National football team of the USSR

This article looks at the men's team. For the U-20 team, see the USSR National Football Team (U-20 men) .

USSR
Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (СССР)

Nickname (s)	Sbornaja
Association	Federazija Futbola SSSR (Федерация футбола СССР)
confederacy	UEFA
Record scorer	Oleh Blochin (42/35)
Record player	Oleh Blochin (112/101)
FIFA code	URS
First jersey Second jersey
statistics
First international match on September 18, 1923 in Tallinn ( Estonia ) 4-2 against Estonia on November 16, 1924 in Moscow ( USSR ) 3-0 against Turkey
Last game on June 18, 1992 in Norrköping ( Sweden ) 0: 3 against Scotland (as CIS )
Biggest victories 10-0 against Finland ( Helsinki , Finland ; August 15, 1957 ) 11-1 against India ( Moscow ; September 16, 1955 )
Biggest defeat 0-5 to England ( London , England ; October 22, 1958 )
Successes in tournaments
World Championship
Participation in the finals	7 ( first : 1958 )
Best results	Fourth place in 1966
European Championship
Participation in the finals	6 ( first : 1960 )
Best results	European champion 1960
Olympic games gold 1956 bronze 1972 bronze 1976 bronze 1980 gold 1988
(Status: unknown)

The national football team of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( Russian Сборная СССР по футболу / pronunciation: Sbórnaja SSSR pa Futbólu ) was at times one of the strongest selection teams in Europe. Compiled from the most successful associations of the multi-ethnic state founded in 1922 , u. a. Dynamo Kiev , FC Ararat Yerevan , Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk , Dinamo Tbilisi , Shakhtar Donetsk , Chornomorez Odessa , Dinamo Minsk , Zenit Leningrad and the Moscow clubs Spartak , Torpedo , Dynamo , CSKA and Lok , the Sbornaja took part in FIFA tournaments from 1958 ( football World Cup ) and UEFA ( European Football Championship ).

history

FIFA was still a member of the Russian Football Association until 1925. Therefore, it recognized a spontaneous encounter between a team made up of Petrograders and Moscow players and the Estonian national team on September 18, 1923 in Tallinn (4-2 for the Russians) as the USSR's first official international football match. It also approved the first two games between the USSR and Turkey (November 1924 and May 1925). After that, FIFA banned its members from international matches against the USSR. The only country that opposed this ban was Turkey; in order to avoid sanctions imposed by FIFA, Turkey played the games against the Soviet Union mostly as a university or city selection of the respective venue. Otherwise, the Soviet national team played several times against workers 'teams, in 1937 they won, represented by the professional team from Spartak Moscow, the tournament of the Workers' Olympics in Antwerp. At this point in time, the Supreme Body Culture Council also made initial contact with FIFA. Despite the USSR joining FIFA in 1946, it was not until 1952 that the USSR played their first international match. Stalin hoped for a propaganda success from the participation of the Soviet team in the soccer competition of the Olympic Games 1952, when this did not materialize, the national team was put on hold again until 1954; since then there has been a national team on a regular basis.

The greatest success of the eleven with the Cyrillic СССР on their chest was the victory at the 1st European Cup of Nations in 1960 , the predecessor of today's European Championship . With a 2-1 after extra time against Yugoslavia in the Parc des Princes in Paris , the final of this first continental championship was won. In the EM editions of 1964 , 1972 and 1988 , the USSR team was able to become vice European champion. At the 2nd European Cup of Nations in 1964 , the Soviet team lost the final against hosts Spain at Madrid's Estadio Santiago Bernabéu 2-1.

Clearly (0: 3) the Sbornaja was defeated in the final of the European Championship in 1972 in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels against Germany . In the final of the European Championships in Germany in 1988 , the Netherlands with their stars Ruud Gullit , Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard were too strong for the Soviets (2-0 defeat at the Munich Olympic Stadium ).

In the respective soccer world championships , the Sbornaja could not win a medal. The best result was a 4th place at the 1966 World Cup in England . After the USSR lost 2-1 to Germany in the semifinals , the players around goalkeeping legend Lev Yashin had to admit defeat to Portugal with World Cup top scorer Eusébio in the "small final" with the same result . At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the footballers supervised by Valery Lobanowski thrilled with spectacular football, for example in the 6-0 victory over Hungary in the preliminary round . In the round of 16, however, they failed in an inspiring, but too aggressively run match against the “Red Devils” from Belgium 3: 4 after extra time.

