Thehistory of theSerbia national football team began in 1920, when Serbia played its first international match.
The first national team was in the kingdom that existed between the two world wars. The Football Federation of what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was founded inZagreb in 1919 under the nameJugoslovenski nogometni savez (and admitted intoFIFA), and the national team played its first international game at the Summer Olympics inAntwerp in 1920. The opponent was Czechoslovakia, and the historic starting eleven that represented Kingdom of SCS on its debut were:Dragutin Vrđuka,Vjekoslav Župančić,Jaroslav Šifer,Stanko Tavčar,Slavin Cindrić,Rudolf Rupec,Dragutin Vrag and Jovan Ružić. They lost by a large margin, 0–7, but nonetheless entered their names in the history books.
In 1929, the country was renamed to Yugoslavia and the football association becameFudbalski Savez Jugoslavije and moved its headquarters toBelgrade. The national team participated at the1930 FIFA World Cup, finishing in fourth place. In its first ever World Cup match inMontevideo'sParque Central, Yugoslavia managed a famous 2–1 win versus mighty Brazil, with the following starting eleven representing the country:Milovan Jakšić,Branislav Sekulić,Aleksandar Tirnanić,Milutin Ivković,Ivica Bek,Momčilo Đokić,Blagoje Marjanović,Milorad Arsenijević,Đorđe Vujadinović,Dragoslav Mihajlović, andLjubiša Stefanović. The national team consisted of players based in Serbian football clubs, while the Zagreb Subassociation forbid players from Croatian clubs to play in the World Cup due to the relocation of the football association's headquarters from Zagreb to Belgrade.[1]
The federation and football overall was disrupted byWorld War II. After the war, a socialist federation was formed and the football federation reconstituted.
Yugoslavia begin theirfootball campaign by defeatingLuxembourg 6–1, with five different players scoring the goals. In the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, they would take outTurkey and Great Britain by the same score of 3–1. In the final though, they would lose toSweden.
Having a team with many players from the 1948 generation, Yugoslavia was a formidable side at the1952 Summer Olympics and finished as runners-up behind the legendaryHungary national team. Against the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia was 5–1 up with 15 minutes of their first round match to go. The Yugoslavs, understandably, put their feet up.Arthur Ellis, the match referee, recorded what happened next in his book,The Final Whistle (London, 1963): "The USSR forced the most honourable draw ever recorded! [Vsevolod]Bobrov, their captain, scored a magnificent hat-trick. After the Soviet Union had reduced the lead to 5–2, he, almost single-handed, took the score to 5–5, scoring his third in the last minute. For once, use of the word sensational was justified." Although Bobrov's early goal in their replay presaged a miraculous recovery, Yugoslavia recovered sufficiently to put out their opponents easily in the second half.
Yugoslavia organized the1976 European Championship played in Belgrade andZagreb. The national team participated in eightWorld Cups and fourEuros, and won the Olympic football tournament in 1960 at theSummer Games (they also finished second three times and third once).
With the end of the Cold War, democratic principles were introduced to the country which brought about the end of Titoist rule. In the subsequent atmosphere, national tensions were heightened. At theYugoslavia-Netherlands friendly in preparation for the 1990 World Cup, the Croatian crowd in Zagreb jeered the Yugoslav team and anthem and waved Dutch flags (owing to its resemblance to the Croatian tricolour). With the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the team split up and the remaining team of theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was banned from competing atEuro 92. The decision was made on 31 May 1992, just ten days before the competition commenced.[2]
They had finished top of their qualifying group, but were unable to play in the competition due toUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 757. Their place was taken byDenmark, who went on to win the competition. Yugoslavia had also been drawn as the top seed inGroup 5 of the European Zone in the qualifying tournament for the1994 World Cup. FRY was barred from competing, rendering the group unusually weak.
Although theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, was formed on 27 April 1992, its teams were banned from all international sporting events, including the national football team. Consequently, the national team did not play its first game as a new country before 23 December 1994, a friendly match played inPorto Alegre and in whichBrazil won by the mark of 2–0. This was the first ever team composed ofSerbian andMontenegrin players exclusively, whileSlobodan Santrač, a former Yugoslavia national team player, was named the team's first ever manager. The next game was played only three days later, this time inBuenos Aires, resulting in 1–0 loss toArgentina. Despite two losses in two games, the team was honoured to play its first two games ever against such football powerhouses.
