Russia has participated in 4 FIFA World Cups since its independence in December 1991. The Russian Federation played their first international match against Mexico on 16 August 1992, winning 2–0.Article in eu-football.info Mexico on 16th August, 1992 winning 2–0. Their first participation in a World Cup was in the United States in 1994 where they achieved 18th place.
In 1946, the Soviet Union was accepted by FIFA and entered their first World Cup in Sweden 1958. The Soviet Union national football team played in 7 World Cups. Their best performance was reaching fourth place in England 1966. The USSR was dissolved in 1991 when Belarus, Russia and Ukraine declared independence under the Belavezha Accords, along with Georgia. The CIS national football team (Commonwealth of Independent States) was formed with other independent nations in 1992 for the purpose of competing in UEFA Euro 1992. Russia was recognized as the official successor of the Soviet Union by FIFA and inherited the records of the Soviet Union.
Russia most recently qualified for the 2018 edition as hosts. They were banned during qualification for the 2022 edition, and subsequently banned from any participation (including qualifying) in the 2026 edition. The last time Russia failed to qualify after a full qualification round was in 2010.
Record at the FIFA World Cup Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth Place FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition*Campaign as as 1930Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member— 19341934 19381938 1950Did not enterDid not enter1950 19541954 1958Quarter-finals6th52125654011831958 19626th42119744001131962 1966Fourth place4th640210665011961966 1970Quarter-finals5th 4211624310811970 1974Did not qualify6312541974 19784202531978 1982Second group stage7th52217486202021982 1986Round of 1610th421112584221381986 1990Group stage17th31024484311141990 as as 1994Group stage18th31027685211541994 1998Did not qualify85211951998 2002Group stage22nd310244107211852002 2006Did not qualify1265123122006 2010107121962010 2014Group stage24th302123107122052014 2018Quarter-finals8th5221117Qualified as hosts2018 2022Banned during qualification107121962022 2026Banned from enteringBanned from entering2026 2030To be determinedTo be determined2030 20342034TotalFourth place11/2245191016775412580242124681Total *Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out
Russia's World Cup recordFirst Match Soviet Union 2–2 (8 June 1958; Gothenburg, Sweden)Biggest Win Soviet Union 6–0 (2 June 1986; Irapuato, Mexico)Biggest Defeat 3–0 (25 June 2018; Samara, Russia)Best ResultFourth place in 1966Worst ResultGroup stage in 1990, 1994, 2002 and 2014
Soviet Union in Sweden 1958
TeamPldWDLGFGAGAvPts321050∞53111441.0033030441.0033012270.281
Group play-off
Quarter-final
Soviet Union in Chile 1962
TeamPldWDLGFGAGAvPts3210851.6053201832.6743102460.67230125110.451
Quarter-final
Soviet Union in England 1966
TeamPldWDLGFGAGAvPts3300616.0063111240.5033102221.0023012250.401
Quarter-final
Semi-final
Match for third place
Soviet Union in Mexico 1970
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts321061+55321050+55310245–12300309–90
Quarter-final
Soviet Union in Spain 1982
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts3300102+86311164+23311188033003212–100
Second round Group A TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts211030+33211010+13200204–40
Soviet Union in Mexico 1986
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts321091+85321051+45310229–72300305–50
Round of 16
Soviet Union in Italy 1990
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts320135–24311143+13311132+1331024402
Russia in the USA 1994
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts321061+57312064+25310276+133012311–81
Russia in South Korea/Japan 2002
LegendGroup winners and runners-up advance to the round of 16 TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts321052+37312065+1531024403301215–41
Russia in Brazil 2014
LegendGroup winners and runners-up advance to the round of 16
Russia vs South Korea This was the first time the two countries have played each other in the FIFA World Cup, though they did play a friendly in 2013, which Russia won 2–1. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with both goals being in the second half.