In addition to the two victories at the Olympic football tournaments in 1956 and 1988 , the three bronze medals ( 1972 , 1976 and 1980 ) are among the great moments of Soviet football. While bronze in Moscow in 1980 and gold in Seoul, South Korea in 1988, were won by the respective age groups of the USSR Olympic team, the two 3rd places in Munich in 1972 and Montréal in 1976 and the Olympic gold in Melbourne in 1956 - due to the rules of participation still in force at the time - to the account of the Soviet senior national team, which was allowed to compete in the Olympic Games because it was made up exclusively of so-called state amateurs .

Players in the Soviet Union were u. a. Lev Yashin , Eduard Strelzow , Igor Netto , Oleh Blochin , Evgeni Rudakow , Rinat Dassajew , Igor Belanow , Oleksandr Savarov , Oleg Protasov and Oleksij Mychajlychenko .

After the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the CIS succeeded it for a short time, but already without players from the three Baltic states that did not belong to the CIS and Georgia. The last game of this selection was the 3-0 defeat against Scotland on June 18, 1992 in Norrköping. After that, 15 successor states are now playing with their respective national teams in international competitions, with the two traditional executives Russia and Ukraine providing the strongest representatives and the only successor states to have taken part in the World Cup finals. Latvia reached the European Championship finals in 2004 .

In qualifying for the 1994 World Cup in the USA, however, only the teams from Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania (were independent and recognized by FIFA before the draw at the end of 1991 ) and Russia as the official legal successor of the USSR could participate.

Participation in the world championships

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated				not a FIFA member
1934	Italy	not participated				not a FIFA member
1938	France	not participated				not a FIFA member
1950	Brazil	not participated
1954	Switzerland	not participated
1958	Sweden	Quarter finals	Sweden	7th	Gavriil Kachalin	Qualified for the quarter-finals after the play-off (1-0) against England.
1962	Chile	Quarter finals	Chile	6th	Gavriil Kachalin	Another failure in the quarterfinals against the hosts
1966	England	3rd place match	Portugal	4th Place	Nikolai Morozov	Best placement at a World Cup. Semi-final defeat against Germany
1970	Mexico	Quarter finals	Uruguay	5.	Gavriil Kachalin
1974	Germany	not qualified				After the Soviet Union did not play for the playoff second leg in Chile , this was counted for Chile.
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification of Hungary failed
1982	Spain	Intermediate round	Poland , Belgium	7th	Konstantin Beskov	Eliminated due to the worse goal difference.
1986	Mexico	Round of 16	Belgium	10.	Valery Lobanovsky	Defeat (3: 4) in extra time
1990	Italy	Preliminary round	Romania , Argentina , Cameroon	17th	Valery Lobanovsky	After two defeats against Romania and world champion Argentina and a win against Cameroon in fourth place with a better goal difference (4: 4) than the group winners Cameroon (3: 5), they were eliminated.

Participation in European championships

The USSR took part in the first four finals with four participants and also twice in finals with eight participants, most recently as the CIS. The USSR failed five times at the eventual European champions, three of them in the final.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Comments and special features
1960	France	final	Yugoslavia	European champion	First title
1964	Spain	final	Spain	Runner-up
1968	Italy	3rd place match	England	Fourth	Failed in the semi-finals by drawing lots on the eventual European champions Italy .
1972	Belgium	final	Germany	Runner-up
1976	Yugoslavia	not qualified			In the quarter-finals at the eventual winners Czechoslovakia failed.
1980	Italy	not qualified			In the qualification of Greece failed
1984	France	not qualified			In the qualification of Portugal failed
1988	BR Germany	final	Netherlands	Runner-up
1992	Sweden	Preliminary round	Germany , Netherlands , Scotland		After a draw against world champions Germany and defending champions Netherlands as well as a defeat against Scotland, knocked out last in the group.

Participation in the Olympic Games

The national team in 1967

1920 in Antwerp	not eligible, as the USSR is not an IOC member
1924 in Paris	not eligible, as the USSR is not an IOC member
1928 in Amsterdam	not eligible, as the USSR is not an IOC member
1936 in Berlin	not eligible, as the USSR is not an IOC member
1948 in London	not eligible, as the USSR is not an IOC member
1952 in Helsinki	Round of 16
1956 in Melbourne	Olympic champion
1960 in Rome	not qualified
1964 in Tokyo	not qualified
1968 in Mexico City	not qualified
1972 in Munich	Third
1976 in Montreal	Third
1980 in Moscow	Third
1984 in Los Angeles	did not take part due to the Soviet Olympic boycott
1988 in Seoul	Olympic champion

title

• European Football Championship (1) - 1960
• Football Olympic Champion (2) - 1956 1988

International matches against national teams from German-speaking countries

→ Main article : List of the internationals of the national football team of the USSR

Results always from a Soviet point of view

Games against the Federal Republic of Germany

3 wins - 1 draw - 9 losses:

