Serbia national football team

The Yugoslavian line-up at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, made of Serbian players only since Croats boycoted.

The Football Federation of what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was founded in Zagreb in 1919 under the name Jugoslavenski nogometni savez (and admitted into FIFA), and the national team played its first international game at the Summer Olympics in Antwerp in 1920. The opponent was Czechoslovakia, and the historic starting eleven that represented Kingdom of SCS on its debut were: Dragutin Vrđuka, Vjekoslav Župančić, Jaroslav Šifer, Stanko Tavčar, Slavin Cindrić, Rudolf Rupec, Dragutin Vragović, and Jovan Ružić. They lost by a large margin, 0–7,[5] but nonetheless entered their names in the history books.

The federation and football overall was disrupted by World War II. After the war, a socialist federation was formed and the football federation reconstituted. From 1945 to early 2003, the national team competed as Yugoslavia, although SFR Yugoslavia broke up in 1991.

Although the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, was formed on 27 April 1992, its teams were banned from all international sporting events, including the national football team. Consequently, the national team did not play its first game as a new country before 23 December 1994, a friendly match played in Porto Alegre and in which Brazil won 2–0. This was the first ever team composed of Serbian and Montenegrin players exclusively, while Slobodan Santrač, a former Yugoslavia national team player, was named the team's first ever manager. The next game was played three days later, this time in Buenos Aires, resulting in a 1–0 loss to Argentina.

Due to international sanctions against Yugoslavia, the team could not participate in 1994 World Cup qualifying nor the Euro 1996 qualifying process.

As FR Yugoslavia joined FIFA and UEFA in late 1994, the team was available to participate in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. Slobodan Santrač was appointed as a coach for the team. In the qualifiers, Yugoslavia was drawn in Group 6 with Euro 1996 runners-up Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Faroe Islands and Malta. With seven winning games (of which are both against the Czech Republic, Faroe Islands and Malta and one against Slovakia), two draw games (against Spain and Slovakia) and one lost game against Spain, Yugoslavia ended up in second place with 23 points behind Spain. Yugoslavia qualified for the play-off in which they were drawn to play against Hungary. With the aggregate score of 12–1 against Hungary, Yugoslavia qualified for the World Cup.

The 1998 World Cup seeding had Yugoslavia ranked 21st among the world's national teams, but Yugoslavia was widely recognized as one of the shadow favorites for the World Cup. The New York Times suggested that Yugoslavia could easily be a semi-finalist in that year's World Cup.[6] The draw put the team in Group F alongside Germany, the United States, and Iran. Yugoslavia won its first game 1–0 against Iran thanks to a goal from defender Siniša Mihajlović. The next game was a draw for Yugoslavia. After leading Germany 2–0, Mihajlović scored an own goal following a German freekick, and Oliver Bierhoff equalised at 2–2 with only about ten minutes to the match. Nonetheless, Yugoslavia responded in the next game against the United States and won 1–0 due to an early goal in Nantes. Yugoslavia finished second in the group and Germany won the group with a better goal difference.

Due to their second position, Yugoslavia saw itself face the Netherlands in the Round of 16. Yugoslavia entered in the match with a sole attacker, but its defensive tactics proved unsuccessful as Dennis Bergkamp put the Netherlands in front in the 38th minute. Immediately following the start of the second half, Yugoslavia pressured the Dutch, who conceded a header from Slobodan Komljenović. However, the turning point of this match was a penalty awarded to Yugoslavia after Vladimir Jugović was fouled in the penalty area. Predrag Mijatović missed, and the scoreline remained the same at 1–1. Such an event demoralized the Yugoslavs, as the Dutch took the initiative. In the late seconds of the game Edgar Davids' shot towards the Yugoslav net from a distance of 20 meters and beat goalkeeper Ivica Kralj. This marked the end of Yugoslavia's run in the 1998 World Cup.

The draw for the Euro 2000 qualifiers saw first-seeded Yugoslavia drawn in a group with Croatia, thus marking the first games between the two teams after the breakup of Yugoslavia. The other teams in the group were the Republic of Ireland, Macedonia, and Malta. When the qualifiers began, the coach was Milan Živadinović, but in July 1999 he resigned and was replaced by Vujadin Boškov.

