Russia national football team

History

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, 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 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 USA 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 Valery Karpin (some of these Russian players could have chosen to play for example the Ukrainian national football team but the Football Federation of Ukraine had failed to secure recognition in time to compete in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification).

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 Russia lost 2–0 to Brazil and 3–1 to Sweden. Teetering on elimination, Russia defeated Cameroon 6–1 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

After Sadyrin was sacked, Oleg Romantsev was appointed coach to lead Russia to Euro 96. 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 Valery 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

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 Valery 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 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 Alexandr Filimonov late in the game. 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. For their last game against Belgium, Russia needed a draw to take them to the second round, but lost 3–2 and was eliminated.

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 Victor Onopko. Russia started their tournament against Spain but a late goal from Juan Carlos Valeron put Russia on the brink of another group stage elimination. Four days later, Russia became the first team officially eliminated after a 0–2 defeat to Portugal. The final game of the group resulted in a surprising 2–1 victory over Greece with Dmitri Kirichenko scoring one of the fastest goals of the tournament.

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

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.

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 Andrei Arshavin, resulting in Russia advancing to the quarter-finals in second place behind Spain.

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 Andrei 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

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. In the return match, Russia lost 1–0 in Maribor, and Slovenia qualified for the finals on the away goals rule. On 13 February 2010, it was confirmed that Hiddink would leave his position as manager, with the expiration of his contract on 30 June.

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

Russia were drawn into Group A with Poland, Czech Republic, Greece. Led by Dick Advocaat, Russia were considered before the starting of the tournament as the dark horses of the competition as they had been unbeaten since 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. The Sbornaya started off the tournament by justifying the belief with a sensational 4–1 win over the Czech Republic and temporarily went to the 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 continuing 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 negative. The Sbornaya went full of confidence to the final game against Greece which they were meeting for the third time in a row. However, things did not go as expected as Greece scored the opener late in the first half. The game finished with an 1–0 loss which eliminated the Russians from the tournament to the disbelief of the supporters.

The group stage exit was considered as one the biggest surprise of the Euro and resulted in a hostile reaction from fans and medias. Advocaat and most of the team such as Andrey Arshavin were heavily criticized for the perceived excess of confidence.

Qualification

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

Russia competed in Group F offf 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.

Group F

Final tournament

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. 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.

Group H

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

Final tournament

During the group stages of the tournament, UEFA imposed a suspended disqualification on Russia for crowd trouble during a group match against England. 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 preceded by a 2–1 loss to Slovakia.

2018 FIFA World Cup

Russia were selected to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup and will automatically qualify for the tournament.

Kits

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 new 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 as the away kit, while the home colour remained primarily white. This trend was continued by Adidas, who took over as suppliers in September, 2008. 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 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 is 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 are made in the colours of the Russian flag. The Russian national team's official shirt supplier since 2008 is Adidas.

Current squad

The list of players called up for the friendly games against Côte d`Ivoire on 24 March 2017 and Belgium on 28 March 2017.
Caps and goals updated as 24 March 2017 after the match against Côte d`Ivoire.

Recent call-ups

The following players been called up to the Russia squad in the past 12 months.

Player records

As of 24 March 2017.

Bold indicates active players

Italic indicates players that played for the USSR or CIS