1. August 21, 1955 in Moscow 3-2
2. September 15, 1956 in Hanover 2: 1
3. 25 July 1966 in Liverpool 1: 2 ( World Cup semi-finals)
4. May 26, 1972 in Munich 1: 4 (opening game of the Olympic Stadium)
5. June 18, 1972 in Brussels 0: 3 ( European Championship final)
6. September 5, 1973 in Moscow 0: 1
7. March 8, 1978 in Frankfurt am Main 0: 1
8. November 21, 1980 in Tbilisi 1: 3
9. March 28, 1984 in Hanover 1: 2
10. August 28, 1985 in Moscow 1-0
11. September 21, 1988 in Düsseldorf 0: 1
12. March 27, 1991 in Frankfurt am Main 1: 2 *
13. June 12, 1992 in Norrköping 1: 1 * as CIS ( EM preliminary round)

(*: In the statistics of the DFB , the last two games are listed under "Russia")

See also : German national soccer team

Games against the GDR

7 wins - 6 draws - 3 defeats:

1. August 17, 1960 in Leipzig 1-0
2. May 3, 1962 in Moscow 2: 1
3. September 23, 1966 in Moscow 2-2
4. July 25, 1969 in Leipzig 2: 2
5. September 10, 1972 in Munich 2: 2 ( Olympia )
6. October 17, 1973 in Leipzig 0: 1
7. September 3, 1975 in Moscow 0-0
8. July 27, 1976 in Montreal 1: 2 ( Olympia )
9. July 28, 1977 in Leipzig 1: 2
10. September 5, 1979 in Moscow 1-0
11. May 7, 1980 in Rostock 2: 2
12. May 5, 1982 in Moscow 1-0
13. July 26, 1983 in Leipzig 3: 1
14. April 29, 1987 in Kiev 2-0 (European Championship qualification)
15. October 10, 1987 in Berlin 1: 1 (European Championship qualification)
16. April 26, 1989 in Kiev 3-0 (World Cup qualification)
17. October 8, 1989 in Karl-Marx-Stadt 1: 2 (World Cup qualification)

See also : GDR national soccer team

Games against Switzerland

4 wins - 3 draws - 0 defeats:

1. April 20, 1966 in Basel 2: 2
2. October 1, 1967 in Moscow 2: 2
3. October 12, 1975 in Zurich 1-0 European Championship qualification
4. November 12, 1975 in Kiev 4-1 European Championship qualification
5. April 13, 1983 in Lausanne 1-0
6. April 17, 1985 in Bern 2-2 World Cup qualification
7. May 2, 1985 in Moscow 4-0 World Cup qualification

See also : Swiss national football team

Games against Austria

7 wins - 3 draws - 4 losses:

1. 11 June 1958 in Borås 2-0 World Cup finals
2. September 4, 1960 in Vienna 1: 3
3. September 10, 1961 in Moscow 0: 1
4. October 11, 1964 in Vienna 0: 1
5. May 16, 1965 in Moscow 0-0
6. April 24, 1966 in Vienna 1-0
7. June 11, 1967 in Moscow 4-3 European Championship qualification
8. October 15, 1967 in Vienna 0: 1 European Championship qualification
9. June 16, 1968 in Leningrad 3: 1
10. June 23, 1976 in Vienna 2: 1
11. May 17, 1983 in Vienna 2: 2
12. March 27, 1985 in Tbilisi 2-0
13. October 19, 1988 in Kiev 2-0 World Cup qualification
14. September 6, 1989 in Vienna 0-0 World Cup qualification

See also : Austrian national soccer team

See also

• National Football Team of the USSR (U-17 Juniors)
• National Football Team of the USSR (U-20 men)
• National Football Team of the USSR (U-21 men)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} FIFA does not recognize 11 games and 7 goals at the Olympic Games as A internationals [1]
2. ↑ The game is not counted as an official international match by FIFA and the Russian Federation; according to the Russian Federation it was a game of the Russian SFSR
3. ↑ This emerges from the correspondence between Carl Schricker and Georges Duperron, which is kept in the FIFA archives, “Correspondence with National Associations”, RUS, 1923–1983.
4. ↑ International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) , Russia (1912–1920), Soviet Union (1923–1940), Polska (1921–1940), Lietuva (1923–1940). Full internationals, o. O., o. J. [2002], p. 28.
5. ↑ André Gounot: From 'Rotsport' FIFA. Soviet football and its international contacts, 1922–1946. In: Dittmar Dahlmann / Anke Hilbrenner / Britta Lenz (eds.): The ball is round everywhere. On the past and present of football in Eastern and Southeastern Europe , Vol. 2, Klartext, Essen, 2008, pp. 269–286.
6. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2010 (PDF; 200 kB)