The team started with a 1–0 win over Ireland in Belgrade, before beating Malta 3–0 in Ta' Qali. The home fixture against the Maltese followed, but was moved to Thessaloniki, Greece due to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The team nonetheless won 4–1. The first match against Croatia took place in Belgrade shortly after the bombing ended, and was interrupted due to a power outage at the beginning of the second half, resuming after 43 minutes[7] and eventually finishing 0–0. A 2–1 defeat against Ireland in Dublin was followed by victories home and away against Macedonia (3–1 and 4–2 respectively), meaning that Yugoslavia needed to win its final qualifier against Croatia in Zagreb, or to draw with Ireland failing to beat Macedonia in Skopje, in order to qualify automatically for Euro 2000. In the event, Ireland conceded an injury-time equaliser, meaning that Yugoslavia's 2–2 draw with the Croatians was good enough.

The draw for the finals placed Yugoslavia in Group C along with Spain, Norway and another former Yugoslav republic, Slovenia. The Slovenians took a 3–0 lead in the first game at the Stade du Pays de Charleroi, but three goals in six second-half minutes enabled Yugoslavia to secure a 3–3 draw. The team then beat Norway 1–0 in Liège, thanks to an early Savo Milošević backheel strike. The final group game, against Spain in Bruges, saw the Yugoslavs take the lead three times, before a Gaizka Mendieta penalty and an Alfonso strike in injury-time secured a dramatic 4–3 win for the Spaniards and top spot in the group. Yugoslavia nonetheless finished second, level on points with Norway but ranked ahead due to its victory in Liège. In each of the three games, the team had one player sent off (Siniša Mihajlović, Mateja Kežman, and Slaviša Jokanović, respectively).

In the quarter-finals, Yugoslavia was once again paired with the Netherlands. Unlike the last time, the co-hosts won 6–1 in Rotterdam with Patrick Kluivert scoring a hat-trick. Despite Yugoslavia's elimination, Savo Milošević was crowned the joint top scorer of the tournament alongside Patrick Kluivert. Both players scored five goals, although Milošević played one game fewer.[8]

Ilija Petković was appointed as a coach for the team. For the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Yugoslavia was drawn in Group 1 with Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg. Not long after winning against Luxembourg, Petković was sacked and replaced with three pieced team which consisted of Vujadin Boškov, Dejan Savićević and Ivan Ćurković. Despite being one of the favourites from the group and winning both games against Luxembourg and Faroe Islands as well and away game against Switzerland, Yugoslavia managed to suffer a home loss and away draw against Russia, a home draw against Switzerland and both draw games against Slovenia. Yugoslavia ended the qualifying campaign in the third place of the group just one point behind second-placed Slovenia.

After failing to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, Savićević was appointed as a coach. After Savićević's spell as coach of Yugoslavia, the country went under a political transformation, and Ilija Petković became the newly named Serbia and Montenegro's new coach. For the Euro 2004 qualifiers Serbia and Montenegro was drawn in Group 9 with Italy, Wales, Finland and Azerbaijan. Despite drawing both games against group favourites and eventual group winners Italy and winning both games against runners-up Wales, Serbia and Montenegro failed to qualify, mostly due to a 2–2 home draw and 2–1 away loss to Azerbaijan, as well and 3–0 away loss to Finland.

Serbia and Montenegro and Cote d'Ivoire playing in the Allianz Arena at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Petković remained as a coach for the team, despite the failure to qualify for Euro 2004. However, qualifying for 2006 World Cup was different. With six wins and four draw games, Serbia and Montenegro ended up first in the group with an undefeated record in their qualification group ahead of favourites Spain. The Serbia and Montenegro team also allowed only one goal in the ten matches, the best defensive record of all 51 teams participating in qualification.

For the 2006 qualifiers, Serbia and Montenegro was drawn in a group with Spain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania and San Marino. Led once again by Ilija Petković as the coach, Serbia and Montenegro with the "Famous Four" defence, consisting of Nemanja Vidić, Mladen Krstajić, Goran Gavrančić, and Ivica Dragutinović, with Dragoslav Jevrić as the goalkeeper, conceded only one goal in ten games, finishing first with a 6–4–0 record, ahead of Spain.

On 3 June 2006, following a referendum, Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia. As the World Cup was about to start, it was decided that the Serbia and Montenegro team that had qualified for the tournament would compete, with the split into separate teams representing the new countries of Montenegro and Serbia to take place once the team was no longer in the tournament.

