As theRussian Empire before 1917, as theRussian SFSR in 1917–1924 and as theSoviet Union in 1924–1991, Russia first entered theFIFA World Cup in1958. They have qualified for the tournament 11 times (seven of which as the Soviet Union), with their best result being their fourth-place finish in1966. As the Soviet Union, Russia was a founding member ofUEFA in 1954,[3] winning the first edition of theEuropean Championship in1960 and were runners-up in1964,1972 and1988. Since thedissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia's best result was in2008, when the team finished third.
In the final tournament, Russia was drawn intoGroup B withCameroon,Sweden, andBrazil. Russia was eliminated from the tournament with three points. Sadyrin was sacked following what was a poor performance.[citation needed]
In the final tournament, Russia was inGroup C withGermany, theCzech Republic andItaly. They were eliminated after losing 2–1 to Italy and 3–0 to Germany. Russia's last game against the Czech Republic ended 3–3. Germany and Czech Republic went on to meet in thefinal.[citation needed]
After Euro 96,Boris Ignatyev was appointed manager for the campaign toqualify for the1998 FIFA World Cup in France. In the qualifying stage, Russia was inGroup 5 withBulgaria,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 theplay-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 played to qualify for theUEFA Euro 2000 co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands.Anatoliy Byshovets was appointed as Russia manager. Russia were drawn inGroup 4 for the qualifying round withFrance,Ukraine, Iceland,Armenia, andAndorra. 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, theRussian Football Union immediately sacked Byshovets and reappointed Oleg Romantsev as manager. Russia went on to win their next six games including a 3–2 victory overeventual champions France at theStade de France. In theirlast 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. The game finished 1–1 after an error by the goalkeeperAleksandr Filimonov late in the game.[7] Russia finished third in the group, failing to qualify for their second consecutive major tournament.
Oleg Romantsev remained as manager of the national team to supervise theirqualification campaign to the2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. In the preliminary stage, Russia was inGroup 1 withSlovenia, FR Yugoslavia, andSwitzerland, Faroe Islands, and Luxembourg. Russia finished in first place to qualify directly managing seven wins, two draws, and a loss.
Russia was drawn intoGroup H withBelgium,Tunisia, andJapan. 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.[8] 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 withCSKA'sValery Gazzaev. His task looked difficult asRussia's group consisted of Switzerland,Republic of Ireland,Albania, andGeorgia with the Irish considered favourites and an improving Swiss side as an increasing threat. Russia began their campaign with home victories against Ireland and Albania, but lost their next two games away to Albania and Georgia. Gazzaev was sacked after a disappointing draw with Switzerland inBasel, and Georgi Yartsev was then appointed manager. He managed to qualify Russia for aplay-off againstWales after home victories to Switzerland and Georgia. In the first play-off leg, Russia drew 0–0 with Wales in Moscow, but aVadim Evseev header gave Russia a 1–0 victory in the away leg inCardiff to qualify forEuro 2004. The victory was overshadowed when Russian midfielderYegor Titov testedpositive for drugs; amidst calls for Russia to be disqualified, Titov was given a one-year ban on 15 February 2004.
Russia were drawn inGroup A with hostsPortugal,Spain, and Greece. They were not among the favourites to progress and tournament preparations were hampered by injuries to defendersSergei Ignashevich and Viktor Onopko.[9] Russia started their tournament against Spain but a late goal fromJuan Carlos Valerón put Russia on the brink of another group stage elimination.[10] Four days later, Russia became the first team eliminated after a 0–2 defeat to Portugal.[11] The final game of the group resulted in a surprising 2–1 victory overeventual champions Greece withDmitri Kirichenko scoring one of the fastest goals of the tournament.[12]
In the2006 World Cup qualifying tournament, Russia was drawn intoGroup 3 with Portugal,Slovakia,Estonia,Latvia, Luxembourg, andLiechtenstein. 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 inLisbon, 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 inTallinn was a major disappointment which saw the end of Georgi Yartsev's reign. Under new managerYury Syomin, Russia were able to rekindle their hopes with a 2–0 win against Latvia before a 1–1 draw inRiga on 17 August 2005. Russia then had victories against Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and a 0–0 draw against Portugal. In their final game, Russia needed to win against Slovakia inBratislava. After a 0–0 draw, Slovakia advanced to theplay-offs above Russia on goal difference.
