Soviet Union national football team

Soviet Union

Nickname(s)	Red Army
Association	Football Federation of USSR
Most caps	Oleg Blokhin (112)
Top scorer	Oleg Blokhin (42)
FIFA code	URS
Highest Elo ranking	1 (1963, 1966, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Soviet Union 3–0 Turkey  (Moscow, USSR; 16 November 1924) Last international  Cyprus 0–3 Soviet Union  (Larnaca, Cyprus; 13 November 1991)
Biggest win
Soviet Union 11–1 India  (Moscow, USSR; 16 September 1955)  Finland 0–10 Soviet Union  (Helsinki, Finland; 15 August 1957)
Biggest defeat
England 5–0 Soviet Union  (London, England; 22 October 1958)
World Cup
Appearances	7 (First in 1958)
Best result	Fourth place, 1966
European Championship
Appearances	5 (First in 1960)
Best result	Winners, 1960

Olympic medal record
Men’s Football
Gold	1956 Melbourne	Team
Bronze	1972 Munich	Team
Bronze	1976 Montreal	Team
Bronze	1980 Moscow	Team
Gold	1988 Seoul	Team

The Soviet Union National Football Team (Russian: Сборная Советского Союза по футболу, tr. Sbornaya Sovyetskogo Soyuza po futbolu) was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union.^[1] FIFA considers the CIS national football team (and ultimately, the Russia national football team) as its successor team^[2] allocating its former records to them; nevertheless, a large percentage of the team's former players came from outside the Russian SFSR, mainly from the Ukrainian SSR, and following the break up of the Soviet Union, some such as Andrei Kanchelskis from the former Ukrainian SSR continued to serve in the new Russia national football team.

The Soviet Union failed to qualify for the World Cup only twice, in 1974 and 1978, and attended seven finals tournaments in total. Their best finish was fourth in 1966, when they lost to West Germany in the semifinals, 2–1. The USSR qualified for five European Championships, winning the inaugural competition in 1960 when they beat Yugoslavia in the final, 2–1. They finished second three times (1964, 1972, 1988), and fourth once (1968), when, having drawn with Italy in the semi-final, they were sent to the third place playoff match by the loss of a coin toss. The Soviet Union also won the gold medal in the 1956 and 1988 Summer Olympics, the inaugural World Youth Championship in 1977, and the Under-17 World Championship in 1987.

Contents 1 History 1.1 First games 1.2 Sweden trials and the Triumph 1.3 The end of the Kachalin's dream-team 1.4 The World Cup, so close and so far away 1.5 Kachalin's second attempt 1.6 The Dark '70s 1.7 Beskov recovers the team 1.8 Lobanovsky era 2 National teams 2.1 Former Soviet republics 3 Competitive record 3.1 World Cup record 3.2 European Championship record 3.3 Post Soviet Union national football team Competitive record 4 Players 4.1 Most capped Soviet players 4.2 Top goalscorers 5 See also 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] First games

The first international match played by a Soviet team came in August 1923, nine months after the establishment of the Soviet Union, when a Russian SFSR team beat Sweden 2–1 in Stockholm.^[3] The first formally recognised match played by the Soviet Union took place a year later, a 3–0 win over Turkey. This and a return match in Ankara were the only officially recognised international matches played by the USSR prior to the 1952 Summer Olympics, though several unofficial friendlies against Turkey took place in the 1930s. The 1952 Olympics was the first competitive tournament entered by the USSR. In the preliminary round, Bulgaria were defeated 2–1, earning a first round tie against Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia led 5–1, but a Soviet comeback in the last 15 minutes resulted in a 5–5 draw. The match was replayed, Yugoslavia winning 3–1.^[4]

[edit] Sweden trials and the Triumph

The USSR entered the World Cup for the first time at the 1958 tournament, following a qualification playoff against Poland.^[5] Drawn in a group with Brazil, England and Austria, they collected three points in total, one from England and two from Austria. USSR and England went to a playoff game, in which Anatoli Ilyin scored in the 67th minute to knock England out. The USSR were then eliminated by the hosts of the tournament, Sweden, in the quarter-finals.

The inaugural European Championships in 1960 marked the pinnacle of Soviet footballing achievement. Easily progressing to the quarter-finals, the team were scheduled to face Spain, but due to the tensions of the Cold War, Spain refused to travel to the Soviet Union, resulting in a walkover. In the semi-final, the Soviet team defeated Czechoslovakia 3–0 and reached the final, where they faced Yugoslavia.

In the final, Yugoslavia scored first, but the Soviet Union, led by legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin, equalized in the 49th minute. After 90 minutes the score was 1–1, and Viktor Ponedelnik scored with seven minutes left in extra time to give the Soviets the inaugural European Championship.

