Russian national soccer team / European championships

Russian Federation
Rossiyskaya Federatsija

European Championship record scorer:	Roman Pavlyuchenko (4)
European Championship record players:	Sergei Ignashevich (10)
Rank:	8 (including the results of the USSR and the CIS)
Balance sheet
17 European Championship games 5 wins 3 draws 9 defeats 20:29 goals
statistics
First European Championship game Russia 1: 2 Italy Liverpool ( ENG ); June 11, 1996
Biggest European Championship victory Russia 4: 1 Czech Republic Breslau ( POL ); June 8, 2012
Biggest European Championship defeats Russia 0: 3 Germany Manchester ( ENG ); June 16, 1996 Russia 1: 4 Spain Innsbruck ( AUT ); June 10, 2008 Russia 0: 3 Spain Vienna ( AUT ); June 26, 2008 Russia 0-3 Wales Toulouse ( FRA ); 20th June 2016
successes
European Championship
Participation in the finals	5 ( first : 1996 )
Best results	Semi-finals 2008
Best results in the countries where the UEFA European Football Championships are held
(As of November 2019)

The article contains a detailed description of the Russian national soccer team at European championships . As part of the USSR or the CIS, Russia took part in the European Championships from 1960 to 1992. In the 1960s European championship team, Russian players made up the largest contingent, while in 1988 only Rinat Dassajew , Wagis Chidijatullin and Sergei Dmitrijew were Russian players and Ukrainian players, especially from Dynamo Kiev, made up the majority of the vice European champions . After the dissolution of the Soviet Union into several independent states, Russia first took part in the qualification for the European Championship in 1996 and was able to qualify straight away. Since then, only the qualification for the EM 2000 has not been made, but only survived the preliminary round once. Up to and including 2008, Russia always met the eventual European champions in the preliminary round.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1996	England	Preliminary round	Czech Republic	-	Oleg Romanzew	After two defeats and a draw, eliminated as bottom of the group
2000	Netherlands and Belgium	not qualified				In the qualification of world champion France and the Ukraine failed, which also failed to qualify.
2004	Portugal	Preliminary round	Greece	-	Georgi Yarzew	After two defeats and one win against eventual European champions Greece, they were eliminated as bottom group.
2008	Austria and Switzerland	Semifinals	Spain	-	Guus Hiddink	Defeat against the eventual European champion
2012	Poland and Ukraine	Preliminary round	Greece	-	Dick Advocaat	Eliminated after a win, a draw against co-hosts Poland and a defeat in third place.
2016	France	Preliminary round	Wales		Leonid Slutsky	After a draw against England and defeats against Slovakia and Wales, knocked out last in the group.
2021	Europe	qualified				With the Gazprom Arena, Russia provides a venue for three group matches and a quarter-final match, but still had to qualify itself, which was achieved prematurely on October 13, 2019. Russia will have two group matches in Saint Petersburg , where the Russians will face Belgium and Finland. They also play against Denmark in Copenhagen .

The tournaments

EM 1996

For Euro 1996, which was first staged with 16 teams, the Russians had Greece , Scotland , Finland , the Faroe Islands and San Marino qualify . Russia were unbeaten group winners with eight wins and two draws against group runners-up Scotland, as the Scots lost a game in Greece.

At the final round, the Russians were drawn into a group with Vice European Champions Germany, Italy and the Czechs, who were also participating for the first time. In their first European Championship match against Italy, they fell behind in the fifth minute. Ilja Zymbalar was able to equalize six minutes later with the first European Championship goal for Russia, but Pierluigi Casiraghi , who had already scored the 1-0 for Italy, scored the winning goal for the Azzurri in the second half. In the second game against Germany they kept the 0-0 for 55 minutes, then Matthias Sammer managed the 1-0 for the Germans. After a red card for Yuri Kowtun in the 71st minute, the Germans took advantage of the majority and added two more goals. So Russia needed a win by two goals in their last game against the Czech Republic and also had to hope that Italy would lose to Germany. But neither one nor the other occurred. Despite their superiority, Italy only managed a goalless draw against Germany, but would have qualified for the quarter-finals if the Russians had won. And Russia quickly fell 2-0 behind, but was able to take the lead 3-2 in the second half, but a goal in the 90th minute brought the Czechs equalization and a place in the quarter-finals, as they were the direct comparison had won against Italy. Russia said goodbye to the EM stage for 8 years and national coach Oleg Romanzew was sacked. Germans and Czechs met again in the final, where the Czechs almost managed to get their revenge for their opening defeat. Two goals from Oliver Bierhoff turned the game around and Germany became the first team to become European champions for the third time, but did not win a European Championship game until 2008.

