56 24 13 19 42.86
Russia Valeri Karpin July 2021 – 3 2 1 0 66.67

Players[]

Current squad[]

The following players were called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying games in September 2021.[70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77]
All caps and goals as of 7 September 2021, after the match against  Malta.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Guilherme (1985-12-12) 12 December 1985 (age 35) 19 0 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow
1GK Andrey Lunyov (1991-11-13) 13 November 1991 (age 29) 7 0 Germany Bayer Leverkusen
1GK Yury Dyupin (1988-03-17) 17 March 1988 (age 33) 0 0 Russia Rubin Kazan
1GK Aleksandr Maksimenko (1998-03-19) 19 March 1998 (age 23) 0 0 Russia Spartak Moscow
2DF Georgi Dzhikiya (1993-11-21) 21 November 1993 (age 27) 38 1 Russia Spartak Moscow
2DF Mário Fernandes (1990-09-19) 19 September 1990 (age 30) 33 5 Russia CSKA Moscow
2DF Vyacheslav Karavayev (1995-05-20) 20 May 1995 (age 26) 19 2 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg
2DF Igor Diveyev (1999-09-27) 27 September 1999 (age 21) 10 0 Russia CSKA Moscow
2DF Ilya Samoshnikov (1997-11-14) 14 November 1997 (age 23) 3 0 Russia Rubin Kazan
2DF Maksim Osipenko (1994-05-16) 16 May 1994 (age 27) 1 0 Russia Rostov
3MF Daler Kuzyayev (1993-01-15) 15 January 1993 (age 28) 40 2 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg
3MF Aleksei Miranchuk (1995-10-17) 17 October 1995 (age 25) 39 6 Italy Atalanta
3MF Roman Zobnin (1994-02-11) 11 February 1994 (age 27) 39 0 Russia Spartak Moscow
3MF Aleksei Ionov (1989-02-18) 18 February 1989 (age 32) 37 4 Russia Krasnodar
3MF Denis Cheryshev (1990-12-26) 26 December 1990 (age 30) 33 12 Spain Valencia
3MF Aleksandr Yerokhin (1989-10-13) 13 October 1989 (age 31) 29 2 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg
3MF Dmitri Barinov (1996-09-11) 11 September 1996 (age 25) 10 0 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow
3MF Zelimkhan Bakayev (1996-07-01) 1 July 1996 (age 25) 9 1 Russia Spartak Moscow
3MF Rifat Zhemaletdinov (1996-09-20) 20 September 1996 (age 24) 8 1 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow
3MF Maksim Mukhin (2001-11-04) 4 November 2001 (age 19) 5 0 Russia CSKA Moscow
3MF Arsen Zakharyan (2003-05-26) 26 May 2003 (age 18) 2 0 Russia Dynamo Moscow
3MF Aleksei Sutormin (1994-01-10) 10 January 1994 (age 27) 0 0 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg
4FW Fyodor Smolov (1990-02-05) 5 February 1990 (age 31) 41 15 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow
4FW Anton Zabolotny (1991-06-13) 13 June 1991 (age 30) 15 1 Russia CSKA Moscow
4FW Konstantin Tyukavin (2002-06-22) 22 June 2002 (age 19) 1 0 Russia Dynamo Moscow

Recent call-ups[]

