Soviet Union national football team

The Soviet Union national football team (Russian: Cборная Советского Союза по футболу, sbornaya Sovyetskogo Soyuza po futbolu) was the team made up of players of Soviet nationality that represented the Football Federation of the Soviet Union (Федерация футбола СССР, Federatsiya futbola SSSR) from 1923 to 1991 in the official competitions organized by the UEFA and FIFA.

The Soviet national team was preceded by the Soviet Russia national soccer team and the Russian Empire national soccer team, which would also be its successor under the name of the Russia national soccer team after the disintegration of the union. FIFA It also considers the Commonwealth of Independent States soccer team as the successor team between the two, assigning its old records to it, although a large percentage of the team's players came from outside the aforementioned Russian SFSR and mainly from the Republic. Ukrainian Soviet Socialist. Faced with the controversy of the political situation after the disintegration of the Union, some players such as Andrei Kanchelskis from the former Ukrainian SSR continued to serve in the new Russian football team.

Starting in 1958, the USSR would be absent from the World Cup only twice, in the 1974 editions in Germany and the 1978 edition in Argentina, attending the remaining seven final phases. Their best result was a fourth place finish in 1966 in England, when they lost to the West German team in the semi-finals 2-1. They also qualified for five European Championships, winning the inaugural edition of the tournament held in France in 1960 when they beat the Yugoslav team in the final 2-1 at a time when football was a major international player in Eastern Europe. They finished as runners-up three times in the 1964 editions of Spain, the 1972 edition of Belgium and the 1988 edition of West Germany; and fourth in the 1968 edition of Italy, when, having tied with the host Italian team in the semi-finals, they were relegated to the play-off game for third place after a random coin toss. Their achievements also include a medal of Olympic gold at the 1956 Olympic Games held in Melbourne and at the 1988 Games in Seoul.

The achievements extended to the lower categories, where they won the inaugural Youth Soccer World Cup (later under-20) in 1977 and the Under-17 Soccer World Cup in 1987.

After participating in the 1990 World Cup in Italy and having qualified for Euro 1992 after having passed the qualification process, the team ceased to exist as a result of the dissolution of the country.

The fifteen countries resulting from this dissolution each formed their own soccer team separately. The strongest successor teams of the USSR have been the Russian, Ukrainian and Uzbekistan soccer teams, due to their great performances in the Soccer World Cup, in the Eurocup (Ukraine and Russia) and in the Cup. Asian (Uzbekistan). In this sense, FIFA considers the Russian team as a direct successor to the Soviet team and awards all its statistics and achievements to Russia.

History

First decades (1923-1956)

Selection of Soviet football in 1924

The first international match played by a Soviet team occurred in August 1923, nine months after the creation of the USSR, when the Russian SFSR team defeated Sweden 2-1 in Stockholm. The first formally recognized game played by the USSR took place a year later, with a 3-0 victory over Turkey. This and a return match in Ankara were the only officially recognized USSR international matches prior to the 1952 Olympics, although it played several unofficial friendlies against Turkey in the 1930s. The 1952 Olympics was the first competitive tournament that the USSR participated. In the preliminary round, they defeated Bulgaria 2–1, earning a first round tie on points with Yugoslavia. But during the match against Yugoslavia they were beaten 5-1, but a Soviet comeback in the last 15 minutes resulted in a 5-5 draw. The match was played again and Yugoslavia won 3-1.

Dispute in Sweden and the triumph

Igor Netto, Sergei Salnikov and Lev Yashin during the 1958 World Cup of Football.

The USSR first entered the Soccer World Cup in the 1958 tournament, after a qualifying match against Poland. Featured in a group with Brazil, England and Austria, in which they scored three points in total, one against England and two against Austria. The USSR and England went to a tiebreaker match, in which Anatoli Ilyin scored a 67th-minute goal to knock England out. Then, in the quarterfinals, the USSR was eliminated by Sweden, the host of the tournament.

The inaugural European Championship in 1960 marked the pinnacle of Soviet soccer achievement. Easily advancing to the quarterfinals, the team was scheduled to face Spain, but due to Cold War tensions, Spain refused to travel to the USSR, resulting in a no-opponent victory. In the semifinal, the Soviet team defeated Czechoslovakia 3-0 and reached the final, where they would face Yugoslavia.

In the final, Yugoslavia scored first, but the USSR, led by legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin, equalized on 49 minutes. After 90 minutes the score was 1-1, with Viktor Ponedelnik scoring seven minutes into the final. extra time to give the Soviets the inaugural EuroCup.