EM 2000

For Euro 2000, Russia had against world champions France , the Ukraine , Iceland , Armenia and Andorra qualify . Russia started with a 2-3 defeat in Ukraine, then lost the home game against France with 2-3 and in Iceland with 0-1. Then Oleg Romanzew was again national coach. Under him six wins in a row and only the last game against Ukraine ended 1-1. As a result, the Russians were missing two points to reach the playoffs of the group runners-up, in which Ukraine failed to Slovenia . Romanzew initially remained in office and led Russia to the 2002 World Cup , but resigned after the preliminary round. Group winners France then became the first world champion to become European champion at the EM 2000 .

EM 2004

In qualifying for the 2004 European Championships, Russia, which has now been coached by Valeri Gassajew , met Switzerland , Ireland , Albania and Georgia . Russia started with wins against Ireland (4: 2) and Albania (4: 1), but then lost in Albania against the Albanians trained by Hans-Peter Briegel with 1: 3. This was followed by a defeat in Georgia (0: 1) and a draw against Switzerland (2: 2) and Ireland (1: 1), whereupon Gassayev was dismissed. Under the new coach Georgi Jarzew it was possible to turn things around and achieve second place with victories against Switzerland and Georgia. So they still had the chance to reach the EM via the playoffs of the group runners-up against Wales . After a goalless draw in Moscow they won 1-0 with a goal from Vadim Yevsejew and were allowed to go to the European Championship.

At the drawing, they were drawn into a group with hosts Portugal , Spain and Greece . In the opening game they not only lost 1-0 to Spain, but also Roman Sharonov with a yellow-red card . They also ended the second game short: after an early deficit, goalkeeper Sergei Ovtschinnikow received the red card in the 45th minute for a handball outside the penalty area . When they were outnumbered, they had to accept the 0-2 one minute before the end. The Russians were eliminated after two games, but gave everything in the last game against Greece and won 2-1. Dmitri Kiritschenko scored the fastest goal in European Championship history after 67 seconds to make it 1-0. Russia received six yellow cards. The defeated Greeks, trained by German Otto Rehhagel , qualified for the quarter-finals and ultimately won the title sensationally.

EM 2008

Russian fans at the game against Greece

1-0 through Konstantin Syrjanow

For the European Championship 2008, Russia, which has now been trained by the Dutchman Guus Hiddink , also qualified. In a group with Croatia , England , Israel , Macedonia , Estonia and Andorra , Russia started with two draws in the home games against Croatia and Israel. But then four games were won without conceding a goal. After a 0-0 win in Croatia and a 0-3 win in England, things got critical again. A 2: 1 against England brought hope again, but this was taken away by a 1: 2 in Iceland. Thanks to the Croatians who had already qualified for the European Championship, who won 3-2 in England, Russia came in second with one point ahead of England and was thus qualified for the European Championship.

At the finals, Russia was drawn back into a group with Spain and European champions Greece and Sweden . In the opening game they lost 4-1 to Spain, then scored 1-0 against Greece. The defending champion, who had also lost the first game against Sweden, was eliminated after just two games. Russia and Sweden played for second place in the last game and Russia reached the quarter-finals for the first time with a 2-0 win. Here they met the Netherlands , who in their group had easily eliminated the two finalists of the 2006 World Cup, Italy and France , and were therefore considered favorites. In the best European Championship game the Russians were able to win 3-1 after extra time. In the semifinals they met again against group opponents Spain and lost 3-0. Spain was then able to win the title again in the final for the first time in 44 years and two years later also became world champions .