In the group stage, Serbia and Montenegro lost their opening game to joint group favourite, the Netherlands. The final score was 1–0 after Arjen Robben scored the only goal of the game. They also lost their second game to Argentina 6–0, Serbia and Montenegro's worst ever international result. With the team's two losses and with Netherlands and Argentina winning both their games, Serbia and Montenegro could no longer qualify for the knockout matches and was playing for pride alone in their final group game against Ivory Coast. Despite having a 2–0 lead for much of the first half, the Elephants managed to come back and win 3–2, leaving Serbia and Montenegro with no points.

After Montenegro declared independence, Serbia marked their split from Montenegro with a 3–1 win over the Czech Republic. For the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Serbia was drawn in Group A along with Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The qualification process began promising and ended in disappointment for Serbia. A strong start in qualification was overshadowed by the final hurdle of matches where inconsistency took over, the side dropping points against the likes of Finland, Belgium, Armenia and Kazakhstan. They eventually finished third, three points behind runners-up Portugal and Group A winners Poland. Serbia's first-ever foreign coach Javier Clemente was sacked after the failure.

Serbia replaced Clemente with Miroslav Đukić, who then left the position on 19 August of the following year without having played any official games, due to various disagreements with the Football Association of Serbia.

Atmosphere at the start of match vs. France, 9 September 2009

Subsequent to Ðukić's rapid departure, Radomir Antić was appointed coach and success followed. Serbia's World Cup qualification campaign began in 2008. Their qualification group featured 1998 World Cup winners and 2006 World Cup runners-up France, Romania, as well as Austria, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands. Serbia played consistently during the qualifiers and this led to the team automatically qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. They confirmed qualification with a 5–0 win at home against Romania.

Like in 2006, Serbia went into the World Cup as the dark horses of the tournament. Key points justifying their potential surprise team status included a star-studded defence that was composed by Nemanja Vidić, Neven Subotić, Aleksandar Kolarov and Branislav Ivanović. The captain of Serbia's 2010 World Cup campaign was Dejan Stanković, who became the only player to feature in a World Cup having played under three different national names (although he never changed nationality; this was a result of geopolitical events involving the identity of Yugoslavia).[10] In their first tournament as an independent nation, they were to face Ghana, Germany and Australia.

Their opening group game was against Ghana and chances came to both sides but a red card to Aleksandar Luković and a handball by substitute Zdravko Kuzmanović in the second half gave Ghana a penalty to take all three points at the death. Asamoah Gyan converted eight minutes from full-time and Serbia were defeated 1–0.

In Serbia's second group match, they defeated Germany by a score of 1–0 with a goal by Milan Jovanović late in the first half. FIFA's official YouTube channel called the win "the most famous day in Serbia's footballing history".[11]

Serbia only needed a single point to reach the knockout stages but was defeated by Australia 2–1. Australia scored two goals in the second half through Tim Cahill and Brett Holman. A late Marko Pantelić goal served only as a consolation. They finished last in the group.

Radomir Antić was sacked two games into the Euro 2012 qualification process, a 1–1 draw at home to Slovenia spelling the end to his two-year stint. The sacking meant the bringing in of Vladimir Petrović to the job.

Nemanja Vidić was named twice in the FIFA World XI.

Serbia once again failed to qualify for the European Championships, making it 12 years since the country last took part in the tournament. Serbia was drawn in Group C featuring Italy, Slovenia, Estonia, Northern Ireland and the Faroe Islands. The qualifying stage began with Radomir Antić as coach and finished with Vladimir Petrović. Serbia and Antić started the first two games positively with a 3–0 win away to Faroe Islands and a 1–1 draw at home to Slovenia but this result brought the end of Antić's reign as the country's coach. New coach Petrović faced setbacks immediately with a 3–1 loss at home to Estonia and an abandoned match resulting in a 3–0 loss to Italy due to crowd trouble from the Serbian away supporters in Genoa.

Serbia returned to form with a 2–1 win at home over Northern Ireland but could only manage a 1–1 draw away to Estonia.

Afterwards, Serbia won back to back games with a 1–0 win away to Northern Ireland and a crucial 3–1 win at home against Faroe Islands. These results put Serbia in pole position to confirm a play-off spot behind Italy.