Also due to the United Nations international sanctions, the team could not participate in1994 World Cup qualifying nor theEuro 1996 qualifying process.
On 31 March 1995, the team recorded its first official win in history, a 1–0 friendly againstUruguay, simultaneously marking the team's first ever home game, played atStadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, and the first ever goal scored, courtesy ofSavo Milošević. Slightly more than one year later, the team recorded its first ever win in a World Cup qualifying tournament in its first game in such a tournament, a 3–1 win over theFaroe Islands. Shortly after, the team also recorded its biggest win in history, once again against the Faroe Islands, 8–1. Yugoslavia finished second in Group 6, just behindSpain, meaning it had to go through the play-off system in order to qualify. Yugoslavia was paired up with Hungary, and what was believed would be a tough matchup turned out to be an easy win for Yugoslavia, 7–1 inBudapest and 5–0 in Belgrade, for an aggregate score of 12–1. This was enough to secure Yugoslavia its first ever World Cup appearance as a new country.
The1998 World Cup seeding had Yugoslavia ranked in 21st position, but the Yugoslavia national team went to France as one of the shadow favorites for the World Cup.The New York Times stated that Yugoslavia could easily be a semi-finalist inthat year's World Cup.[3] The justification for such an estimation was partially found in the names of the Yugoslav players, members of great European teams and proven footballers. The draw put the team in Group F alongsideGermany, theUnited States, andIran. Yugoslavia won its first game 1–0 against Iran thanks to a goal from defenderSiniša Mihajlović. The next game was a draw for Yugoslavia. After leading Germany 2–0, last game's hero, Mihajlović, scored an unlucky own goal following a German freekick, andOliver Bierhoff equalised at 2–2 with only about ten minutes to the match. Nonetheless, Yugoslavia responded in the next game against the United States and won 1–0 due to an early goal inNantes. Yugoslavia made easy work of Group 6, but despite an excellent record, the game against Germany would prove costly as Germany won the group thanks to a better goal difference.
Due to their second position, Yugoslavia saw itself face theNetherlands in theRound of 16. Yugoslavia entered in the match with a sole attacker, but its defensive tactics proved unsuccessful asDennis Bergkamp put the Netherlands in front in the 38th minute. Immediately following the start of the second half, Yugoslavia pressured the Dutch, who inevitably conceded a header fromSlobodan Komljenović. However, the turning point of this match was a penalty awarded to Yugoslavia afterVladimir Jugović was fouled in the penalty area.Predrag Mijatović's shot dazzledEdwin van der Sar, but not the crossbar, and the scoreline remained the same at 1–1. Such an event demoralized the Yugoslavs, as the Dutch took the initiative. In the late seconds of the game, as everybody was preparing for extra time,Edgar Davids' shot towards the Yugoslav net from a distance of 20 meters and beat goalkeeperIvica Kralj, to the pure disbelief of the Yugoslav players and fans. This marked the end of Yugoslavia's run in the 1998 World Cup, since there was not much time left to do anything.
Unlucky events forced Yugoslavia out of the tournament, but the team definitely demonstrated its great ability and proved it had a spot among the world's best teams. This was also reflected in theFIFA World Rankings following the 1998 FIFA World Cup, in which Yugoslavia was constantly ranked in the Top 10 for a long period of time.
The draw for theEuro 2000 qualifiers saw many eyebrows raised as first-seeded Yugoslavia was drawn in a group withCroatia, thus marking the first games between the two teams after thebreakup of Yugoslavia. The other teams in the group were theRepublic of Ireland,Macedonia, andMalta. When the qualifiers began, the coach wasMilan Živadinović, but in July 1999 he resigned and was replaced byVujadin Boškov.
The team started with a 1–0 win over Ireland in Belgrade, before beating Malta 3–0 inTa' Qali. The home fixture against the Maltese followed, but was moved toThessaloniki, Greece due to theNATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The team nonetheless won 4–1. The first, highly anticipated match against Croatia took place in Belgrade shortly after the bombing ended, and was interrupted due to a power outage at the beginning of the second half, resuming after 43 minutes[4] and eventually finishing 0–0. A 2–1 defeat against Ireland inDublin was followed by victories home and away against Macedonia (3–1 and 4–2 respectively), meaning that Yugoslavia needed to win its final qualifier against Croatia in Zagreb, or to draw with Ireland failing to beat Macedonia inSkopje, in order to qualify automatically for Euro 2000. In the event, Ireland conceded an injury-time equaliser, meaning that Yugoslavia's 2–2 draw with the Croatians was good enough.