[edit] The end of the Kachalin's dream-team

In the 1962 World Cup, the Soviet team was in Group 1 with Yugoslavia, Colombia and Uruguay. The match between USSR and Colombia ended 4–4; Colombia scored a series of goals (68’, 72’, 86’). Star goalkeeper Lev Yashin was in poor form both against Colombia and Chile. His form was considered as one of the main reasons why USSR team did not gain more success in the tournament.^{[citation needed]}

In 1964, the USSR attempted to defend their European Championship title, defeating Italy in the last 16 (2–0, 1–1) and to reach the quarter-finals. After two matches against Sweden, the Soviet side won on aggregate (1–1, 3–1). The USSR team went to Spain where the finals were held. In the semi-finals, the Soviet Union defeated Denmark 3–0 in Barcelona but their dreams of winning the title again were dashed when they lost the final against Spain, the hosts.

[edit] The World Cup, so close and so far away

The 1966 World Cup was the tournament which the USSR team reached their best result by finishing the cup as the fourth. USSR was in Group 4 with North Korea, Italy and Chile. In all three matches, the USSR team managed to defeat their rivals. The Soviet team then defeated Hungary in the quarter-finals thanks to the effective performance of their star, Lev Yashin but their success was ended by two defeats on 25 and 28 July, against West Germany in the semi-finals and Portugal in the third place play off match, respectively. The 1966 squad was the second best scoring Soviet team in the World Cup history, with 10 goals.

For the Euro 1968, the qualification competition was played in two stages; a group stage (taking place from 1966 until 1968) and the quarter-finals (played in 1968). Again, only four teams could reach the finals which were held in Italy. The semi-final match between USSR and Italy ended 0–0. It was decided to toss a coin to see who reached the final, rather than play a replay. Italy won, and went on to become European champions. On 8 June 1968, the Soviets were defeated by England in the third place match.

[edit] Kachalin's second attempt

The 1970 World Cup started with the match between Mexico and the USSR. The Soviet team became the first team to make a substitution in World Cup history in this match. Other opponents in their group were Belgium and El Salvador. The Soviet team easily qualified to the quarter-final where they lost against Uruguay in extra time. This was the last time the USSR reached the quarter-finals.

The final tournament of the 1972 European Championships took place between 14 June and 18 June 1972. Again, only four teams were in the finals. Soviets defeated Hungary 1–0, a second half goal. The final was between West Germany and USSR. The match ended with a victory of the German side thanks to the effective football of Gerd Müller. This tournament was one of the two tournaments in which the USSR finished as runner-up.

[edit] The Dark '70s

The rest of the 1970s were bleak for the Soviets, who were disqualified from the 1974 World Cup as a result of refusal to play Chile in the aftermath of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, and failed to qualify for the 1978 World Cup or the 1976 and 1980 European Championships.

[edit] Beskov recovers the team

The 1982 World Cup was the USSR's first major tournament appearance for a decade. The USSR was in Group 6 with Brazil, Scotland and New Zealand. Goals by Socrates and Eder marked the defeat of the Soviet side against Brazil in the first group match, and they were eventually eliminated in the Second Round by finishing the group in second place, when they defeated Belgium only 1–0 and drew against Poland with an 0–0 result. In 1984, the Soviets again failed to qualify for the European Championships, but succeeded in qualifying for the 1986 World Cup. USSR were in Group C with Hungary, France and Canada.

[edit] Lobanovsky era

Soviet team enjoyed a successful group stage by scoring nine goals and finishing the group in the first place. It seemed like the Soviet side managed to forget their unsuccessful performance in 1982, but they lost to Belgium 3–4, amid referee controversies, in the round of 16. Despite their poor performance in the cup, USSR team was the best scoring Soviet team in the World Cup history, with 12 goals. After failing to qualify for three consecutive times (1976, 1980, 1984), the Soviets managed to qualify for the 1988 competition, the last time the USSR national football team took part in the European Football Championship. The finals were held in West Germany. Eight teams were participating this time. USSR finished Group B as leaders above the Netherlands and reached the semi-finals. There, the Soviets defeated Italy 2–0. In the final between USSR and the Netherlands, rival of USSR from Group B, the Netherlands won the match with a clear score and became the European champions.

The final major championship contested by the Soviet team was the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where they were drawn in Group B with Argentina, Romania and Cameroon. The only success of USSR in the whole tournament came when they managed to beat the group leaders, Cameroon by 4–0. The Soviet team lost their other matches and failed to qualify from the group. The USSR qualified for Euro 1992, but the breakup of the Soviet Union meant that the finals place was instead taken by the CIS national football team. After the tournament, the former Soviet Republics competed as separate independent nations, with FIFA allocating the Soviet team's record to Russia.