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Sergei Pesyakov (1988-12-16) 16 December 1988 (age 32) 0 0 Russia Rostov v.  Croatia, 1 September 2021
GK Anton Shunin (1987-01-27) 27 January 1987 (age 34) 13 0 Russia Dynamo Moscow UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
GK Matvei Safonov (1999-02-25) 25 February 1999 (age 22) 3 0 Russia Krasnodar UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
GK Soslan Dzhanayev (1987-03-17) 17 March 1987 (age 34) 3 0 Russia Sochi v.  Malta, 24 March 2021 INJ
GK Nikita Khaykin (1995-07-11) 11 July 1995 (age 26) 0 0 Norway Bodø/Glimt training camp, October 2021
DF Dmitri Chistyakov (1994-01-13) 13 January 1994 (age 27) 0 0 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg v.  Croatia, 1 September 2021 INJ
DF Sergei Petrov (1991-01-02) 2 January 1991 (age 30) 5 1 Russia Krasnodar v.  Croatia, 1 September 2021 INJ
DF Fyodor Kudryashov (1987-04-05) 5 April 1987 (age 34) 45 1 Turkey Antalyaspor UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
DF Yuri Zhirkov (1983-08-20) 20 August 1983 (age 38) 105 2 Unattached UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
DF Andrei Semyonov (1989-03-24) 24 March 1989 (age 32) 27 0 Russia Akhmat Grozny UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
DF Roman Yevgenyev (1999-02-23) 23 February 1999 (age 22) 1 0 Russia Dynamo Moscow UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
DF Igor Smolnikov (1988-08-08) 8 August 1988 (age 33) 30 0 Russia Arsenal Tula v.  Slovakia, 30 March 2021
DF Roman Neustädter (1988-02-18) 18 February 1988 (age 33) 13 1 Unattached v.  Slovakia, 30 March 2021
DF Ilya Kutepov (1993-07-29) 29 July 1993 (age 28) 13 0 Russia Spartak Moscow v.  Slovakia, 30 March 2021
DF Aleksandr Zhirov (1991-01-24) 24 January 1991 (age 30) 0 0 Germany Sandhausen v.  Slovakia, 30 March 2021
DF Dmitri Zhivoglyadov (1994-04-29) 29 April 1994 (age 27) 0 0 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow v.  Serbia, 18 November 2020
DF Maksim Belyayev (1991-09-30) 30 September 1991 (age 29) 1 0 Russia Arsenal Tula v.  Hungary, 14 October 2020
MF Aleksandr Golovin (1996-05-30) 30 May 1996 (age 25) 43 5 France Monaco v.  Cyprus, 4 September 2021 INJ
MF Daniil Fomin (1997-03-02) 2 March 1997 (age 24) 4 0 Russia Dynamo Moscow v.  Croatia, 1 September 2021 INJ
MF Denis Makarov (1998-02-18) 18 February 1998 (age 23) 0 0 Russia Dynamo Moscow UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
MF Magomed Ozdoyev (1992-11-05) 5 November 1992 (age 28) 35 4 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
MF Andrei Mostovoy (1997-11-05) 5 November 1997 (age 23) 8 0 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg v.  Bulgaria, 5 June 2021
MF Ilzat Akhmetov (1997-12-31) 31 December 1997 (age 23) 8 0 Russia CSKA Moscow v.  Slovakia, 30 March 2021
MF Reziuan Mirzov (1993-06-22) 22 June 1993 (age 28) 0 0 Russia Spartak Moscow v.  Slovakia, 30 March 2021
MF Anton Miranchuk (1995-10-17) 17 October 1995 (age 25) 19 3 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow v.  Serbia, 18 November 2020
MF Ivan Oblyakov (1998-07-05) 5 July 1998 (age 23) 2 0 Russia CSKA Moscow v.  Serbia, 18 November 2020
MF Konstantin Kuchayev (1998-03-18) 18 March 1998 (age 23) 1 0 Russia CSKA Moscow v.  Serbia, 18 November 2020
MF Daniil Lesovoy (1998-01-12) 12 January 1998 (age 23) 0 0 Russia Dynamo Moscow v.  Serbia, 18 November 2020
MF Yury Gazinsky (1989-07-20) 20 July 1989 (age 32) 21 1 Russia Krasnodar v.  Hungary, 14 October 2020
FW Artem Dzyuba (1988-08-22) 22 August 1988 (age 33) 55 30 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
FW Aleksandr Sobolev (1997-03-07) 7 March 1997 (age 24) 8 3 Russia Spartak Moscow UEFA Euro 2020, 12-21 June 2021
FW Fyodor Chalov (1998-04-10) 10 April 1998 (age 23) 3 0 Russia CSKA Moscow v.  Serbia, 18 November 2020
FW Nikolay Komlichenko (1995-06-29) 29 June 1995 (age 26) 3 1 Russia Rostov v.  Hungary, 14 October 2020
FW Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov (1999-12-16) 16 December 1999 (age 21) 0 0 Turkey Giresunspor training camp, October 2021

RET Retired INJ Withdrew due to injury

Individual records[]

Player records[]

As of 7 September 2021
Players in bold are still active with Russia.
This list does not include players who represented Russian Empire (1910−1914), Soviet Union (1924−1991) and CIS (1992).