EM 2012

Russian fans at the game against Poland

The team before the game against Poland

Russia also applied for the EM 2012. On April 18, 2007, Poland and Ukraine were awarded the contract. Other competitors in the application were Azerbaijan, Greece, Italy, Romania and Turkey as well as Croatia and Hungary, also with a joint application. Russia had to qualify again . In a group with Ireland , surprisingly strong Armenians , Slovakia , Macedonia and Andorra , the Russians now coached by Dick Advocaat only lost the home game against Slovakia. With seven wins and two draws in the other games, however, was first place ahead of Ireland, which prevailed in the playoffs of the runners-up against Estonia .

When the final groups were drawn, Russia was drawn into a group with co-hosts Poland , again ex-European champions Greece and the Czech Republic . In the opening game against the Czechs they won 4-1, with Alan Dzagojew scoring two goals. Against Poland he managed to make it 1-0 again, but the Poles were able to equalize and it stayed that way until the end. Before the last game against the Greeks, the Russians were in first place in the table, the Greeks in last place and Russia only needed one point to reach the quarter-finals. However, the Greek captain Giorgos Karagounis succeeded in stoppage time in the first half and the Greeks defended that until the end. Both were tied, the Russians had the better overall goal difference, but since the direct comparison counted in the event of a tie, the Greeks were ahead of Russia and since the Czech Republic won in a parallel game against Poland, the Czechs were group winners despite their 4-1 defeat in the opening match against Russia. The Greeks and Czechs then failed in the quarter-finals to Germany and Portugal , who in turn did not survive the semi-finals. With the preliminary round, Dick Advocaat's work as national coach ended, but he had already announced his resignation before the European Championship. He was followed by the Italian Fabio Capello , who then led Russia to the 2014 World Cup and remained in office after the preliminary round.

EM 2016

The Russian team before the game against Austria on November 15, 2014

For the first time, 24 teams will take part in the European Championship. For the drawing of the qualification groups , which took place on February 23, 2014, the Russians were placed in pot 1. Russia was drawn in group G and as group opponents Sweden , Austria , Moldova and Liechtenstein as well as Montenegro for the first time .

The first two in the group qualify directly for the European Championship finals. If the third-placed team is the best third in the group, it is also directly qualified. The remaining third in the group play four other participants in the playoffs.

Russia started with a 4-0 win against Liechtenstein, but then only got two 1-1 draws in Sweden and against Moldova and then lost 1-0 in Austria. In the last match of the first half series in Montenegro, goalkeeper Igor Akinfejew was hit in the head by a firecracker shortly after the whistle , after which the game was interrupted. The game was initially released again, but after 67 minutes it was finally canceled because objects were thrown onto the field. The game was rated 3-0 for Russia by UEFA. This put Russia in third place in the group after five games and was already five points behind leaders Austria, who increased to eight points after a home defeat against the Austrians in their sixth game. With two wins in the following games, u. a. against their direct rivals Sweden and a 7-0 record win against Liechtenstein, Russia - as Sweden lost their home game against Austria - jumped to second place and thus kept the chance of direct qualification. With two more wins in the last two games, Russia stayed in second place and qualified for the finals.

For the group draw on December 12, 2015, Russia was assigned to Pot 2 based on the UEFA coefficient and was drawn to the group with England, Slovakia and Wales. Against England the only point win was achieved through a last minute equalization in the first game, because the following two games were lost against Slovakia and Wales and the Russians were eliminated after the preliminary round as the bottom of the group. On June 30, 2016, national coach Leonid Sluzki resigned from his position. Stanislav Tschertschessow inherited from him .

EM 2021

For the pan-European EM, Russia had applied for the Gazprom Arena as a venue for three group matches and a knockout match and was accepted for three group matches and a quarter-final match. Like all other host countries, Russia still had to qualify. Group opponents were Belgium , Cyprus , Scotland, Kazakhstan and San Marino. The Russians started with a 3-1 defeat in Belgium, but then won the next seven games. Since, apart from Belgium, which did not lose a game and qualified as the first team on October 10, 2019, the other teams took points away from each other, the Russians were also able to qualify early on October 13, 2019.