Serbia needed a win at home against Italy to confirm a play-off spot but their efforts only resulted in a 1–1 draw. The team, however, still had one more chance to confirm a play-off place when they faced Slovenia away. This game was a must-win even though Serbia had a superior goal difference over Estonia, a draw was not good enough for progression. Serbia played positively and created a number of chances during the game but a long-range goal put Slovenia up 1–0 at half time. The Serbians then failed to convert numerous chances that they had in the second half, notably Nemanja Vidić's penalty miss midway through the second half. Serbia left empty-handed after a 1–0 loss and exited the tournament for the third time in a row during the qualifying group stages, missing out by one point behind Estonia.

Vladimir Petrović was sacked after the team's failure to qualify. Ahead of the qualifying campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Dejan Stanković and Nemanja Vidić announced that they were retiring from international football. This meant that Serbia had lost two key players and that a new era had started. Branislav Ivanović became the new captain. Siniša Mihajlović, a former member of the national team, was appointed as the coach on 24 April 2012. Serbia was drawn in Group A in qualification for 2014 FIFA World Cup, together with Croatia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, and Wales. The team began the qualification campaign with a goalless draw with Scotland and a 6–1 win over Wales. In the next two games, Serbia suffered two defeats, from Macedonia and Belgium.

On 22 March 2013, Serbia played in Zagreb against Croatia. The game was highly anticipated in both countries due to their rivalry both on and off the pitch. Croatia won 2–0. Serbia then defeated Scotland 2–0 at home in a crucial qualifier, though their World Cup hopes were taken away after a 2–1 defeat to Belgium. Serbia drew with Croatia 1–1 in the corresponding fixture at home, where 18-year-old Aleksandar Mitrović scored an equalizer in the second-half after Mario Mandžukić opened the scoring. They then defeated Wales 0–3 in Cardiff. Dejan Stanković's farewell game was completed in a friendly against Japan, which Serbia won 2–0. He finished his career with 103 appearances for the national team, a record previously held by Savo Milošević, with 102 appearances. Serbia finished qualifying with a 5–1 home win against Macedonia, putting them in third in the group, three points from a playoff spot behind Croatia and group winners Belgium.

After failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, Dick Advocaat was appointed as the coach in 2014. Serbia was drawn in Group I in qualification for UEFA Euro 2016, together with Portugal, Denmark, Albania and Armenia. Advocaat started with a draw in a friendly 1–1 game against France. The team began qualification with a 1–1 draw against Armenia. In the next, abandoned game against Albania in Belgrade, Serbia was originally awarded with a 3–0 victory, but was later deducted three points. On 14 November 2014, Serbia played against Denmark in Belgrade and lost, 1–3. After this game, Advocaat left, whereupon Radovan Ćurčić was announced as a new coach on 18 November.

In 2015, Serbia's first match was a qualifying match against Portugal in Lisbon, during which Serbia lost 2–1, cutting their chances for qualification to Euro 2016. On 13 June 2015, Serbia played a qualifying match against Denmark in Copenhagen, losing 2–0. On 10 July, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that it had awarded a 0–3 victory to Albania in the abandoned match held on 14 October 2014, upholding Serbia's three-point penalization. As a result, Serbia became mathematically eliminated from Euro 2016 qualification. On 4 September 2015, Serbia made first victory in this qualification 2–0, against Armenia. On 8 October 2015, Serbia defeated Albania with a goal each from Aleksandar Kolarov and Adem Ljajić. In the table of Group I, Serbia finished second to last place with four points in a five team group.

Serbia national team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia

After failing to qualify for Euro 2016, Slavoljub Muslin was appointed as a coach. Serbia was drawn with Euro 2016 semi-finalists Wales, Austria, Ireland, Georgia and Moldova. They started off their campaign with a 2–2 draw against Ireland at the Red Star Stadium and continued this good form with wins over Austria, Georgia and Moldova.

Serbia beat Moldova in Belgrade with goals from Aleksandar Kolarov, Aleksandar Mitrović and Mijat Gaćinović. This consolidated their first position going into their top-of-the group clash with Ireland. They won this match with a 55th-minute goal from Kolarov. Serbia finished the qualifying campaign with a 1–0 home win against Georgia, and ended at the top of Group D and therefore qualified for the 2018 tournament, its first major tournament after an eight-year absence. Despite Serbia's qualification, Muslin was sacked by the Football Association of Serbia for not inviting Sergej Milinković-Savić to play in the campaign. This decision sparked a lot of controversy in the Serbian public. Mladen Krstajić took the place as a temporary coach after Muslin's dismissal and led the team in the World Cup.