Most capped players[]

Sergei Ignashevich is the most capped player in Russian and USSR history with 127 caps.
Rank Name Caps Goals Period
1 Sergei Ignashevich 127 8 2002–2018
2 Igor Akinfeev 111 0 2004–2018
3 Viktor Onopko[a] 109 7 1992–2004
4 Yuri Zhirkov 105 2 2005–2021
5 Vasili Berezutskiy 101 5 2003–2016
6 Aleksandr Kerzhakov 91 30 2002–2016
7 Aleksandr Anyukov 77 1 2004–2013
8 Andrey Arshavin 75 17 2002–2012
9 Valeri Karpin[b] 72 17 1992–2003
10 Vladimir Beschastnykh 71 26 1992–2003

Notes

  1. ^ Viktor Onopko also made four appearances for CIS.
  2. ^ Valeri Karpin also made one appearance for CIS.

Top goalscorers[]

Artem Dzyuba is, along with Aleksandr Kerzhakov, the top scorer in the history of Russia with 30 goals.
Rank Name Goals Caps Average Period
1 Artem Dzyuba 30 55 0.55 2011–present
Aleksandr Kerzhakov 30 91 0.33 2002–2016
3 Vladimir Beschastnykh 26 71 0.37 1992–2003
4 Roman Pavlyuchenko 21 51 0.41 2003–2012
5 Valeri Karpin 17 72 0.24 1992–2003
Andrey Arshavin 17 75 0.23 2002–2012
7 Fyodor Smolov 15 41 0.37 2012–present
Dmitri Sychev 15 47 0.32 2002–2010
9 Roman Shirokov 13 57 0.23 2008–2016
10 Denis Cheryshev 12 33 0.36 2012–present
Igor Kolyvanov[a] 12 35 0.34 1992–1998
Aleksandr Kokorin 12 48 0.25 2011–2017

Notes

  1. ^ Igor Kolyvanov also made 19 appearances for Soviet Union scoring 2 goals, and 5 appearances for CIS scoring 1 goal.

Manager records[]

Most manager appearances
Oleg Romantsev: 60

Team records[]

Biggest victory
11–0 vs. India, 16 September 1955

Competitive record[]

FIFA World Cup[]

Main article: Russia at the FIFA World Cup

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA Campaign
as  Soviet Union as  Soviet Union
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Did not enter —
Italy 1934 1934
France 1938 1938
Brazil 1950 1950
Switzerland 1954 1954
Sweden 1958 Quarter-finals 6th 5 2 1 2 5 6 4 3 0 1 16 3 1958
Chile 1962 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 1 1 9 7 4 4 0 0 11 3 1962
England 1966 Fourth place 4th 6 4 0 2 10 6 6 5 0 1 19 6 1966
Mexico 1970 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 6 2 4 3 1 0 8 1 1970
West Germany 1974 Withdrew[78] 4 3 0 1 5 2 1974
Argentina 1978 Did not qualify 4 2 0 2 5 3 1978
Spain 1982 Second group stage 7th 5 2 2 1 7 4 8 6 2 0 20 2 1982
Mexico 1986 Round of 16 10th 4 2 1 1 12 5 8 4 2 2 13 8 1986
Italy 1990 Group stage 17th 3 1 0 2 4 4 8 4 3 1 11 4 1990
as  Russia as  Russia
United States 1994 Group stage 17th 3 1 0 2 7 6 8 5 2 1 15 4 1994
France 1998 Did not qualify 10 5 3 2 20 7 1998
South Korea Japan 2002 Group stage 22nd 3 1 0 2 4 4 10 7 2 1 18 5 2002
Germany 2006 Did not qualify 12 6 5 1 23 12 2006
South Africa 2010 12 8 1 3 21 8 2010
Brazil 2014 Group stage 24th 3 0 2 1 2 3 10 7 1 2 20 5 2014
Russia 2018 Quarter-finals 8th 5 2 2 1 11 7 Qualified as hosts 2018
Qatar 2022 If qualified to final round will still be able to participate as a neutral team In progress 2022
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined 2026
Total Fourth place 11/21 45 19 10 16 77 54 112 72 22 18 225 73 Total
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out

UEFA European Championship[]