Russia will host two group matches in St. Petersburg . As the UEFA determined on December 7, 2017 that the group B matches would take place in Saint Petersburg and Copenhagen , it was already clear before the draw on November 30, 2019 that Russia and the also qualified Danes would play in group B. . Because both were assigned to pot 2 and 3 for the draw and a team from pot 1 had to be drawn or assigned to them, Belgium was added as a further opponent. Because in pot 1, besides Belgium, only Ukraine was represented as a non-host, which for political reasons could not be in a group with Russia. Then only Finland was drawn.

Player with the most appearances in European championships

Alexander Anjukow (left, 9 games) and Sergei Ignaschewitsch (right, 10 games), players with the most EM games for Russia

Games	player	Year (games)
10	Sergei Ignashevich	2008 (4), 2012 (3), 2016 (3)
9	Alexander Anyukov	2004 (1), 2008 (5), 2012 (3)
8th	Igor Akinfeev	2004 (0) , 2008 (5), 2012 (0) , 2016 (3)
	Roman Pavlyuchenko	2008 (5), 2012 (3)
	Yuri Schirkow	2008 (5), 2012 (3)
7th	Konstantin Syrjanow	2008 (5), 2012 (2)
	Roman Shirokov	2008 (1), 2012 (3), 2016 (3)
6th	Andrei Arshavin	2008 (3), 2012 (3)
	Igor Semschow	2004 (1), 2008 (5), 2012 (0)
5	Vasily Berezuzky	2012 (2), 2016 (3)
	Diniyar Biljaletdinov	2008 (5)
	Andrei Kantschelskis	1992 (3) *, 1996 (2)
	Igor Kolyvanov	1992 (3) *, 1996 (3)
	Vyacheslav Malafeyev	2004 (2), 2008 (0) , 2012 (3)
	Viktor Onopko	1992 (3) *, 1996 (2)
	Vladislav Radimov	1996 (3), 2004 (2)
	Dmitri Sychev	2004 (2), 2008 (3)

Note: Kantschelskis and Onopko as Ukrainians for the CIS (*) and Russia.

Player with the most goals at European championships

Roman Pavlyuchenko , player with the most goals in the European Championship for Russia

Gates	player	Year (goals)
4th	Roman Pavlyuchenko	2008 (3), 2012 (1)
3	Alan Dzagoyev	2012 (3)
	Valentin Ivanov	1960 (2) *, 1964 (1) *
	Viktor Ponedelnik	1960 (2) *, 1964 (1) *
2	Andrei Arshavin	2008 (2), 2012 (0)
1	11 players for Russia
1	3 players for the USSR or CIS

Note: * for the USSR

As of June 20, 2016

Players banned from European championships

• In 1996, Yuri Kowtun received the red card in the second group match against Germany and was suspended for the last group match, as did captain Viktor Onopko , who received the second yellow card .
• In 2004 Roman Sharonov received the yellow-red card in the first group game . He was banned for the second group game. Goalkeeper Sergei Ovtschinnikow received the red card due to a handball outside the penalty area , he was suspended for the last group game as was Alexei Smertin , who received the second yellow card. The second yellow card for Dmitri Alenitschew in the last group game had no effect as Russia were eliminated.
• In 2008 Denis Kolodin and Dmitri Torbinski received the second yellow card in the quarter-finals and were banned from the semi-finals. The second yellow card for Yuri Schirkow in the semi-finals then had no effect, as Russia was eliminated.
• In 2012 Alan Dzagojew received the second yellow card in the last group match , as Russia was eliminated, it had no effect.

