Your one stop, English-language source for everything about the Russian National Football Team. In 2018, Russia will be the host nation of the World Cup.
The Russian National Football Team has a history that spans from the last three historic eras of Russia. Founded in January 1912, the Russian Empire National Football Team first appeared in the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, Sweden. After the break out of World War I in 1914, the Russian Revolution in 1917, the collapse of the Russian Empire and the formation of the USSR in 1922, the Sovi
et Union National Football Team (which was considered as the successor of the Russian Empire National Football Team) was formed in August 1923 just nine months later after the establishment of the Soviet Union. During the time of the Soviet Union, the team reached 4th place at the 1966 World Cup, won 1 European Championship (1960), 2 Olympic Championships (1956, 1988) and several silver and bronze medals at the Olympic and European Championship. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the provisional CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) National Football Team was created to participate in the 1992 European Championship in order to preserve the spot the former Soviet Union team already secured in the 1991 qualification tournament. After the CIS National Football Team completed its participation in the 1992 European Championship in June 1992, the team was soon disbanded and transformed into the Russian National Football Team, which was ultimately considered as the successor of the Soviet Union National Football Team. Since then, the Russian National Football Team have qualified for 3 World Cups (1994, 2002, 2014) and 4 European Championships (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012). In 2008, the team reached the semi-finals of European Championship and ended in 3rd place.