In the World Cup, Serbia opened their match against Costa Rica. Kolarov's free kick at the second half meant Serbia won their first World Cup game after eight years. Serbia lost their later encounters, losing 1–2 to Switzerland with a 90-minute goal scored by Xherdan Shaqiri and 0–2 to Brazil, thus once again eliminated from the group stage of a big tournament.

Due to poor performance of Serbia in previous years, the country found itself started the campaign of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League C, where they were drawn into Group 4 with Montenegro, Lithuania and Romania. With both wins against Lithuania and Montenegro and both draw games against Romania, Serbia finished on top of the group, securing the Euro 2020 play-off spot and being promoted into League B for 2020–21 season. With six goals, Aleksandar Mitrović finished the tournament as the top scorer.

After the 2018 World Cup, Mladen Krstajić became a permanent coach for Serbia. Serbia started the campaign of 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, which served as a part of UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.

For Euro 2020 qualifiers, Serbia was drawn into Group B with Euro 2016 champions Portugal, Ukraine, Lithuania and Luxembourg. Serbia kicked off the qualifiers with 1–1 away draw game against Portugal. But in the next away game against Ukraine, Serbia lost the game 0–5, making it the biggest defeat for Serbia. This game also spawned a lot of controversy due to Krstajić's coaching style. After the 4–1 home win against Lithuania, Krstajić was sacked mainly because of the loss against Ukraine and replaced with Ljubiša Tumbaković. Tumbaković started with a 2–4 home loss against Portugal. The next two games were away wins against Luxembourg and Lithuania, before beating Luxembourg at home to keep its slim hope alive. However, Serbia could not take one of the top two places after the team managed a 2–2 draw to Ukraine at home.

After the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs were resumed, Serbia placed itself against Norway in Oslo. The game happened to be difficult for the Serbs, but two goals, one in the extra times and scored both by Sergej Milinković-Savić finally helped Serbia to overcome Norway 2–1, thus marching to the final playoff game against Scotland at home. In the game against Scotland, Serbia lost at the penalty series, therefore once again failing to qualify for the tournament making in 20 years since the country last took part in the tournament. Tumbaković was sacked after the team's failure to qualify for the tournament.

On 3 March 2020, Serbia was drawn in 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B Group 3 alongside Russia, Turkey and Hungary. Serbia had a difficult beginning in their first two games. Their first match against Russia away, Serbia was defeated 1–3 as expected. In the second game, Serbia however only gained a goalless draw to Turkey, though it was notable that Serbia played with only 10 men in the second half. In the next four games, Serbia played another draw game against Turkey, suffered a draw and a lost game against Hungary, and in the final game Serbia unexpectedly won against Russia with 5–0. Serbia ended the campaign at the third place on group 3, securing the place of League B for 2022–23 season.

Serbia was drawn in Group A in qualification for the 2022 World Cup with Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan.

Nicknamed The Blues, the various Yugoslav teams of the 20th century wore a primarily blue kit. This was paired with white shorts and red socks, mimicking the blue-white-red tricolour flag. As Serbia and Montenegro continued this blue-white-red tradition, it was considered appropriate for a newly independent Serbian team to adopt a different colouring scheme.

Serbia eventually adopted red shirts, blue shorts and white socks, paralleling the primary red theme taken up by other national sports teams. Such a look was also based on a tricolour flag arrangement, albeit this time inspired by the flag of Serbia. The first home kit featured red shirts with a blue and white trim, whilst a cross motif was incorporated ahead of the 2010 World Cup. Taken from the country's coat of arms, it remained on the kits until 2014. In recent years, partly due to FIFA's increasingly strict kit clash regulations, Serbia have utilised all-red uniforms, abandoning blue altogether.

Serbia's away kits are traditionally white, featuring a red-and-blue trim.

The badge of the Football Association of Serbia is modelled on the escutcheon of the Serbian coat of arms. It features a modified version of the four firesteels, a historical Serbian emblem, with the addition of a football.

Serbia is nicknamed 'the Eagles' (Orlovi / Орлови).[17] The name refers to the white double-headed eagle found on the coat of arms of Serbia, a national symbol of Serbia.