Share of players playing abroad in the EM squad

Legionaries only made up the main contingent in the first EM squad. Many Russian players moved to the West after the upheaval in the Eastern Bloc, but were often unable to assert themselves there and then returned to their homeland. In the following EM cadres only very few legionaries were used. At the 2014 World Cup, Russia was the only team without legionnaires in the squad, as Russian clubs can now pay their players well.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1996 (3)	13 (3 in Germany, 2 in England, 1 in France, 3 in Italy, 1 in Austria, 1 in Portugal, 2 in Spain)	Igor Dobrowolski (1), Sergei Kirjakow (1), Vladimir Bestschastnych (1); Dmitri Charin (2), Andrei Kantschelskis (2); Alexander Mostovoi (3); Igor Simutenkow (2), Igor Shalimov (1), Igor Kolywanow (3), Stanislaw Cherschessow (1); Viktor Onopko (2), Valeri Karpin (3)
2004 (3)	3 (1 in England, 1 in Portugal, 1 in Spain)	Alexei Smertin (2); Dmitri Alenichev (3); Alexander Mostovoi (1)
2008 (5)	1 (in Germany)	Ivan Sajenko (4)
2012 (3)	2 (1 in England, 1 in Portugal)	Pawel Pogrebnjak (1); Marat Izmailov (2)
2016 (3)	1 (1 in Germany)	Roman Neustädter (2)

As of June 20, 2016

particularities

• The longest series without a win: the USSR / CIS / Russia could not win 9 games between 1988 (final) and 2004.
• The USSR and Russia played most often (9 times) against the eventual European champions (1964, 1968, 1972, 1988 (2 times), 1996, 2004, 2008 (2 times))

Games

Liverpool (2) Manchester Faro-Loulé (2) Lisbon Salzburg Basel Vienna Innsbruck (2) Warsaw (2) Wroclaw Marseille Toulouse Lille Copenhagen Saint Petersburg (2)

Venues (yellow = balanced balance, red = negative balance, number in brackets = number of games, if> 1)

Russia has played 17 European Championship games so far, five of which have been won, three have ended in a draw and nine have been lost. A game had to be extended and was won in extra time. The Russians never took part in the opening game of the EM, but played twice against the hosts. They played once (2008 in the preliminary round) against the defending champions and four times against the eventual European champions: 1996, 2004 and 2008 in the preliminary round and again against Spain in the semifinals in 2008.

Greece and Spain are the most common opponents with three games each.

The highest victories in European Championship tournaments were against these countries:

•  Netherlands : quarter-finals 2008 3-1 a.d.
•  Czech Republic : Preliminary round 2012 4: 1 (only win against the Czech Republic)

Russia suffered the highest defeat in European championships against these countries:

•  Greece : 2012 preliminary round 0: 1 (also a 0: 1 in the 1994 World Cup qualification)
•  Spain : 2008 preliminary round 1: 4 and semi-finals 0: 3
•  Slovakia : 2016 preliminary round 1: 2 (also a 0: 1 in the European Championship qualification 2012 and a 1: 2 in a friendly match)
•  Wales : 2016 preliminary round 3-0 (first loss to Wales)

Records

• The fastest goalscorer: Dmitri Kiritschenko after 67 seconds in the 2004 preliminary round match Russia - Greece (final score 2: 1). He undercut the record of Sjarhej Alejnikau (USSR), who scored the 1-0 after 2:07 minutes in the preliminary round match against England on June 18, 1988 (final score 3: 1)

Negative records

• The biggest defeats in the semi-finals: Russia - Spain (2008), Czechoslovakia - USSR (1960) and Denmark - USSR (1964) all 0: 3
• The Russian football association RFS was fined a total of 185,000 euros for misconduct by its fans during the 2012 preliminary round, as well as a six-point deduction on probation for the next European Championship qualification.