The end of the dream team led by Kachalin

In the 1962 World Cup, the Soviet team was in Group 1 with Yugoslavia, Colombia and Uruguay. The match between the USSR and Colombia ended 4-4; Colombia scored a series of goals (mins. 68, 72 and 86) including the only Olympic goal in the history of a World Cup. Star goalkeeper Lev Yashin had a poor performance against both Colombia and Chile. His poor form was considered one of the main reasons why the USSR team did not have much success in the tournament.

In 1964, the USSR tried to defend its Euro Cup title, defeating Italy in the last 16 minutes (2-0, 1-1) and reaching the quarterfinals. After two games against Sweden, the Soviet team won on aggregate (1-1, 3-1). Then, he went to Spain, where the finals were played. In the semi-finals, the USSR defeated Denmark 3-0 in Barcelona, but their dreams of winning the title again were dashed when they lost the final against hosts Spain. In 1965 the national team toured the world playing with clubs to prepare for the new World Cup, where they achieved great victories.

End of the 60s: the semifinals in the World Cup and the European Championships

The 1966 World Cup was the tournament in which the USSR team achieved its best result in the world championships, finishing fourth in the cup. The USSR was in group 4 with North Korea, Italy and Chile. In all three matches, the USSR team managed to defeat their rivals. They then defeated Hungary in the quarterfinals thanks to the efficiency of their star, Lev Yashin, but their success ended with two losses on July 25 and 28, against West Germany in the semifinals and against Portugal for the third place, respectively. The 1966 team was the second highest scoring Soviet team in World Cup history, with ten goals.

For Euro 1968, the qualifying competition was played in two stages; a group stage (taking place from 1966 to 1968) and the quarterfinals (played in 1968). Once again, only four teams could reach the finals that were held in Italy. The semifinal between the USSR and Italy ended with a 0-0 tie. It was decided to flip a coin to see who would make it to the final, instead of playing a replay. Italy won and went to the final to later become European champions. On June 8, 1968, the Soviets were defeated by England in the third-place match. In 1969 they were in Brazil to play a friendly, where they were defeated by Atlético Mineiro 2-1.

Kachalin's second try

The 1970 World Cup began with the match between Mexico and the USSR. During this match, the Soviet team became the first team to make a substitution in the history of the World Cup. The other rivals in their group were Belgium and El Salvador. The Soviet team easily qualified for the quarterfinals, where they lost to Uruguay in extra time. This was the last time the USSR reached the quarterfinals.

The Euro 1972 finals took place between June 14 and 18, 1972. Once again, only four teams made it to the finals. The Soviets defeated Hungary 1-0, with a second-half goal. The final was between West Germany and the USSR. The match ended with a victory for the German team thanks to the effective football of Gerd Müller. This tournament was one of two tournaments in which the USSR finished as runners-up.

Disappointments in the 1970s

The rest of the 1970s were bleak for the Soviets. After finishing first in group 9 of the 1974 World Cup qualification and drawing 0-0 in the first leg of the playoffs against Chile, they were disqualified for their refusal to play the second leg after the coup d'etat that took place in that country in 1973. They could not qualify for the next edition played in Argentina, after finishing one point below Hungary, classified for the UEFA-Conmebol play-off that the Hungarians would finally end up winning.

As for continental tournaments, the USSR emerged victorious from group 6 in qualifying for Euro 1976, beating Ireland, Turkey and Switzerland, but lost to Czechoslovakia in the quarterfinals by an aggregate result of 4-2.

Beskov gets the team back

The football teams of the USSR and Venezuela during the XXII Moscow Olympic Games of 1980.

The 1982 World Cup was the USSR's first appearance in major tournaments of the decade. The USSR was in group 6 with Brazil, Scotland and New Zealand. Goals by Socrates and Eder marked the defeat of the Soviet team against Brazil in the first group match (even though it was a very difficult match for the Brazilians), and they were eventually eliminated in the second round after finishing second in the group, defeating Belgium only 1-0 and drawing against Poland with a result of 0-0. In 1984, the Soviets again failed to qualify for the Eurocup, but did qualify for the 1986 World Cup. The USSR was in group C with Hungary, France and Canada.