In July 2014, a partnership was announced between the Football Association of Serbia and English manufacturer Umbro which is Serbia's official supplier before Puma took over with their home and away kits, debuting 7 September 2014 in the friendly match against France. On 7 September 2014, Serbia unveiled their latest kits also worn at the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers campaign.[18]

Kit Supplier	Period
Nike	2006–2014
Umbro	2014–2018
Puma	2018–present

FIFA World Cup qualification in temple

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
within  Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1930	Fourth place	4th	3	2	0	1	7	7		Invited
1934	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	3	4
1938										2	1	0	1	1	4
within  SFR Yugoslavia (until 1962 as FPR Yugoslavia)
1950	Group stage	5th	3	2	0	1	7	3		5	3	2	0	16	6
1954	Quarter-finals	7th	3	1	1	1	2	3		4	4	0	0	4	0
1958	Quarter-finals	5th	4	1	2	1	7	7		4	2	2	0	7	2
1962	Fourth place	4th	6	3	0	3	10	7		4	3	1	0	11	4
1966	Did not qualify									6	3	1	2	10	8
1970										6	3	1	2	19	7
1974	Second group stage	7th	6	1	2	3	12	7		5	3	2	0	8	4
1978	Did not qualify									4	1	0	3	6	8
1982	Group stage	16th	3	1	1	1	2	2		8	6	1	1	22	7
1986	Did not qualify									8	3	2	3	7	8
1990	Quarter-finals	5th	5	3	1	1	8	6		8	6	2	0	16	6
within  FR Yugoslavia
1994	Suspended									Suspended
1998	Round of 16	10th	4	2	1	1	5	4		12	9	2	1	41	8
2002	Did not qualify									10	5	4	1	22	8
within  Serbia and Montenegro
2006	Group stage	32nd	3	0	0	3	2	10		10	6	4	0	16	1
Serbia
2010	Group stage	23rd	3	1	0	2	2	3		10	7	1	2	22	8
2014	Did not qualify									10	4	2	4	18	11
2018	Group stage	23rd	3	1	0	2	2	4		10	6	3	1	20	10
2022	Future events									Future events
2026
Total	Fourth place	12/21	46	18	8	20	66	63		128	75	31	22	269	114

* Draw for 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers was made on 8 December 1991, however due to break-up of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and consequent military conflict, which broke in early 1991, FSJ ceased to exist as football organization of the SFR Yugoslavia. Organization that remained based in Belgrade, Serbia, was excluded from taking part as FSJ or its successor due to UN sanctions.[19]

Serbia's World Cup record
First Match	Yugoslavia 2–1 Brazil  (Montevideo, Uruguay; 14 July 1930)
Biggest Win	Yugoslavia 9–0 Zaire  (Gelsenkirchen, West Germany; 18 June 1974)
Biggest Defeat	Argentina 6–0 Serbia and Montenegro  (Gelsenkirchen, Germany; 16 June 2006)
Best Result	Fourth place in 1930 and 1962
Worst Result	Group stage in 1950, 1982, 2006, 2010 and 2018

UEFA European Championship qualifying in temple

UEFA European Championship record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
as  SFR Yugoslavia (1960 as FPR Yugoslavia)
1960	Runners-up	2nd	2	1	0	1	6	6		4	2	1	1	9	4
1964	Did not qualify									4	2	1	1	6	5
1968	Runners-up	2nd	3	1	1	1	2	3		6	4	1	1	14	5
1972	Did not qualify									8	3	4	1	7	5
1976	Fourth Place	4th	2	0	0	2	4	7		8	6	1	1	15	5
1980	Did not qualify									6	4	0	2	14	6
1984	Group Stage	8th	3	0	0	3	2	10		6	3	2	1	12	11
1988	Did not qualify									6	4	0	2	13	9
1992	Qualified/Suspended									8	7	0	1	24	4
as  FR Yugoslavia
1996	Suspended									Suspended
2000	Quarter-final	8th	4	1	1	2	8	13		8	5	2	1	18	8
as  Serbia and Montenegro
2004	Did not qualify									8	3	3	2	11	11
as  Serbia
2008	Did not qualify									14	6	6	2	22	11
2012										10	4	3	3	13	12
2016										8	2	1	5	8	13
2020										10	5	3	2	20	19
2024	Future event									Future event
Total	Runners-up	5/16	14	3	2	9	22	39		114	60	28	26	206	128