All EM games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	Remarks
1	June 11, 1996	1: 2	Italy	*	Liverpool ( ENG )	Group game
2	June 16, 1996	0: 3	Germany	*	Manchester ( ENG )	Group game
3	June 19, 1996	3: 3	Czech Republic	*	Liverpool ( ENG )	Group game	First game against the Czech Republic, last game in Oleg Romanzew's first term
4th	June 12, 2004	0: 1	Spain	*	Faro - Loulé ( POR )	Group game
5	June 16, 2004	0: 2	Portugal	A.	Lisbon ( POR )	Group game
6th	June 20, 2004	2: 1	Greece	*	Faro - Loulé ( POR )	Group game
7th	June 10, 2008	1: 4	Spain	*	Innsbruck ( AUT )	Group game
8th	June 14, 2008	1-0	Greece (TV)	*	Salzburg ( AUT )	Group game
9	June 18, 2008	2-0	Sweden	*	Innsbruck ( AUT )	Group game
10	June 21, 2008	3: 1 a.d.	Netherlands	*	Basel ( SUI )	Quarter finals
11	June 26, 2008	0: 3	Spain	*	Vienna ( AUT )	Semifinals
12	0June 8, 2012	4: 1	Czech Republic	*	Wroclaw ( POL )	Group game
13	June 12, 2012	1: 1	Poland	A.	Warsaw ( POL )	Group game
14th	June 16, 2012	0: 1	Greece	*	Warsaw ( POL )	Group game	Russia are eliminated as third party, last game under Dick Advocaat
15th	June 11, 2016	1: 1	England	*	Marseille ( FRA )	Group game
16	June 15, 2016	1: 2	Slovakia	*	Villeneuve-d'Ascq ( Lille ) ( FRA )	Group game
17th	20th June 2016	0: 3	Wales	*	Toulouse ( FRA )	Group game	First loss to Wales, last game under Leonid Sluzki
	June 12, 2021		Belgium	H	St. Petersburg	Group game
	June 16, 2021		Finland	H	St. Petersburg	Group game
	June 21, 2021		Denmark	A.	Copenhagen ( DNK )	Group game

Russian players in the team of the USSR and the CIS at the European championships

• 1960: German Apuchtin (0), Walentin Bubukin (2), Walentin Iwanow (2), Lev Jashin (2), Wladimir Kessarew (0), Yuri Kowaljow (0), Anatoli Krutikow (2), Anatoli Masljonkin (2), Igor Netto (2), Wiktor Ponedelnik (2), Juri Woinow (2), Wiktor Zarjow (0)
• 1964: Viktor Anitschkin (2), Galimsjan Chussainow (2), Wladimir Glotow (0), Gennady Gussarow (1), Valentin Ivanov (2), Lev Yashin (2), Oleg Kopayev (0), Alexei Kornejew (1), Eduard Malofejew (0), Wiktor Ponedelnik (2), Albert Schesternjow (2), Wiktor Schustikow (2), Igor Tschislenko (2), Valeri Voronin (2)
• 1968: Valentin Afonin (2), Viktor Anitschkin (0), Gennady Evryushichin (2), Alexander Lenew (0), Gennady Logofet (2), Eduard Malofejew (2), Evgeni Rudakow (0), Albert Schesternjow (2), Igor Chislenko (0)
• 1972: Anatoly Baidatschni (2), Oleg Dolmatow (1), Gennady Jewryushichin (0), Viktor Kolotow (2), Boris Kopejkin (0), Alexander Machowikow (0), Jewgeni Rudakow (2)
• 1988: Wagis Chidijatullin (5), Rinat Dassajew (5), Sergei Dmitrijew (0)
• 1992: Dmitri Charin (3), Igor Dobrowolski (3), Andrei Iwanow (1), Andrei Kantschelskis (3), Sergei Kirjakow (2), Igor Kolywanow (2), Igor Kornejew (1), Dmitri Kuznetsov (3), Igor Ledjachow (0), Igor Shalimov (1), Viktor Onopko (3), Andrei Tschernyschow (3), Stanislaw Tschertschessow (0)

See also

• Russian national soccer team at world championships

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rankings of Russian players in Belgium (1972), the FR Germany (1988), France (1960), Italy (1968) and Spain (1964) with the USSR, in Sweden (1992) with the CIS
2. ↑ Draw for the EURO qualification: Pot 1 in focus. In: uefa.com. UEFA , February 20, 2014, accessed March 11, 2014 . 
3. ↑ Game Russia against Montenegro canceled after a riot. In: zeit.de. Die Zeit , March 28, 2015, accessed on March 28, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Scandalous game counted as a defeat for Montenegro. In: sportschau.de. Sportschau , April 8, 2015, accessed on April 8, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Slutsky resigned as coach of Russia
6. ↑ uefa.com: Poland and Russia are through, the DFB team is struggling
7. ↑ Russia has to pay a fine of 35,000 euros wz newsline, June 23, 2012, accessed on May 22, 2015.