The Soviet team enjoyed a successful group stage scoring nine goals and finishing the group in first place. It looked like the Soviet team had managed to forget their unsuccessful performance in 1982, but they lost to shock Belgium 3-4 in round 16 after extra time. Despite their poor performance in the Cup, the USSR team was the highest scorer in the history of the World Cup, with twelve goals. After failing to qualify for the Eurocup three consecutive times (1976, 1980, 1984), the Soviets managed to qualify for the 1988 competition, which would be the last time the USSR soccer team would play the European Soccer Championship. The finals were held in West Germany. This time eight teams participated. The USSR finished as the leader of group B over the Netherlands and reached the semifinals. There, the Soviets defeated Italy 2-0. In the final between the USSR and the Netherlands, which had been their rival in group B, the Dutch won the match with a clear result and became the European champions.

The last tournament played by the Soviet team was the 1990 World Cup in Italy, where they were in group B with Argentina, Cameroon and Romania. The only success for the USSR in the entire tournament came when they managed to beat group leaders Cameroon 4-0. The Soviet team lost their other matches and failed to qualify from the group. The team managed to qualify for Euro 1992, but the dissolution of the USSR meant that its place was taken by the CIS soccer team. At the conclusion of the tournament, the former Soviet republics competed separately as independent nations, and FIFA assigned the Soviet team registration to Russia.

Uniform and shield

Soviet selection t-shirt in 1980

1958-1989 (local)

World Cup 1966 (vs. Korea)

World 1970 (vs. Belgium)

1975 (vs. Ireland)

1982 (visitant)

World 1986 (visitant)

1988 Olympic Games

Global 1990 (local)

1990 (visitant)

1991 (USSR resolution)

Statistics

Soccer World Cup

World Cup Soccer
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1930	No.
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958	Final rooms	5	2	1	2	5	6
1962	Final rooms	4	2	1	1	9	7
1966	Fourth place	6	4	0	2	10	6
1970	Final rooms	4	2	1	1	6	2
1974	Withdrawal
1978	He didn't qualify.
1982	Second round	5	2	2	1	7	4
1986	Final Octavos	4	2	1	1	12	5
1990	Group phase	3	1	0	2	4	4
See Russian football team
Total	7/14	31	15	6	10	53	34

European Cup

Euro
Year	Round	J	G	E	P	GF	GC
1960	Champion	2	2	0	0	5	1
1964	Subfield	2	1	0	1	4	2
1968	Semifinals	2	0	1	1	0	2
1972	Subfield	2	1	0	1	1	3
1976	He didn't qualify.
1980
1984
1988	Subfield	5	3	1	1	7	4
See Community of Independent States Soccer Selection
Total	5/8	13	7	2	4	17	12

Players

Last call

Players called up for the Clasif match. of the Eurocopa of 1992 against the Cypriot team on November 13, 1991.

#	Name	Position	Age	PJ	Goles	Club
1	Dmitri Jarin	Porter	23	5	-2	C. S. K. A. Moskva
2	Andréi Chernyshov	Defence	23	17	0	F. K. Dynamo Moskva
3	Vasili Kulkov	Defence	25	19	0	S. L. Benfica
4	Ájrik Tsveiba	Defence	25	17	1	F. K. Dynamo Kiev
5	Dmitri Galiamin	Defence	28	11	0	R. C. D. Espanyol
6	Igor Shalímov	Camper center	22	19	2	A. C. D. Foggia Calcio
7	Alekséi Mijailichenko	Camper center	28	35	9	Rangers F. C.
8	Andréi Kanchelskis	Camper center	24	16	2	Manchester United F. C.
9	Oleg Kuznetsov	Defence	28	57	1	Rangers F. C.
10	Oleg Protásov	Delantero	27	67	28	Olympiakos S.F.P.
11	Igor Kolyvánov	Delantero	23	18	2	A. C. D. Foggia Calcio
12	Stanislav Cherchésov	Porter	28	9	-6	F. C. Spartak Moskva
13	Kajaber Tsjadadze	Defence	23	0	0	G. I. F. Sundsvall
14	Serguéi Yuran	Delantero	22	12	3	S. L. Benfica
15	Aleksandr Mostovói	Camper center	23	12	3	F. C. Spartak Moskva
16	Igor Kornéyev	Camper center	24	5	3	R. C. D. Espanyol
DT	Anatoli Býshovets

Player Stats

The following statistics include the players with the most games played and the most goals scored with the Soviet team, from its creation to its disappearance. The list is updated to December 1991.

Coaches

Throughout the history of the Soviet team, twenty coaches have led the team. In contrast to other national teams, where selectors of a different nationality than the team they manage can often be seen, this was not the case in the Soviet case. From the first coach, Kozlov, to the last, Anatoli Býshovets, before the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 (who would go on to lead the successor team), they played a total of almost four hundred games.