Serbia's European Championship record
First Match	France 4–5 Yugoslavia  (Paris, France; 6 July 1960)
Biggest Win	France 4–5 Yugoslavia  (Paris, France; 6 July 1960)  Yugoslavia 1–0 England  (Florence, Italy; 5 June 1968)  Norway 0–1 FR Yugoslavia  (Liège, Belgium; 18 June 2000)
Biggest Defeat	Denmark 5–0 Yugoslavia  (Lyon, France; 16 June 1984)  Netherlands 6–1 FR Yugoslavia  (Rotterdam, Netherlands; 25 June 2000)
Best Result	Runners-up in 1960 and 1968
Worst Result	Group stage in 1984

Last update : 18 November 2020

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2018–19	C	4	6	4	2	0	11	4		27th
2020–21	B	3	6	1	3	2	9	7		27th
2022–23	B	Future event
Total			12	5	5	2	20	11	27th

Serbia's Nations League record
First Match	Lithuania 0–1 Serbia  (Vilnius, Lithuania; 7 September 2018)
Biggest Win	Serbia 5–0 Russia  (Belgrade, Serbia; 18 November 2020)
Biggest Defeat	Russia 3–1 Serbia  (Moscow, Russia; 3 September 2020)
Best Result	27th place in 2018–19 and 2020–21
Worst Result

The following players were called up for the International friendly games against  Dominican Republic on 25 January and against  Panama on 28 January 2021.[29]
Caps and goals updated as of 29 January 2021 after the game against Panama.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
12	1GK	Aleksandar Popović	(1999-09-29) 29 September 1999	1	0	Partizan
23	1GK	Đorđe Petrović	(1999-10-08) 8 October 1999	1	0	Čukarički
1	1GK	Miloš Gordić	(2000-03-05) 5 March 2000	1	0	Mačva Šabac
3	2DF	Slobodan Urošević	(1994-04-15) 15 April 1994	3	0	Partizan
13	2DF	Nikola Aksentijević	(1993-03-09) 9 March 1993	2	0	Radnički Niš
20	2DF	Jovan Vlalukin	(1999-05-21) 21 May 1999	2	0	Metalac Gornji Milanovac
5	2DF	Marko Gajić	(1992-03-10) 10 March 1992	1	0	Voždovac
22	2DF	Aleksandar Andrejević	(1992-03-28) 28 March 1992	1	0	Proleter Novi Sad
17	2DF	Aranđel Stojković	(1995-03-02) 2 March 1995	1	0	Vojvodina
2	2DF	Marko Jevremović	(1996-02-23) 23 February 1996	1	0	Javor Ivanjica
15	2DF	Nikola Stevanović	(1998-09-13) 13 September 1998	1	0	Radnički Niš
16	2DF	Nemanja Mićević	(1999-01-28) 28 January 1999	1	0	Mladost Lučani
4	2DF	Ranko Veselinović	(1999-03-24) 24 March 1999	1	0	Vancouver Whitecaps
7	3MF	Lazar Tufegdžić	(1997-02-22) 22 February 1997	2	0	Spartak Subotica
6	3MF	Jovan Nišić	(1998-03-03) 3 March 1998	2	0	Voždovac
10	3MF	Veljko Birmančević	(1998-03-05) 5 March 1998	2	0	Čukarički
14	3MF	Kosta Aleksić	(1998-03-09) 9 March 1998	2	0	Inđija
21	3MF	Aleksa Pejić	(1999-07-09) 9 July 1999	2	0	Proleter Novi Sad
8	3MF	Milan Radin	(1991-06-25) 25 June 1991	1	0	Dinamo Tbilisi
24	3MF	Aleksandar Busnić	(1997-12-04) 4 December 1997	1	0	Rad
19	4FW	Nemanja Čović	(1991-06-08) 8 June 1991	2	0	Vojvodina
9	4FW	Nenad Lukić	(1992-09-02) 2 September 1992	2	0	TSC Bačka Topola
11	4FW	Miljan Vukadinović	(1992-12-27) 27 December 1992	2	0	Vojvodina
18	4FW	Milan Makarić	(1995-10-04) 4 October 1995	1	0	Radnik Surdulica