Having failed to qualify Russia for the 2006 World Cup, Yury Syomin 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 managerGuus Hiddink would lead Russia in theEuro 2008 qualification campaign.[13]
For the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, Russia were drawn intoGroup E withEngland,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 fromWayne Rooney. During the second half Russia came from behind to win 2–1 withRoman 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 theEuro 2008 tournament, Russia were drawn intoGroup D with Sweden and Euro 2004 group rivals Spain and Greece. In a preparation friendly againstSerbia, leading strikerPavel Pogrebnyak was injured and would miss the tournament. Russia lost their opening match 4–1 to Spain inInnsbruck but then beat Greece 1–0 with a goal byKonstantin Zyryanov. The third game saw Russia defeat Sweden 2–0 through goals by Roman Pavlyuchenko andAndrey Arshavin, resulting in Russia advancing to thequarter-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 theNetherlands, 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 across towards substituteDmitri Torbinski, who tapped the ball into the net. Arshavin then beatEdwin 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 thesemi-finals, Russia was once again matched up against Spain, and lost 3–0.
Russia lost 0–1 againstGermany in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification in October 2009
Russia was drawn toGroup 4 inqualification for2010 FIFA World Cup, competing withGermany, 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 aplay-off spot. The match at theLuzhniki 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 fromDiniyar Bilyaletdinov.[14] In the return match, Russia lost 1–0 inMaribor, and Slovenia qualified for the finals on theaway goals rule.[15] On 13 February 2010, it was confirmed that Hiddink would leave his position as manager, with the expiration of his contract on 30 June.[16]
Russia directly qualified forEuro 2012 by winningqualifying Group B, defeating Slovakia, the Republic of Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia and Andorra. Russia were drawn intoGroup A withPoland, the Czech Republic and Greece. Led byDick Advocaat, Russia had been unbeaten for nearly 15 games and managed to record a 3–0 win againstItaly one week before the Euro 2012's opening game kick-off. TheSbornaya started off the tournament with a 4–1 win over the Czech Republic and temporarily went top of the group with three points.Alan Dzagoev netted twice andRoman Shirokov and Roman Pavlyuchenko scored. In the second game against co-host Poland, 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. A game against Greece finished with a 1–0 loss which eliminated the Russians from the tournament.[citation needed]
The group stage exit 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.[citation needed]
In July 2012, the ItalianFabio Capello was named as the new Russian manager, after being sacked by England in February.[17]
Russia competed inGroup F ofWorld Cup qualification and qualified in first place after a 1–1 draw with Azerbaijan in their last game. In January 2014, Capello was rewarded with a new four-year contract to last up to the2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[18]
Russia played in Group H againstSouth Korea, Belgium andAlgeria. In their first group match, against South Korea, goalkeeperIgor Akinfeev fumbled a long-range shot fromLee Keun-ho, dropping it over the line to give the Koreans the lead. Russia then went on to equalise through substituteAleksandr Kerzhakov, who drew equal to Vladimir Beschastnykh's record 26 goals for Russia, and the match finished 1–1.[19] In the second match, Russia held Belgium at 0–0 at theMaracanã until substituteDivock Origi scored the only goal in the 88th minute. The finalgroup 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 throughAleksandr Kokorin. In the 60th minute of the game, alaser was shone in Akinfeev's face while he was defending from an Algerian free kick, from whichIslam Slimani scored to equalise. Both Akinfeev and Russian coachFabio Capello blamed the laser for the decisive conceded goal.[20][21]
Russia were placed inGroup G ofUEFA Euro 2016 qualifying alongside Sweden,Austria,Montenegro,Moldova and Liechtenstein. Russia began 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 forUEFA Euro 2016.
During thegroup stages of the tournament,UEFA imposed a suspended disqualification on Russia forcrowd riots during a group match against England.[22] 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.
Russia qualified for the2017 Confederations Cup as hosts, yet once again produced a dismal performance. After defeatingNew Zealand 2–0,[23] Russia disappointed its fans by losing 0–1 to Portugal[24] and 1–2 to Mexico, thus once again crashed out from thegroup stage of a majorFIFA tournament.[25] Despite this dismal performance, Stanislav Cherchesov, appointed as coach of Russia after Euro 2016, was allowed to keep the job.[citation needed]
On 2 December 2010, Russia wereselected to host the 2018 World Cup and automaticallyqualified for the tournament.[26][27] 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 theirFIFA ranking fall to 70th, the lowest among all World Cup participants.[28][29] Russia were drawn to playSaudi Arabia,Egypt andUruguay in thegroup stage.