Among the most outstanding coaches in terms of achievements and titles with the national team, Gavriil Kachalin stands out after being proclaimed European champion, in the first edition of the tournament held in 1960 in France, and Olympic champion after winning the gold medal at the Games 1956 Olympics held in Melbourne. And the aforementioned Anatoliy Byshovets who won the team's second Olympic gold medal, signifying a great end to the Soviet era and to the rise of football in Eastern Europe, which would live its best years since the mid-50s. until the middle of the 80s, in which it would not be able to repeat successes after its dissolution in different states.

Valeri Lobanovsky is the technician who most directed the selected Soviet, finalist at the Eurocopa 1988.

Anatoli Býshovets was the last Soviet selector before the dissolution of the USSR.

Coach	Years	PJ	PG	PE	P	GF	GC	% Vict.	Final round
Mikhail Kozlov	1924-1935	-	-	-	-	-	-	-...	-...
Technical Commission	1935-1952	-	-	-	-	-	-	-...	-...
Boris Arkadiev	1952	3	1	1	1	8	9	33.33	JJ. OO. 1952
Vasily Sokolov	1954	2	1	1	0	8	1	50	-...
Gavriil Kachalin	1955-1958	34	22	6	6	88	35	64.71	JJ. OO. 1956, WC 1958
Georgiy Glazkov	1959	1	1	0	0	3	1	100	-...
Mikhail Yakushin	1959	2	2	0	0	2	0	100	-...
Gavriil Kachalin	1960-1962	22	16	2	4	49	20	72.73	Euro 1960, WC 1962
Nikita Simonyan	1963	1	0	0	1	0	1	0
Konstantin Beskov	1963-1964	9	4	4	1	14	7	44.44	Euro 1964
Nikita Simonyan	1964	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
Nikolai Morozov	1964-1966	31	15	9	7	51	33	48.39	WC 1966
Mikhail Yakushin	1967-1968	28	16	7	5	51	31	57.14	Euro 1968
Gavriil Kachalin	1969-1970	18	9	7	2	29	11	50	WC 1970
Valentin Nikolayev	1970-1971	13	8	5	0	24	5	61.54	-...
Nikolay Gulyayev	1972	4	2	1	1	6	4	50	-...
Aleksandr Ponomarev	1972	15	8	4	3	27	17	53.33	JJ. OO. 1972, Euro 1972
German Zonin	1972	3	1	0	2	1	2	33.33
Yevgeny Goryansky	1973	10	3	2	5	6	6	30	-...
Konstantin Beskov	1974	3	1	0	2	1	4	33.33	-...
Valeri Lobanovsky	1975-1976	19	11	4	4	33	18	57.89	JJ. OO 1976
Valentin Nikolayev	1976	2	0	1	1	0	2	0	-...
Nikita Simonyan	1977-1979	27	18	4	5	60	22	66.67	-...
Konstantin Beskov	1979-1982	28	17	8	3	54	19	60.71	WC 1982
Oleg Bazilevich	1979	1	1	0	0	3	1	100	-...
Valeri Lobanovsky	1982-1983	10	6	3	1	18	6	60	-...
Eduard Malofeyev	1984-1986	25	14	3	8	37	23	56	-...
Valeri Lobanovsky	1986-1987	17	9	6	2	31	11	52.94	WC 1986
Nikita Simonyan	1988	1	1	0	0	4	0	100	-...
Yury Morozov	1988	4	1	2	1	5	5	25	-...
Valeri Lobanovsky	1988-1990	31	16	6	9	42	29	51.61	Euro 1988, WC 1990
Anatoli Býshovets	1990-1992	28	12	11	5	39	24	42.86	Euro 1992

Stadiums as locals

- Since the first game of the Soviet National Team (November 16, 1924 vs. Turkey), the following stadiums were used for home matches.

• Statistics include only official games recognized by FIFA.

Honours of Prizes

Absolute selection

• 1 Euro: 1960.
  • 3 subfielding: 1964, 1972 and 1988.

Amateur Selection

• Olympic Games:
  • 2 gold medals: 1956 and 1988.
  • 3 bronze medals: 1972, 1976 and 1980.

Under-21 team

• Eurocopa Sub-21 (3): 1976, 1980 and 1990.
• Toulon Hope Tournament (1): 1979.

Under-20 team

• Football Cup Sub-20 (1): 1977.
  • Subcamponatos (1): 1979.

Under-19 team

• European Championship Sub-19 (6): 1966, 1967, 1976, 1978, 1988 and 1990.

Under-17 team

• Football Cup Sub-17 (1): 1987.
• European Championship Sub-17 (1): 1985.

Successor Selections