The draw for the finals placed Yugoslavia in Group C along with Spain,Norway and another former Yugoslav republic,Slovenia. The Slovenians took a surprise 3–0 lead in the first game at theStade du Pays de Charleroi, but three goals in six second-half minutes enabled Yugoslavia to secure a 3–3 draw. The team then beat Norway 1–0 inLiège, thanks to an earlySavo Milošević backheel strike. The final group game, against Spain inBruges, saw the Yugoslavs take the lead three times, before aGaizka Mendieta penalty and anAlfonso strike in injury-time secured a dramatic 4–3 win for the Spaniards and top spot in the group. Yugoslavia nonetheless finished second, level on points with Norway but ranked ahead due to its victory in Liège. In each of the three games, the team had one player sent off (Siniša Mihajlović,Mateja Kežman, andSlaviša Jokanović, respectively).
In the quarter-finals, Yugoslavia was once again paired with the Netherlands. Unlike the last time, the co-hosts made easy work of Yugoslavia, winning 6–1 inRotterdam withPatrick Kluivert scoring a hat-trick.
One of the few bright spots of Yugoslav team in the whole tournament wasSavo Milošević, who was crowned the joint top scorer of the tournament, alongside Patrick Kluivert. Both players scored five goals, although Milošević played one game fewer.[5]
The2002 qualifiers marked the first time that Yugoslavia failed to reach a major tournament ever since its return to the big stage after the UN sanctions. The problems started with the major political turmoil in the country as well in the Yugoslav FA, which prompted the new coachIlija Petković to resign only after one game (2–0 away victory againstLuxembourg).
Milovan Đorić took over the team, but under his leadership, the team managed only two draws (1–1 at home vs.Switzerland and also 1–1 away in Slovenia, in both games the opponents managed to equalise in late stages of the game) and a 0–1 home loss toRussia (which marked the team's first home defeat in official matches). After Ðorić's resignation, a three-man commission, consisting ofDejan Savićević,Vujadin Boškov, andIvan Ćurković, took over the coaching duties, until Savićević ultimately took over on his own. The team managed to bounce back with a draw in Russia and a win in Switzerland, but failed to defeat Slovenia in the penultimate game, thus ended the qualifiers in third position.
After Savićević's disastrous spell as coach of Yugoslavia, the country went under apolitical transformation, andIlija Petković became the newly named Serbia and Montenegro's new coach. Initially, the team under his lead experienced dragging failure in theEuro 2004 qualifiers while competing for the first time as Serbia and Montenegro. Despite drawing both games against group favorites and eventual group winnersItaly and winning both games against runners-upWales, Serbia and Montenegro failed to qualify, mostly due to an embarrassing 2–2 home draw and 2–1 away loss toAzerbaijan.
Qualifying for the2006 World Cup, however, was different. Serbia and Montenegro began the campaign by finishing first with an undefeated record in theirqualification group ahead of favourites Spain. The Serbia and Montenegro team also allowed only one goal in the ten matches, the best defensive record of all 51 teams participating in qualification.
For the 2006 qualifiers, Serbia and Montenegro was drawn in a group with Spain,Belgium,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Lithuania andSan Marino. Led once again byIlija Petković as coach, Serbia and Montenegro played some impressive defensive football—the "Famous Four" defense, consisting ofNemanja Vidić,Mladen Krstajić,Goran Gavrančić, andIvica Dragutinović, withDragoslav Jevrić as goalkeeper, conceded only one goal in ten games, finishing first with a 6–4–0 record, ahead of Spain.
On 3 June 2006, following areferendum, Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia. As the World Cup was about to start, it was decided that the Serbia and Montenegro team that had qualified for the tournament would compete, with the split into separate teams representing the new countries of Montenegro and Serbia to take place once the team was no longer in the tournament.
In thegroup stage, Serbia and Montenegro lost their opening game to joint group favourite, the Netherlands. The final score was 1–0 afterArjen Robben scored the only goal of the game. They also lost their second game to Argentina 6–0,Serbia and Montenegro's worst ever international result. With the team's two losses and with Netherlands and Argentina winning both their games, Serbia and Montenegro could no longer qualify for the knockout matches, and was playing for pride alone in their final group game againstIvory Coast. Despite having a 2–0 lead for much of the first half,the Elephants managed to come back and win 3–2, leaving Serbia and Montenegro with a disappointing 0–0–3 World Cup run.
