Soviet Union national under-21 football team

The Soviet national youth football team was the under-21 football team of the Soviet Union. Before 1978 it was known as under-23 team. It ceased to exist on the breakup of the Union.

Soviet Union U-21/23
Nickname(s)-
AssociationFootball Federation of the Soviet Union
Head coach-
Most caps?
Top scorer?
First colours
Second colours
First international
Spain 1–2 Soviet Union
(Málaga, Spain; 30 March 1971)
Last International
Soviet Union 1–1 Italy
(Simferopol, Ukrainian SSR; 16 October 1991)
Biggest win
Soviet Union 6–0 Czechoslovakia
(Yerevan, Armenian SSR; 10 April 1974)
Biggest defeat
West Germany 5–0 Soviet Union
(Aachen, West Germany; 30 March 1982)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances3 (first in 1980)
Best resultWinners, 1976 (as U-23), 1980 & 1990

Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, the USSR Under-21 team was formed. The team had a good record, winning the competition twice, reaching the last four once, but failing to qualify for the last eight on five occasions.

After the dissolution of the USSR (on 26 December 1991), the senior team played out its remaining fixtures, which were the finals of Euro 92. Because the USSR U-21s had, by 26 December, already failed to qualify for their version of the 1992 European Championship, the former Soviet states didn't play as a combined team at U-21 level ever again.

Of the former Soviet states, only Russia entered the 1992–1994 competition. A total of 15 former Soviet states play international football today; 11 in Europe under UEFA, 4 in Asia under the AFC.

Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. USSR's unparalleled record in U-23 competitions is also shown.

UEFA U-23 Championship Record

  • 1972: Runners-up.
  • 1974: Losing semi-finalists.
  • 1976: Winners.

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

  • 1978: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.
  • 1980: Winners.
  • 1982: Losing semi-finalists.
  • 1984: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 4 in qualification group.
  • 1986: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 4 in qualification group.
  • 1988: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 4 in qualification group.
  • 1990: Winners.
  • 1992: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 4 in qualification group.

1990 European Championship squad

The last Soviet U-21 team

Head coach
Vladimir Radionov
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1GK Andriy Kovtun (1968-02-28)28 February 1968 (aged 23) 6 Shakhtar Donetsk / Dynamo Kyiv
1GK Dmitriy Kharine (1968-08-16)16 August 1968 (aged 23) 10 Dynamo Moscow / CSKA Moscow
1GK Mikhail Yeremin (1968-06-17)17 June 1968 (aged 23) 2 CSKA Moscow / deceased*
2DF Dmitriy Chugunov (1968-06-09)9 June 1968 (aged 23) 6 Shinnik Yaroslavl / Torpedo Moscow
2DF Andriy Bal (1958-01-16)16 January 1958 (aged 33) 8 Maccabi Tel Aviv / Bnei Yehuda
2DF Vadim Rogovskoi (1962-02-06)6 February 1962 (aged 29) 1 Torpedo Moscow
2DF Andriy Sydelnykov (1967-09-27)27 September 1967 (aged 24) 6 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
2DF Andrei Chernyshov (1968-01-07)7 January 1968 (aged 23) 5 Dynamo Moscow
2DF Oleh Luzhny (1968-08-05)5 August 1968 (aged 23) 4 Dynamo Kyiv
2DF Ravil Sabitov (1968-03-08)8 March 1968 (aged 23) 4 Lokomotiv Moscow
2DF Serhiy Zayets (1969-08-18)18 August 1969 (aged 22) 3 Dynamo Kyiv
2DF Boris Pozdnyakov (1962-05-31)31 May 1962 (aged 29) 2 Spartak Moscow
2DF Andrei Solovtsov (1967-10-17)17 October 1967 (aged 24) 2 Lokomotiv Moscow
2DF Mikhail Solovyov (1968-12-23)23 December 1968 (aged 23) 2 Torpedo Moscow
2DF Gennadi Nagornykh (1968-05-20)20 May 1968 (aged 23) 1 Rostselmash Rostov
2DF Gela Ketashvili (1965-09-27)September 27, 1965 (aged 26) 1 Guria Lanchkhuti
2DF Kakhaber Tskhadadze (1968-09-07)7 September 1968 (aged 23) 5 Dinamo Tbilisi
3MF Igor Shalimov (1969-02-02)2 February 1969 (aged 22) 11 Spartak Moscow
3MF Serhiy Shmatovalenko (1967-01-20)20 January 1967 (aged 24) 11 Dynamo Kyiv
3MF Andrei Kobelev (1968-10-22)22 October 1968 (aged 23) 10 Dynamo Moscow
3MF Andrei Kanchelskis (1969-01-23)23 January 1969 (aged 22) 8 Shakhtar Donetsk
3MF Aleksandr Mostovoi (1968-08-22)22 August 1968 (aged 23) 7 Spartak Moscow
3MF Andrei Pyatnitskiy (1967-09-27)27 September 1967 (aged 24) 6 Pakhtakor Tashkent
3MF Yevgeniy Smertin (1969-01-17)17 January 1969 (aged 22) 4 Dynamo Moscow
3MF Igor Dobrovolskiy (1967-08-27)27 August 1967 (aged 24) 2 CD Castellón
3MF Zaza Revishvili (1968-05-23)23 May 1968 (aged 23) 2 Dinamo Tbilisi
3MF Gia Dzhishkariani (1967-11-30)30 November 1967 (aged 24) 1 Dinamo Tbilisi
3MF Serhiy Pohodin (1968-04-29)29 April 1968 (aged 23) 1 Shakhtar Donetsk
4FW Igor Kolyvanov (1968-03-06)6 March 1968 (aged 23) 11 Dynamo Moscow
4FW Sergei Kiriakov (1970-01-01)1 January 1970 (aged 21) 6 Dynamo Moscow
4FW Nikolai Pisarev (1968-11-23)23 November 1968 (aged 23) 2 FC Winterthur
4FW Oleg Salenko (1969-10-25)25 October 1969 (aged 22) 1 Dynamo Kyiv
4FW Sergei Yuran (1969-06-11)11 June 1969 (aged 22) 1 Dynamo Kyiv

Notes:

National teams of the former Soviet republics

 RussiaNational teamU-21 teamUEFA
 UkraineNational teamU-21 teamUEFA
 BelarusNational teamU-21 teamUEFA
 UzbekistanNational teamU-20 teamAFC
 KazakhstanNational teamU-21 teamUEFA (AFC: 1992–2002)
 GeorgiaNational team U-21 teamUEFA
 AzerbaijanNational teamU-21 teamUEFA
 LithuaniaNational teamU-21 teamUEFA
 MoldovaNational teamU-21 teamUEFA
 LatviaNational teamU-21 teamUEFA
 KyrgyzstanNational teamU-20 teamAFC
 TajikistanNational teamU-20 teamAFC
 ArmeniaNational teamU-21 teamUEFA
 TurkmenistanNational teamU-20 teamAFC
 EstoniaNational teamU-21 teamUEFA

See also

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