The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Predrag Rajković	(1995-10-31) 31 October 1995	18	0	Reims	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
GK	Đorđe Nikolić	(1997-05-13) 13 May 1997	0	0	Basel	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020 COV
GK	Marko Dmitrović	(1992-01-24) 24 January 1992	16	0	Eibar	v.  Hungary, 15 November 2020 WD
GK	Emil Rockov	(1995-01-27) 27 January 1995	1	0	Fehérvár	v.  Hungary, 15 November 2020 WD
DF	Mihajlo Ivančević	(1999-04-07) 7 April 1999	0	0	Spartak Subotica	v.  Dominican Republic, 25 January 2021 INJ
DF	Nikola Milenković	(1997-10-12) 12 October 1997	26	1	Fiorentina	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
DF	Stefan Mitrović	(1990-05-22) 22 May 1990	21	0	Strasbourg	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
DF	Filip Mladenović	(1991-08-15) 15 August 1991	15	1	Legia Warsaw	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
DF	Uroš Spajić	(1993-02-13) 13 February 1993	14	0	Feyenoord	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
DF	Strahinja Pavlović	(2001-05-24) 24 May 2001	4	0	Cercle Brugge	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
DF	Nikola Maraš	(1995-12-19) 19 December 1995	2	0	Almería	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
DF	Aleksandar Kolarov (captain)	(1985-11-10) 10 November 1985	94	11	Internazionale	v.  Hungary, 15 November 2020 COV
DF	Miloš Veljković	(1995-09-26) 26 September 1995	9	0	Werder Bremen	v.  Scotland, 12 November 2020 WD
DF	Nikola Maksimović	(1991-11-25) 25 November 1991	25	0	Napoli	v.  Norway, 8 October 2020 WD
MF	Dušan Tadić (Vice captain)	(1988-11-20) 20 November 1988	73	16	Ajax	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020 INJ
MF	Nemanja Gudelj	(1991-11-16) 16 November 1991	33	1	Sevilla	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
MF	Nemanja Maksimović	(1995-01-26) 26 January 1995	26	0	Getafe	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
MF	Mijat Gaćinović	(1995-02-08) 8 February 1995	23	2	1899 Hoffenheim	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
MF	Nemanja Radonjić	(1996-02-15) 15 February 1996	20	4	Hertha BSC	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
MF	Sergej Milinković-Savić	(1995-02-27) 27 February 1995	20	3	Lazio	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020 COV
MF	Saša Lukić	(1996-08-13) 13 August 1996	17	0	Torino	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
MF	Darko Lazović	(1990-09-15) 15 September 1990	15	0	Hellas Verona	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020 COV
MF	Marko Grujić	(1996-04-13) 13 April 1996	9	0	Porto	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020 INJ
MF	Mihailo Ristić	(1995-10-31) 31 October 1995	5	0	Montpellier	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
MF	Saša Zdjelar	(1995-03-20) 20 March 1995	3	0	Partizan	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
MF	Lazar Ranđelović	(1997-08-05) 5 August 1997	1	0	Olympiacos	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
MF	Filip Kostić	(1992-11-01) 1 November 1992	35	2	Eintracht Frankfurt	v.  Hungary, 15 November 2020 WD
MF	Aleksandar Katai	(1991-02-06) 6 February 1991	10	0	Red Star Belgrade	v.  Hungary, 15 November 2020 INJ
MF	Luka Milivojević	(1991-04-07) 7 April 1991	38	1	Crystal Palace	v.  Scotland, 12 November 2020 COV
MF	Filip Đuričić	(1992-01-30) 30 January 1992	29	4	Sassuolo	v.  Scotland, 12 November 2020 COV
MF	Adem Ljajić	(1991-09-29) 29 September 1991	47	9	Beşiktaş	v.  Turkey, 14 October 2020
MF	Nemanja Matić	(1988-08-01) 1 August 1988	48	2	Manchester United	v.  Russia, 3 September 2020 RET
FW	Filip Stevanović	(2002-09-25) 25 September 2002	0	0	Partizan	v.  Dominican Republic, 25 January 2021 INJ
FW	Aleksandar Mitrović	(1994-09-16) 16 September 1994	61	36	Fulham	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
FW	Luka Jović	(1997-12-23) 23 December 1997	11	5	Eintracht Frankfurt	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
FW	Dušan Vlahović	(2000-01-28) 28 January 2000	4	1	Fiorentina	v.  Russia, 18 November 2020
FW	Đorđe Despotović	(1992-03-04) 4 March 1992	0	0	Rubin Kazan	v.  Scotland, 12 November 2020 INJ
FW	Danijel Aleksić	(1991-04-30) 30 April 1991	2	0	İstanbul Başakşehir	v.  Turkey, 14 October 2020