Nickname(s) Juniors (Юниоры) Top scorer ? Best result Winners, 1985 | Most caps ? Appearances 6 (first in 1984) Location Soviet Union | |
Association Football Federation of the Soviet Union | ||
The Soviet national junior football team was the under-16 (continental competitions) and under-17 (world competitions) football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist on the breakup of the Union.
Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1982, the USSR Under-16 team was formed. The competition has been held since 1982. From 1982 to 2001 it was an Under-16 event. The team had a good record, winning the competition once, reaching the final twice, but failing to qualify for the last six on 10 occasions.
The team has participated in FIFA U-16 World Championship only once – in 1987 – after being qualified from European Under-16 championship as a runner-up. USSR won it in a final game against Nigeria by penalties. The team gained the Fair Play award. Yuriy Nikiforov scored 5 goals on the tournament but FIFA awarded the Golden Boot to Moussa Traoré because Côte d'Ivoire had scored fewer goals than USSR.
After the dissolution of the USSR (on December 26, 1991), the senior team played out its remaining fixtures, which were the finals of Euro 92. Because the USSR U-16s had, by December 26, already failed to qualify for their version of the 1992 European Championship, the former Soviet states didn't play as a combined team at U-17 level ever again.
Of the former Soviet states, only Russia entered the 1992–1993 competition. However, the Russian U-16 team should not be considered as a continuation of this team; a large percentage of the team's players came from outside Russia (Russia still provided the most). A total of 15 former Soviet states play international football today; 11 in Europe under UEFA, 4 in Asia under the AFC.