Russia

  • Flag of Russian Football Association
  • Russian Football Association

  • Founded: 1912

  • Federation: UEFA

  • In the eyes of FIFA, Russia is the direct descendant of the Soviet Union side which briefly, after the break-up of the Soviet bloc in 1990 became the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). The Russian Football Federation began life as the All-Russian Football Union in 1912 but quickly became part of the Soviet Union Federation in the early 20s. They played their first game against Turkey in 1924 and whilst playing as the USSR qualified for every World Cup bar two. The USSR also became the inaugural winners of the European Nations' Cup (as it was known in those days) in 1960.
    They first met England in a friendly game in Moscow in 1958 and before the year was out they would play them a further three times. A 2-2 draw in the final group game of the 1958 World Cup meant a play-off. The two teams couldn't be separated on points, goal average and goals scored and as their match was drawn too it was either a play-off or a toss of a coin. USSR won the playoff 1-0 and England were eliminated but got a modicum of revenge in the fourth match by beating the Soviets 5-0 at Wembley Stadium.
    Since resuming as Russia the teams met twice in qualifying for Euro '08. They each won their home games but sadly for Steve McClaren, Russia pipped England to the qualifying post by one point. McClaren ultimately paid the price.
    They played again during the group stages of Euro '16 which ended 1-1.

Head to head

    • Type
    • Played
    • Won
    • Drawn
    • Lost
    • For
    • Against
    • FriendlyFR
    • 7
    • 3
    • 3
    • 1
    • 13
    • 8
    • World Cup FinalsWCF
    • 2
    • 0
    • 1
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • European Championship FinalsECF
    • 3
    • 1
    • 1
    • 1
    • 4
    • 4
    • England Challenge CupECC
    • 1
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
    • 3
    • 1
    • European Championship QualifierECQ
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 1
    • 4
    • 2
    • Competitive
    • 8
    • 3
    • 2
    • 3
    • 13
    • 10
    • Away
    • 5
    • 2
    • 2
    • 1
    • 7
    • 6
    • Neutral
    • 5
    • 1
    • 2
    • 2
    • 6
    • 7
    • Home
    • 5
    • 3
    • 1
    • 1
    • 13
    • 5
    • Total
    • 15
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 26
    • 18