The is the national
Football team of
Russia and is controlled by the
Football Union Of Russia .
Since the breakup of the
USSR , Russian football has struggled to show the level the
USSR Team showed in past. The team qualified for two World Cups (
1994 ,
2002 ) and two
European Championships (
1996 ,
2004 ), but failed to get beyond the first round on either occasion.
FIFA considers the Russia national team the direct descendant of the
CIS and
USSR national teams.
After the break up of the Soviet Union, Russia played its first international match against
Mexico on August 16, 1992 winning 2-0. Many former USSR players from the other republics played for Russia.
In the , Russia was drawn into group B with
Cameroon ,
Sweden , and
Brazil . Russia lost 2-0 to Brazil and 3-1 to Sweden in its first two games. Eliminated already, Russia defeated Cameroon 6-1 with
Oleg Salenko scoring a
Record five goals. Russia was eliminated from the tournament with three points from one win and two losses.
Two years later Russia qualified for
Euro 96 and was drawn into Group C with
Germany ,
Czech Republic , and
Italy . Group C was considered the 'group of death' with Russia dubbed the weakest team. Russia lost 2-1 to Italy in game 1 and 3-0 to Germany in game 2. In their last game, Russia fought to a creditable 3-3 draw against the Czech Republic.
Between 1993 and 1997, Russia was in the top twenty FIFA world rankings
1 but failed to qualify for the . However the Euro 2000 qualifying campaign witnessed a historic victory 3-2 over
France in Paris on 5 June 1999.
At the in Korea-Japan, Russia was drawn into group H with
Belgium ,
Tunisia , and
Japan . This was considered by many as the weakest group of the tournament with Russia and Japan to qualify to the second round due to weak Belgian and Tunisian sides. The Russian squad, led by
Oleg Romantsev , contained a mix of experienced veterans and fresh debutants. In their first game Russia achieved a comfortable 2-0 win against Tunisia. After much media hype and determination from Russian fans, Russia were determined to defeat Japan. However in the 51st minute, Japan took a 1-0 lead and held out to win the game while riots erupted in Moscow. In their last game against Belgium, there was again much determination for victory. In the 7th minute Belgium took the lead with a goal from
Walem but a 52nd minute Russian equaliser from Titov leveled the score. Drama began to unfold in the last 12 minutes when Belgium restored the lead with a goal from
Sonck and took a 3-1 lead with an 82nd minute goal from
Wilmots . A goal at 88 minutes from
Sychev could not save Russia as they lost 3-2. Russia were eliminated with 3 points, from one win and two losses. The 2002 campaign was regarded as one in which Russia could have avoided simple mistakes to qualify for the second round.
In the
Euro 2004 , Russia was drawn into group A with
Greece ,
Spain , and
Portugal . On the first day of the tournament Russia lost to Spain 1-0 and four days later lost to Portugal 2-0. However on June 16, Russia surprisingly defeated Greece 2-1 with
Kirichenko scoring in the 2nd minute and Bulykin later scoring in the 17th minute. However, Russia was eliminated from Euro 2004.
In the
2006 World Cup Qualifying Tournament , Russia was drawn into group 3 with
Portugal ,
Slovakia ,
Estonia ,
Latvia ,
Luxembourg , and
Liechtenstein . Portugal quickly took first place and Russia trailed Slovakia for second place. On October 12, 2005 Russia needed to win against Slovakia in Bratislava. After a suspenseful 0-0 draw Slovakia advanced to the playoffs. Russia finished third with 23 points from six wins, five draws, and one loss (their biggest lost ever, 7-1 against Portugal in Lisbon) failing to qualify for the play-offs by 1 point.
Russia are currently playing in the
Euro 2008 Qualifiers In Group E with England, Croatia, Israel, FYR Macedonia, Estonia, and Andorra. Russia began their
Euro 2008 campaign with a relatively poor start by drawing with Croatia 0-0 and Israel 1-1 at home. They picked up momentum with a 2-0 win against FYR Macedonia, and 2-0 home and away wins against Estonia.
(left) and
Igor Netto (right) with the
European Championship Cup won in 1960]]
This is the squad called up for the matches against
Republic Of Macedonia on
8 September 2007 and
England on
12 September 2007 .
This lists players who have played most or all of their international careers in the Russian era. For notable players from the USSR era, see
USSR National Football Team .