AfterMontenegro declared independence, Serbia marked independence with a 3–1 away victory over theCzech Republic.Danko Lazović's,Marko Pantelić's andAleksandar Trišović's goals led Serbia to victory on this match.
The2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying campaign began with a 1–0 victory overAzerbaijan byNikola Žigić's goal in the 72nd minute on 6 September 2006. Four days later, Serbia drew withPoland 1–1. Serbia made a two victories in October: 1–0 overBelgium and 3–0 overArmenia. In 6 matches, Serbia stayed undefeated in 2006 (4 victories, 2 draws). In the first qualifying match in 2007, Serbia unexpectedly lost 1–2 fromKazakhstan inAlmaty, and four days later (28 March 2007) made a draw in front of 52,000 fans atRajko Mitić Stadium againstPortugal. On 2 June 2007, Serbia made a 2–0 victory overFinland inHelsinki. In August, he lost from Belgium 2–3 away,Zdravko Kuzmanović scored (his first) two goals. After a three draws, Serbia demolished Azerbaijan with 6–1 inBaku. On 21 November 2007, Serbia draw 2–2 at home with Poland in the front of 3,000 fans. Three days later, with a low attendance (less than 1,000) atPartizan Stadium, Serbia defeated Kazakhstan by own goal in the 79th minute in the last match of this qualifying cycle. Serbia finished third, three points behind runners-upPortugal and Group A winnersPoland. Serbia's first ever foreign coachJavier Clemente was sacked after the failure.
Serbia replaced Clemente withMiroslav Đukić, but he left the position on 19 August of the following year without having played any official games. Subsequent to Ðukić's rapid departure, who led Serbia on five friendly matches and made three defeats and two draws,Radomir Antić was appointed coach. Serbia'sWorld Cup qualification campaign began on 6 September 2008. Serbia defeatedFaroe Islands, by own goal in 30th minute and Nikola Žigić's goal in 88th minute. Four days later, Serbia lost from2006 FIFA World Cup runners-upFrance 1–2 onStade de France. A month later, Serbia defeatedLithuania 3–0 with the goals scored byBranislav IvanovićMiloš Krasić and Nikola Žigić. On 15 October 2008,Serbia brokenAustria 3–1 inVienna in the front of 48,000 fans. Krasić,Milan Jovanović andIvan Obradović scored goals for 9 minutes (15th, 18th and 24th). By the end of the year, Serbia played one match in November and one in December. First, in November, Serbia demolishBulgaria 6–1 in Belgrade.Savo Milošević, the second top goalscorer of all time in Serbia national team, scored twice and missed two penalties in his last match for national team. Serbia lost against Poland inAntalya, in December 0–1. In first match in 2009, Serbia made a huge victory overRomania inConstanţa. Romania not defeated in Constanţa seven years, before this match. On 6 June 2009, Serbia defeated Austria 1–0 in the front of 52,000 fans at Rajko Mitić Stadium.Nenad Milijaš scored the only goal, in 7th minute, frompenalty spot. Four days later, Serbia made an expected victory (2–0) over Faroe Islands inTórshavn. On 9 September 2009, Serbia draw 1–1 with world runners-up, France in the front of almost 50,000 fans. Nenad Milijaš scored the only goal forEagles, in 12th minute, frompenalty spot, like against Austria three monts before. On 10 October 2009, Serbia made a huge victory 5–0 against Romania and secured placement at2010 FIFA World Cup. In last match of this qualifying cycle, Lithuania defeated Serbia 2–1 inMarijampolė. In November, Serbia defeatNorthern Ireland andSouth Korea inBelfast andLondon, 1–0 both matches.
Serbia placed into Group D withGermany, team also faced2010 Africa Cup of Nations runners-upGhana, andAustralia.