Main article: Russia at the UEFA European Championship

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

UEFA European Championship record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D* L GF GA Campaign
as  Soviet Union as  Soviet Union
France 1960 Champions 1st 2 2 0 0 5 1 2 2 0 0 4 1 1960
Spain 1964 Runners-up 2nd 2 1 0 1 4 2 4 2 2 0 7 3 1964
Italy 1968 Fourth place 4th 2 0 1 1 0 2 8 6 0 2 19 8 1968
Belgium 1972 Runners-up 2nd 2 1 0 1 1 3 8 5 3 0 16 4 1972
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 Did not qualify 8 4 1 3 12 10 1976
Italy 1980 6 1 3 2 7 8 1980
France 1984 6 4 1 1 11 2 1984
West Germany 1988 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 1 1 7 4 8 5 3 0 14 3 1988
as  CIS
Sweden 1992 Group stage 8th 3 0 2 1 1 4 8 5 3 0 13 2 1992
as  Russia as  Russia
England 1996 Group stage 14th 3 0 1 2 4 8 10 8 2 0 34 5 1996
Belgium Netherlands 2000 Did not qualify 10 6 1 3 22 12 2000
Portugal 2004 Group stage 10th 3 1 0 2 2 4 10 5 3 2 20 12 2004
Austria Switzerland 2008 Semi-finals 3rd 5 3 0 2 7 8 12 7 3 2 18 7 2008
Poland Ukraine 2012 Group stage 9th 3 1 1 1 5 3 10 7 2 1 17 4 2012
France 2016 23rd 3 0 1 2 2 6 10 6 2 2 21 5 2016
Europe 2020 19th 3 1 0 2 2 7 10 8 0 2 33 8 2020
Germany 2024 To be determined To be determined
Total 1 Title 12/16 36 13 7 16 40 52 128 80 29 19 262 89 Total

UEFA Nations League[]

UEFA Nations League record
Season Division Group Pld W D L GF GA P/R RK
Portugal 2018–19 B 2 4 2 1 1 4 3 Same position 17th
Italy 2020–21 B 3 6 2 2 2 9 12 Same position 24th
2022–23 B Future event
Total 10 4 3 3 13 15 17th

FIFA Confederations Cup[]

Main article: Russia at the FIFA Confederations Cup
FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad
Saudi Arabia 1992 UEFA did not participate
Saudi Arabia 1995 Did not qualify
Saudi Arabia 1997
Mexico 1999
South Korea Japan 2001
France 2003
Germany 2005
South Africa 2009
Brazil 2013
Russia 2017 Group stage 5th 3 1 0 2 3 3 Squad
Total Group stage 1/10 3 1 0 2 3 3 —

Head-to-head record[]

Russian Empire, USSR, CIS and Russia national football teams all opponents

Include the records of  Russian Empire,  Soviet Union and  CIS before 1992

As of 7 September 2021 after the match against  Malta.

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

  1. ^ Includes matches against  Czechoslovakia.
  2. ^ Includes matches against  West Germany.
  3. ^ Includes matches against  Yugoslavia and  Serbia and Montenegro.

Home venues record[]

Venue City First match Last match Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA Average attendance
Lokomotiv Moscow 16 August 1992 6 June 2014 28 16 8 4 56 20 20,592
Luzhniki Moscow 14 October 1992 10 October 2019 33 20 8 5 55 21 41,881
Dynamo Moscow 29 May 1996 14 October 2020 18 11 7 0 36 11 15,556
Petrovsky Saint Petersburg 20 August 1997 26 May 2014 9 8 0 1 19 3 18,119
Arsenal Tula 19 May 1999 19 May 1999 1 0 1 0 1 1 13,000
Tsentralny Volgograd 16 October 2002 16 October 2002 1 1 0 0 4 1 16,000
Kuban Krasnodar 17 November 2004 14 November 2015 4 3 1 0 9 2 26,800
Tsentralny Profsoyuz Voronezh 17 November 2010 17 November 2010 1 0 0 1 0 2 34,000
Tsentralny Kazan 6 September 2013 6 September 2013 1 1 0 0 4 1 22,000
Arena Khimki Khimki 3 September 2014 7 June 2015 4 3 1 0 12 2 6,109
Otkrytie Arena Moscow 12 October 2014 21 June 2017 6 3 1 2 7 3 38,204
Olimp-2 Rostov-on-Don 17 November 2015 17 November 2015 1 0 0 1 1 3 15,000
Krasnodar Stadium Krasnodar 9 October 2016 24 March 2017 5 0 2 3 6 7 30,100
Akhmat-Arena Grozny 15 November 2016 15 November 2016 1 1 0 0 1 0 30,000
Fisht Olympic Stadium Sochi 28 March 2017 27 October 2021 3 1 2 0 5 5 42,144
VEB Arena Moscow 9 June 2017 8 October 2020 3 1 2 0 6 4 21,742
Krestovsky Stadium Saint Petersburg 17 June 2017 16 November 2019 4 2 1 1 9 7 52,843
Kazan Arena Kazan 24 June 2017 10 October 2017 2 0 1 1 2 3 37,428
Cosmos Arena Samara 25 June 2018 25 June 2018 1 0 0 1 0 3 41,970
Rostov Arena Rostov-on-Don 10 September 2018 10 September 2018 1 1 0 0 5 1 42,200
Kaliningrad Stadium Kaliningrad 11 October 2018 9 September 2019 2 1 1 0 0 0 31,698