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,[30] on 14 June in the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[31] On 19 June, Russia won their second game of the group stage, beating Egypt by a scoreline of 3–1,[32] taking their goal difference to +7 with only two matches played.[33] The win over Egypt all but secured Russia's advancement into theknockout stage for the first time since1986, when they played as the Soviet Union; and also for the first time in their history as an independent state.[34] They officially qualified for the knockout stage the next day, following Uruguay's 1–0 win over Saudi Arabia.[35] Russia's final group game was against two-time world champions (1930 and1950) Uruguay, losing 3–0,[36] and finished second in the group.
Advancing from their group in second place, Russia faced Spain at theRound of 16 in Moscow. Spain were considered one of the tournament favorites with many accomplished players at club and international level, having won the2010 edition. Russia managed to surprise Spain in one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history; beating them in apenalty shootout after the match ended 1–1 in regular time.[37]BBC Sport andThe 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.[38][39] Against the Spaniards who were known for theirtiki-taka, coach Stanislav Cherchesov used a defensive 5–3–1–1 formation to sit deep and defend with ten men, and conceded no goals from open play as Spain's only goal was from afree kick set piece while Russia tied the game thanks for apenalty awarded for a handball.[40] Igor Akinfeev, who saved two penalties including a foot-save to deny Spain'sIago Aspas, was voted asBudweiserMan of the Match. The win against Spain sent supporters and residents of Russia into wild celebrations, as they reached thequarter-finals for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union.[41]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 ofRussian football."[42]
Russia football supporters at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Russia then played Croatia in the quarter-finals held atSochi, on 7 July.[43][44][45] Coach Stanislav Cherchesov reverted to a four-man defense which successfully exploited Croatia offensive set-up which proved vulnerable to Russia's counter-attacking.[40] Russia scored first (a long-range strike by Denis Cheryshev which was his fourth goal of the tournament and was later nominated for thePuskás Award) and last (a header fromMário Fernandes at the 115th minute) as the match finished 2–2 after extra time, and then were eliminated 3–4 in the penalty shootout.[46] Nonetheless, this stands as Russia's bestWorld Cup performance ever since the dissolution of the USSR. The team visited theFIFA Fan Fest in Moscow on Sunday, 8 July 2018, to thank their supporters and say goodbye.[42][47] Following the World Cup run, Russia's position in the FIFA ranking rose from 70 to 40.
Russia participated in theUEFA Nations League for the first time, where they were drawn withTurkey and Sweden. Russia had a promising start, with two wins over Turkey and a home draw to Sweden.[48][49] However, Russia wasted its opportunity to promote toLeague A after getting a 0–2 away defeat to Sweden, thus losing their first place to the Swedes instead and was forced to stay inLeague B.[50]
Inqualification, the Russian side was drawn inGroup I with Belgium,Kazakhstan, San Marino, Cyprus and Scotland. With the exception of its 1–3 loss to the Belgians away,[51] Russia defeated other group opponents. The Russian team defeated San Marino 9–0 after the two 7–0 wins in 1995 and in 2015.[52] Russia also defeated Scotland, Cyprus and Kazakhstan twice and qualified for theUEFA Euro 2020.[53] Russia consolidated its second place in the group despite being thrashed by number-one ranked Belgium 1–4 at home.[54]
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 finalgroup match againstDenmark where they lost 4–1. Following Russia's exit from the competition, Stanislav Cherchesov was sacked as coach.[55]
Russia competed in the League B for the season, thereby matching up withTurkey,Serbia andHungary. Russia began comfortably, beating Serbia and Hungary to take the first place.[56][57] In their last two games, they suffered two losses in Turkey and 0–5 in Serbia and finished thegroup in second place, remaining inLeague B.