[edit] National teams

[edit] Former Soviet republics

Nation	Confederation	International Tournament (s)	Notes
Armenia	UEFA
Azerbaijan	UEFA
Belarus	UEFA
Estonia	UEFA
Georgia	UEFA
Kazakhstan	UEFA		Member of AFC 1992–2002
Kyrgyzstan	AFC
Latvia	UEFA	UEFA Euro 2004
Lithuania	UEFA
Moldova	UEFA
Russia	UEFA	1994 FIFA World Cup UEFA Euro 1996 1998 FIFA World Cup play-offs 2002 FIFA World Cup UEFA Euro 2004 UEFA Euro 2008 2010 FIFA World Cup play-offs
Tajikistan	AFC
Turkmenistan	AFC	2004 AFC Asian Cup
Ukraine	UEFA	1998 FIFA World Cup play-offs UEFA Euro 2000 play-offs 2002 FIFA World Cup play-offs 2006 FIFA World Cup 2010 FIFA World Cup play-offs UEFA Euro 2012
Uzbekistan	AFC	1996 AFC Asian Cup 2000 AFC Asian Cup 2004 AFC Asian Cup 2007 AFC Asian Cup

[edit] Competitive record

[edit] World Cup record Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1930 Did Not Enter 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 Quarter-finals 7th 5 2 1 2 5 6 1962 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 1 1 9 7 1966 Semi-finals 4th 6 4 0 2 10 6 1970 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 6 2 1974 Disqualified [6] 1978 Did Not Qualify 1982 Round 2 7th 5 2 2 1 7 4 1986 Round 2 10th 4 2 1 1 12 5 1990 Round 1 17th 3 1 0 2 4 4 1994 Succeeded by Russia Total 7/9 31 15 6 10 53 34

[edit] European Championship record Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1960 Winners 1st 2 2 0 0 5 1 1964 Runners-up 2nd 2 1 0 1 4 2 1968 Fourth Place 4th 2 0 1 1 0 2 1972 Runners-up 2nd 2 1 0 1 1 3 1976 Quarter-finals[7] 1980 Did Not Qualify 1984 1988 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 1 1 7 4 1992 Succeeded by CIS Total 6/8 1 Title 13 7 2 4 17 12

[edit] Post Soviet Union national football team Competitive record

[edit] Players

[edit] Most capped Soviet players Player records are accurate as of December 1991. # Name Career Caps Goals 1 Oleg Blokhin 1972 – 1988 112 42 2 Rinat Dasaev 1979 – 1990 91 0 3 Albert Shesternev 1961 – 1971 90 0 4 Anatoliy Demyanenko 1981 – 1990 80 6 5 Volodymyr Bezsonov 1977 – 1990 79 4 6 Siarhey Aleinikaw 1984 – 1991 77 6 7 Lev Yashin 1954 – 1967 74 0 8 Murtaz Khurtsilava 1965 – 1973 69 6 9 Oleg Protasov 1984 – 1991 68 29 10 Valeriy Voronin 1960 – 1968 66 5 11 Oleg Kuznetsov 1986 – 1991 63 1 12 Volodymyr Kaplichny 1968 – 1974 62 0 13 Valentin Ivanov 1956 – 1965 59 26 14 Vagiz Khidiatulin 1978 – 1990 58 6 15 Gennadiy Litovchenko 1984 – 1990 58 15 16 Viktor Kolotov 1970 – 1978 55 22 17 Igor Netto 1952 – 1965 54 4 18 Igor Chislenko 1959 – 1968 53 20 19 Evgeniy Lovchev 1969 – 1977 52 1 20 Anatoliy Banishevskiy 1965 – 1972 50 19

[edit] Top goalscorers The following statistic is based on the statistic published in Sovetskiy Sport of December 1991.[8] # Player Career Goals (Caps) Pct. 1 Oleg Blokhin 1972 - 1988 42 (112) 0.375 2 Oleg Protasov 1984 - 1991 29 (68) 0.426 3 Valentin Ivanov 1956 - 1965 26 (59) 0.441 4 Eduard Streltsov 1955 - 1968 25 (38) 0.658 5 Viktor Kolotov 1970 - 1978 22 (55) 0.4 6 Viktor Ponedelnik 1960 - 1966 20 (29) 0.69 Igor Chislenko 1959 - 1968 20 (53) 0.377 8 Anatoliy Banishevskiy 1965 - 1972 19 (50) 0.38 9 Anatoliy Ilyin 1952 - 1959 16 (31) 0.516 10 Anatoliy Byshovets 1966 - 1972 15 (39) 0.385 Gennadiy Litovchenko 1984 - 1990 15 (58) 0.259 12 Fedor Cherenkov 1979 - 1990 12 (34) 0.353 13 Sergei Salnikov 1954 - 1958 11 (20) 0.55 Volodymyr Onyschenko 1972 - 1977 11 (44) 0.25 Slava Metreveli 1958 - 1970 11 (48) 0.229 16 Nikita (Mkrtych) Simonyan 1954 - 1958 10 (20) 0.5 Ramaz Shengelia 1979 - 1983 10 (26) 0.385 Yuriy Gavrilov 1978 - 1985 10 (46) 0.217

[edit] See also

• Soviet Union national under-21 football team
• Soviet Union national football team all-time record

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• RSSSF archive of results 1923-1991/92
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• Football in USSR
• Russia Team Profile including old USSR World Cup qualifications
• Russia (USSR) National Football Team
• Team history

Preceded by Inaugural Champions

European Champions 1960 (First title)

Succeeded by 1964 Spain

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