Their opening group game was against Ghana and chances came to both sides but a red card toAleksandar Luković and a handball by substitute Zdravko Kuzmanović in the second half gaveGhana a penalty to take all three points at the death.Asamoah Gyan converted eight minutes from full-time and Serbia were defeated 1–0. In Serbia's second group match, they sensationally defeated Germany by a score of 1–0 with an acrobatic goal by Milan Jovanović late in the first half.FIFA's official YouTube channel called the win "the most famous day in Serbia's footballing history". Serbia only needed a single point to reach the knockout stages but were defeated by Australia 2–1 in an entertaining match where Serbia's dominance in the first half and in periods of the second half would have made it look like a Serbia victory. Australia scored 2 goals in the second half throughTim Cahill andBrett Holman. A lateMarko Pantelić goal served only as a consolation. They finished last in the group.
After game against Australia and elimination from World Cup, Serbia start2012 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying campaign. The qualifying stage began with Radomir Antić as coach and finished withVladimir Petrović. Serbia and Antić started the first two games positively with a 3–0 win away to Faroe Islands and a 1–1 draw at home to Slovenia but this result brought the end of Antić's reign as the country's coach. New coach Petrović faced setbacks immediately with an embarrassing 3–1 loss at home toEstonia and an abandoned match resulting in a 3–0 loss toItaly due to crowd trouble from the Serbian away supporters inGenoa. Serbia returned to form with a 2–1 win at home overNorthern Ireland but could only manage a 1–1 draw away to Estonia. Afterwards, Serbia won back to back games with a 1–0 win away to Northern Ireland and a crucial 3–1 win at home against Faroe Islands. These results put Serbia in pole position to confirm a play-off spot behind Italy. Serbia needed a win at home against Italy to confirm a play-off spot but their efforts only resulted in a 1–1 draw. The team, however, still had one more chance to confirm a play-off place when they faced Slovenia away. This game was a must win even though Serbia had a superior goal difference over Estonia, a draw was not good enough for progression. Serbia played positively and created a number of chances during the game but a long-range goal put Slovenia up 1–0 at half time. The Serbians then failed to convert numerous chances that they had in the second half, notablyNemanja Vidić's penalty miss midway through the second half. Serbia left empty handed after a 1–0 loss and exited the tournament for the third time in a row during the qualifying group stages, missing out by one point behind Estonia. Vladimir Petrović was sacked after the team's failure to qualify.
Dejan Stanković and Nemanja Vidić announced that they were retiring from international football. This meant that Serbia had lost two key players and that a new era had started. Branislav Ivanović became the new captain.Siniša Mihajlović, a former member of the national team, was appointed as the coach on 24 April 2012. Serbia was drawn inGroup A inqualification for2014 FIFA World Cup, together withCroatia,Belgium,Scotland,Macedonia, andWales. The team began the qualification campaign with a goalless draw with Scotland inGlasgow and a 6–1 win over Wales inNovi Sad. In the next two games, Serbia suffered two defeats, fromMacedonia in (0–1) and Belgium in Belgrade (0–3). In 2013, on 22 March, Serbia played inZagreb againstCroatia. The game was highly anticipated in both countries due to their rivalry both on and off the pitch. Croatia won 2–0 and sent Serbia down on the table. Serbia then defeated Scotland 2–0 at home in a crucial qualifier, though their World Cup hopes were taken away after a 2–1 defeat to Belgium. Serbia drew with Croatia 1–1 in the corresponding fixture at home in a spiteful affair, where 18-year-oldAleksandar Mitrović scored an equalizer in the second-half afterMario Mandžukić opened the scoring. They then defeated Wales 0–3 in Cardiff. Dejan Stanković's farewell game was completed in a friendly againstJapan, which Serbia won 2–0. He finished his career with 103 appearances for the national team, a record previously held bySavo Milošević, with 102 appearances. Serbia finished qualifying with a 5–1 home win against Macedonia, putting them in third in the group, three points from a playoff spot behind Croatia and group winners Belgium.