GK 1 Igor AkinfeevRB 22Andrey YeshchenkoCB 4 Sergei IgnashevichCB 14Vasili Berezutski (c)LB 23Dmitri KombarovDM 8 Denis Glushakov CM 20Viktor FayzulinCM 18Yuri Zhirkov RW 19Aleksandr SamedovLW 17Oleg Shatov CF 9 Aleksandr KokorinSubstitutions:MF 10Alan Dzagoev FW 11Aleksandr Kerzhakov MF 7 Igor Denisov Manager: Fabio Capello GK 1 Jung Sung-ryongRB 12Lee YongCB 5 Kim Young-gwonCB 20Hong Jeong-ho LB 3 Yun Suk-youngRM 17Lee Chung-yongCM 14Han Kook-youngCM 16Ki Sung-yueng LM 9 Son Heung-min CF 10Park Chu-young CF 13Koo Ja-cheol (c) Substitutions:FW 11Lee Keun-ho DF 6 Hwang Seok-ho MF 7 Kim Bo-kyung Manager:Hong Myung-bo Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (South Korea)
Assistant referees: Hernán Maidana (Argentina) Juan Pablo Belatti (Argentina) Fourth official: Roberto Moreno (Panama) Fifth official: Eric Boria (United States)
Belgium vs Russia
GK 1 Thibaut CourtoisRB 2 Toby Alderweireld CB 15Daniel Van BuytenCB 4 Vincent Kompany (c)LB 3 Thomas Vermaelen CM 6 Axel Witsel CM 8 Marouane FellainiRW 14Dries Mertens AM 7 Kevin De BruyneLW 10Eden HazardCF 9 Romelu Lukaku Substitutions:DF 5 Jan Vertonghen FW 17Divock Origi FW 11Kevin Mirallas Manager:Marc Wilmots GK 1 Igor AkinfeevRB 2 Aleksei Kozlov CB 14Vasili Berezutski (c)CB 4 Sergei IgnashevichLB 23Dmitri KombarovDM 8 Denis Glushakov CM 20Viktor FayzulinRW 19Aleksandr Samedov AM 6Maksim KanunnikovLW 17Oleg Shatov CF 9 Aleksandr KokorinSubstitutions:DF 22Andrey Yeshchenko MF 10Alan Dzagoev FW 11Aleksandr Kerzhakov Manager: Fabio Capello Man of the Match: Eden Hazard (Belgium)
Assistant referees: Mark Borsch (Germany) Stefan Lupp (Germany) Fourth official: Carlos Vera (Ecuador) Fifth official: Byron Romero (Ecuador)
Algeria vs Russia
GK 23Raïs M'BolhiRB 20Aïssa MandiCB 4 Essaïd BelkalemCB 5 Rafik Halliche (c)LB 6 Djamel Mesbah CM 12Carl MedjaniCM 14Nabil BentalebRW 10Sofiane FeghouliAM 11Yacine Brahimi LW 18Abdelmoumene Djabou CF 13Islam Slimani Substitutions:MF 7 Hassan Yebda FW 9 Nabil Ghilas FW 15Hillal Soudani Other disciplinary actions:DF 17Cadamuro Bentaïba Manager: Vahid Halilhodžić GK 1 Igor AkinfeevRB 2 Aleksei Kozlov CB 14Vasili Berezutski (c)CB 4 Sergei IgnashevichLB 23Dmitri Kombarov CM 8 Denis Glushakov CM 20Viktor FayzulinRW 19Aleksandr SamedovAM 9 Aleksandr KokorinLW 17Oleg Shatov CF 11Aleksandr Kerzhakov Substitutions:MF 7 Igor Denisov MF 10Alan Dzagoev FW 6 Maksim Kanunnikov Manager: Fabio Capello
Man of the Match: Islam Slimani (Algeria)
Assistant referees: Bahattin Duran (Turkey) Tarık Ongun (Turkey) Fourth official: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) Fifth official: Juan Zumba (El Salvador)
Russia in Russia 2018
LegendGroup winners and runners-up advance to the round of 16
Knockout stage Round of sixteen
Quarter-finals
Player records Most appearances Russia's record World Cup player is Dynamo Moscow legend Lev Yashin. The 1958 FIFA World Cup in particular, which was the first one to be widely broadcast on television, had a major part in introducing Yashin's active and demanding goalkeeping style to the world at large. FIFA have established him as the best goalkeeper of the 20th century by repeatedly naming him in all-star teams like the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002.
RankPlayerMatchesWorld Cups1Lev Yashin131958, 1962 and 19662Volodymyr Bezsonov101982, 1986 and 19903Valentin Ivanov91958 and 1962Valery Voronin91962 and 1966Albert Shesternyov91966 and 1970Rinat Dasayev91982, 1986 and 1990Anatoliy Demyanenko91982, 1986 and 1990Oleh Kuznetsov91986 and 19909Igor Akinfeev82014 and 2018Sergei Ignashevich82014 and 2018Aleksandr Samedov82014 and 2018
Top goalscorers Russia's top goalscorers at the FIFA World Cup, Valentin Ivanov and Oleg Salenko, both won a Golden Boot award. Salenko is the only player who has ever scored five goals in a single World Cup match, and the only player to win the Golden Boot even though his team was eliminated in the group stage.
RankPlayerGoalsWorld Cups1Oleg Salenko619942Valentin Ivanov51958 (1) and 1962 (4)3Igor Chislenko41962 (2) and 1966 (2)Valeriy Porkuyan41966Anatoliy Byshovets41970Igor Belanov41986Denis Cheryshev420188Eduard Malofeyev31966Artem Dzyuba3201810Aleksandr Ivanov21958Viktor Ponedelnik21962Oleh Blokhin21982 and 1986Oleksandr Zavarov21986 and 1990
See also Russia at the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia at the UEFA European Championship
Former Soviet states Ukraine at the FIFA World Cup Uzbekistan at the FIFA World Cup
Notes
References
Article in EU-Football
Reports
Head-to-head record As Soviet Union OpponentWin %Total
As Russia OpponentWin %Total