See also[]

  • Soviet Union national football team
  • CIS national football team
  • Russia national football B team
  • Russia national under-21 football team
  • Russia national under-19 football team
  • Russia national under-17 football team
  • Russia women's national football team

Notes[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Soviet Union 11:1 India". eu-football.info. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  3. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Russia– Association Information". FIFA.com. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  5. ^ Ukraine's forgotten World Cup pedigree Archived 16 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Business Ukraine (4 August 2010)
  6. ^ Russia vs Ukraine (09.10.1999) with Filimonov's terrible mistake on YouTube
  7. ^ "Two die in Moscow World Cup rioting". The Guardian. London. 10 June 2002. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
  8. ^ "Russian Onopko ruled out". BBC Sport. London. 2 June 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Mostovoi blames coach". BBC Sport. London. 12 June 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Russia 0–2 Portugal". BBC Sport. London. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Russia 2–1 Greece". BBC Sport. London. 20 June 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  12. ^ "Russia make Hiddink appointment". BBC Sport. 12 April 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  13. ^ "Bilyaletdinov double but Slovenia strike late". ESPN. 14 November 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  14. ^ "Major shock for Hiddink". ESPN. 18 November 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  15. ^ "Guus Hiddink confirms departure from Russia post". ESPN. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  16. ^ "Fabio Capello is appointed the new Russia boss". BBC Sport. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  17. ^ "Fabio Capello agrees to lead Russia until 2018 World Cup". BBC Sport. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  18. ^ "Russia v South Korea: World Cup 2014 – as it happened". The Guardian. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  19. ^ Sid Lowe at the Arena da Baixada (26 June 2014). "Algeria 1–1 Russia; World Cup 2014 Group H match report". The Guardian.
  20. ^ "World Cup 2014: Fabio Capello unhappy at laser shone at keeper". BBC Sport. 27 June 2014.
  21. ^ "Euro 2016: Russia given suspended disqualification". BBC Sport. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  22. ^ "Russia 2-0 New Zealand" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  23. ^ Butler, Michael (21 June 2017). "Russia 0-1 Portugal: Confederations Cup 2017 – as it happened" – via www.theguardian.com.
  24. ^ "Mexico 2-1 Russia: Hosts knocked out of Confederations Cup after defeat". Sky Sports.
  25. ^ Riach, James (28 October 2015). "Sepp Blatter: Russia was chosen as 2018 World Cup host before vote". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  26. ^ Guardian sport (15 November 2017). "World Cup 2018: which teams have made it to Russia?". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  27. ^ "Russia slumps to 1–0 defeat in Austria for 3rd straight loss". ProSoccerTalk. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  28. ^ "Russia Drops to 70th Place in FIFA Table, Becomes Lowest-Ranked World Cup Team". Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  29. ^ FIFA.com. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - Ranking Table - FIFA.com". FIFA.com. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
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  78. ^ Refused to play the return leg of a play-off in Chile in the aftermath of that country's 1973 military coup

Further reading[]

  • Marc Bennetts (2008). Football Dynamo – Modern Russia and the People's Game. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-1319-6

External links[]

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