DutchDick Advocaat was appointed as the coach in July 2014. Serbia was drawn inGroup I inqualification forUEFA Euro 2016, together withPortugal,Denmark,Albania andArmenia. Advocaat started with a draw in a friendly 1–1 game againstFrance. The team began qualification with a 1–1 draw against Armenia inYerevan. In the next abandoned game against Albania in Belgrade, Serbia was originally awarded with a 3–0 victory, but was later deducted three points. On 14 November 2014, Serbia played against Denmark in Belgrade and lost, 1–3. After this game, Advocaat left, whereuponRadovan Ćurčić was announced as a new coach on 18 November. In 2015, Serbia's first match was a qualifying match against Portugal inLisbon, during which Serbia lost 2–1, cutting their chances for qualification to Euro 2016. On 13 June 2015, Serbia played a qualifying match against Denmark inCopenhagen, losing 2–0. On 10 July, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that it had awarded a 0–3 victory to Albania in the abandoned match held on 14 October 2014, upholding Serbia's three-point penalization. As a result, Serbia became mathematically eliminated from Euro 2016 qualification. On 4 September 2015, Serbia reached first victory in these qualifications, 2–0 over Armenia. On 8 October, Serbia made a huge victory over rival Albania inElbasan.Aleksandar Kolarov's andAdem Ljajić's goals in 91st and 94th minute led Serbia to the victory. In the table ofGroup I, Serbia finished second to last place with four points in a five team group.
In first match for2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, Serbia started off their campaign with a 2–2 draw against Ireland at the Rajko Mitic Stadium.Republic of Ireland take the lead in 3rd minute. The Eagles equalized byFilip Kostić's goal in 62nd minute and seven minutes later take the lead afterDušan Tadić successfully completed the penalty. Conceded goal in 80th minute has costed Serbia three points. One month later, Serbia made a first victory, overMoldova inChișinău. Filip Kostić scored first goal on the match again, this time in 19th minute. CaptainBranislav Ivanović scored in 37th minute. Dušan Tadić scored in 59th minute and with one goal and two assists helped Serbia to beat Moldova 3–0. Three days later, on 9 October 2016, Serbia defeated Austria (3–2) at Rajko Mitić Stadium and made very important victory. Brace fromAleksandar Mitrović in 6th and 23rd minute and Dušan Tadić's in 74th minute masterpiece helped Serbia to win the match. On 12 November 2016, Aleksandar Mitrović's goal in 86th minute, helped Serbia to take a point against Euro 2016 semi-finalists,Wales inCardiff. On 24 March, in first match in 2017, Serbia defeat 3–1Georgia inTbilisi. Dušan Tadić scored the equalizer, frompenalty spot in 44th minute. Aleksandar Mitrović with beautiful goal give Serbia lead in 64th minute.Mijat Gaćinović replaced Filip Kostić 81st minute, and scored a goal five minutes later in his first game for national team. On 11 June 2017, Aleksandar Mitrović scored the only goal for Eagles, against Wales (1–1) in the front of 47,000 fans at Rajko Mitić Stadium. On 2 September 2017, Serbia defeated Moldova 3–0 atPartizan Stadium. Mijat Gaćinović scored 20th minute and ten minutes later assisted forAleksandar Kolarov's first goal in these qualifications. Aleksandar Mitrović scored the third goal for Serbia on this match and continued his amazing performance in these qualifications (six goals in last five qualification matches). Three days later, Serbia defeated Ireland inDublin 1–0 and come on the step of2018 FIFA World Cup. Aleksandar Kolarov scored a goal in 55th minute.Nikola Maksimović was sent off thirteen minutes later and Eagles played almost half an hour with a player less. Serbia needed a victory on one of two remaining matches. On 6 October, atErnst-Happel-Stadion inWien Serbia has lost 3–2. The Eagles take the lead in 11th minute, afterLuka Milivojević's first goal for national team, but Austria reversed result in 76th minute, butNemanja Matić has scored the equalizer seven minutes later. In 89th minute, Austrians scored the winning goal. Three days later at Rajko Mitić Stadium,Aleksandar Prijović's goal in 74th minute against Georgia sent Serbia to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. A couple days after match, coachSlavoljub Muslin was sacked.Mladen Krstajić succeeded Muslin as coach of the Serbia national team, initially as a caretaker. He led team on two matches in November. In first match, he made victory againstChina 2–0, but in second Serbia draw 1–1 withSouth Korea. In December, it was announced he would take on the role permanently and at least until the end of the2018 FIFA World Cup. In March, Serbia played two matches against two strongest African teams. In first match, inTurin, Serbia lost 1–2 againstMorocco. Dušan Tadić scored goal for Serbia, in his 50th match for national team. On 27 March, Serbia beat 2–0Nigeria inLondon. Mitrović scored two goals for Serbia. In first week of June, Serbia played two matches inGraz againstSouth American teams. In first match, Serbia lost 0–1 againstChile, but in second they demolishedBolivia with 5–1. Serbia scored four goals in first half. Mitrović scored firsthat-trick in national team.