USSR National Football Team

USSR national football team was one of the strongest football teams in Europe. Since 1958 USSR has qualified for 7 World Cups, failing to qualify in 1974 and 1978.

USSR played their first international friendly against Turkey in 1924, USSR won 3-0.

USSR did not compete in a World Cup until 1958. One of the major USSR achievements was winning the first European Championship in 1960, defeating Yugoslavia in a breathtaking final game.

USSR national football team qualified for European Championship 1992, but since the elimination of the country it was replaced by CIS football team, a team representing the Commonwealth of Independent States, 12 out of 15 ex-soviet republics.

USSR national team players were mainly of Ukrainian and Russian origin.

Achievements

European Champions Winners: 1960
European Championship Runners-up: 1964, 1972, 1988
Summer Olympics Golden Medal: 1956, 1988

Notable players

Albert Shesternyov (Russia) made 90 appearances for the national team. He is arguably the best Soviet defender. Shesternyov captained USSR in 62 games.

Anatoliy Demyanenko (Ukraine) is a Soviet defender, he won 80 caps for USSR. Demyanenko was called “a player with two hearts” for his unbelievable pace.

Eduard Streltsov (Russia) was known as Russian Pele, he earned his first cap for USSR being just 17 years old and scored 6 goals in his first two games. In 1958 he was convicted and sentenced prisoner, having spent 7 years in labor camp. Being released in 1966 Streltsov fought his way back to the national team.

Igor Netto (Russia) is a legendary Soviet player, he captained USSR from 1954 to 1963. He lead the team to Summer Olympics golden medal in 1956 and European Champion victory in 1960.

Leonid Buryak (Ukraine) is a brilliant Soviet midfielder, he had a tremendous impact on USSR national team. Buryak made 53 appearances for USSR and scored 10 goals.

Lev Yashin (Russia) is the greatest Soviet goalkeeper. Yashin invented the idea of goalkeeper sweeping, he was voted the best goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS. He made 74 appearances for the team.

Nikita Simonyan (Armenia) was a USSR striker. With USSR Simonyan won Olympics Golden Medal in 1956, he made 20 appearances for the team, scoring 10 goals.

Oleh Blokhin (Ukraine) is probably the best Soviet striker, he made 112 appearances for USSR and scored 42 goals. Blokhin was named European Footballer of the Year in 1975.

Rinat Dasayev (Russia), one of the best national goalkeepers, won 91 cap for USSR, he was awarded the World’s Best Goalkeeper of the Year title in 1988.

Sergei Aleinikov (Belarus) made 77 appearances for USSR, scoring 6 goals. In 2003 he was selected as the Golden Player of Belarus by the Football Federation of Belarus.

Sergei Baltacha (Ukraine) won 47 caps for USSR. Baltacha’s family is quite sporty, his wife represented USSR in the Olympics, his daughter is a tennis player, his son is a football player, capper for Scotland U-21 team.

Tengiz Sulakvelidze (Georgia) earned 49 caps for USSR, scoring 2 goals.

Vagiz Khidiyatullin (Russia) was a prominent central defender, he won 58 caps for USSR and scored 6 coals.

Valentin Ivanov (Russia) is one of the best USSR national team strikers. He made 59 appearances for the team, scoring 26 goals.

Valery Voronin (Russia) was included in the symbolic World team in 1966. Voronin won 63 caps for USSR and was considered the best Soviet midfielder. In 1969 Voronin met with a serious car accident, since that his career faded.

Viktor Ponedelnik (Russia) collected 29 caps and scored 20 goals for USSR. Ponedelnik scored the winning goal for the team in 1960 European Championship final game.

Vladimir Bessonov (Ukraine) is one of the best defending players of Soviet football. Bessonov earned 79 caps for the national team and scored 4 goals.

Vladimir Kaplichny (Ukraine) won 62 caps for USSR, he was one of the best Soviet defenders.

Vsevolod Bobrov (Russia) is a legendary football and ice-hockey player. Bobrov captained both football and ice-hockey national teams.