The decision was criticized by many as inadequate, and the next day FIFA and UEFA relented and issued blanket bans on Russian participation in international football, effectively barring them from participating in the 2022 World Cup qualifying play-off.[64][65][66] This was in accordance with a recommendation by theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC).[66][67] The Russian Football Union unsuccessfully appealed the FIFA and UEFA bans to theCourt of Arbitration for Sport, which upheld the bans.[4] On 20 September 2022, UEFA decided to ban Russia from participating inUEFA Euro 2024.[68]
In response to the disqualification and suspension of Russia from all international football activities, especially within Europe, President of the Russian Football Union,Alexander Dyukov, implied that Russia should begin to discuss about moving to theAFC in order to continue competing in major international tournaments.[69] In December 2022, the RFU Executive Committee opted to vote about the matter, but their attempt to move to the AFC did not materialise; instead, the RFU opted to create a working group with the aim of bringing Russia back to European competition.[70] Still, Dyukov attended the AFC Congress inManama in February 2023, which increased speculation about Russia's possible move to the AFC as the country was initially invited to compete in theCAFA Nations Cup, held by Central Asian nations that were formerly part of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union (except Kazakhstan), which Russia later chose not to enter.[71] On 5 April 2023, UEFA president,Aleksander Čeferin, decided to extend the ban, stating it was "very hard" to lift it until the war is over, ensuring Russia's isolation from European football process.[72]
At the same time, Russia has also increasingly pivoted football games to Asia. From late 2022 to early 2023, Russia played six AFC opponents,Kyrgyzstan,Uzbekistan,Tajikistan,Iran,Iraq andQatar.[73][74][75][76][77] In response, critics claim that the AFC doesn't offer the "same amount of power like in Europe" when compared to "lucrative European competitions".[78]Magomed Adiyev, the current head coach ofKazakhstan national football team (Kazakhstan moved from the AFC to UEFA in 2002), also claimed that Russia should not move and rather "wait until further development".[79] However, Australia, Japan, South Korea, three major AFC members, has urged the AFC not to allow Russia in even if they decided on doing so.[80] Still, according to Martin Lowe, the AFC has a significant number of members that are sympathetic to Russia, mainly in West and South Asia, as well as China, plus with several Central Asian countries (including Kazakhstan, which is the first UEFA nation to send a national team to play Russia since the invasion of Ukraine after Belarus),[81] which could undermine Australia, Japan and South Korea's efforts due to their limited voices against the wider pro-Russian opinions in the AFC.[82]
In December 2023, the Russian Football Union decided not to apply for the transfer to AFC at the time (the application has to be made six months before the end of UEFA's reporting year in June), as the FIFA ban from official international competitions remained in effect. The RFU agreed to re-consider the transfer in the future depending on FIFA or UEFA's actions.[83]
In 2024, Russia decided to play against opponents from Asia once again, as they participated in the2024 LPBank Cup held in Vietnam. Russia was scheduled to faceVietnam and Thailand. They defeated Vietnam 3–0, however, the match against Thailand was cancelled for safety reasons due toTyphoon Yagi. On 15 November, Russia recorded its biggest ever victory as they thrashedBrunei 11–0 at theKrasnodar Stadium, before defeatingSyria 4–0 in the following friendly, adding the number of Asian opponents Russia have played to nine.[84][85] On 20 November 2024, shortly after the conclusion of the2024–25 UEFA Nations League group stages, Russia were confirmed to be banned from the entire2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, which raised further questions over Russia's affiliation to UEFA.[86]
Conversely, the US has invaded (or destabilized governments in) over 50 countries (including Ukraine) since WWII and itsnational team has never faced a reprimand from CONCACAF or FIFA, even after invading fellow CONCACAF member Panama in 1989.[87]
Following thebreak up of the Soviet Union, the Russian Football Union replaced the red and whiteAdidas kits with strips supplied byReebok in red, blue and white reflecting the readopted nationalflag of Russia. In 1997,Nike decided on a simpler design used at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004, consisting of mainly a white base with blue trim and the opposite combination for the away kit. After failing to qualify for the2006 FIFA World Cup, Nike reintroduced red, this time as the home kit, while white being reversed as the away colour.[88][89] This trend was continued by Adidas, who took over as suppliers in 2008.[90] The 2009–10 season marked yet another change with the introduction of the maroon and gold as the primary home colours. A return to red and white was made in 2011. The edition of the kit used atEuro 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. The2014 FIFA World Cup kit made a return to the maroon and gold colour scheme, with Russian flag-coloured stripes built horizontally into the sleeves, the front includes the pattern in different shades of maroon depicting theMonument 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. The2018 FIFA World Cup kit did not have much decorations in it, except for thecoat of arms. Home red shirt had a very similar design to the uniform ofSoviet Union Olympic football team it used at the1988 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,romanized: Vmeste k pobede) slogan printed below the collar.[citation needed]
The Russia national team's official shirt supplier in 2008–22 wasAdidas. The contract was unilaterally terminated by the German giant after theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[91]
Jögel is currently the team's official sponsor starting from 2024. Jögel's deal with the Russian national team took effect in early 2024 and lasts until 2026.[92]
^Oleg Blokhin, who scored 42 goals for the Soviet Union, is recognised by FIFA as Russia's top scorer, as the statistics of the Soviet Union were inherited by itssuccessor state Russia.
^Igor Kolyvanov also made 19 appearances and scored 2 goals for theUSSR, as well as 5 appearances and 1 goal for theCIS.
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