Russian Football
In many countries, football is the most popular sport. This is the case in Russia as well. Russian football is very popular.
In many countries, football is the most popular sport. This is the case in Russia as well. Russian football is very popular.
Russia organised the FIFA World Cup in 2018. It was the most expensive World Cup to date and cost $14,2 billion. There were 32 teams included in the World Cup, and two of them made their debut at the biggest football tournament in the world. Panama and Iceland participated for the first time.
Last World Cup, Russia organised the tournament, and in 2022, when the World Cup is in Qatar, they are suspended because of the war in Ukraine.
Interestingly, in the World Cup in Russia, Germany was eliminated in the group stage while being the defending champion. The hosts were eliminated in the quarter-finals. The final was played between France and Croatia in Moscow. France won the World Cup final by 4-2. It was France’s second World Cup win, and they are among the favourites again in Qatar.
The Russian National Football team is a force to be reckoned with. They are not favourites for a World Cup win. However, the team can surprise many of the top countries. In 1966 the Russian national football team ranked fourth in the World Cup. In 1960 the European Championship was won. However, this was while being the Soviet Union. Russia’s best result was the bronze medal in 2008.
The best result in a match is a 9-0 win over San Marino in 2019. On the other hand, Russia lost 7-1 versus Portugal in 2004.
Russia had three foreigners as their coaches. Guus Hiddink was the head coach from 2006 to 2010, and his fellow Dutchman Dick Advocaat managed the team right after from 2010 to 2012. Advocaat’s successor was Fabio Capello, who managed the team from 2012 to 2015.
Sergei Ignashevich is the Russian player with the most appearances for the Russian national football team. Igor Akinfeev is in second place, with 111 caps, and Viktor Onopko is in third place with 109 games played. Keep in mind only players playing for Russia are included. The Soviet Union, CIS and Russian Empire matches are not included.
Artem Dzyuba is the all-time top scorer for Russia. Also, Artem Dzyuba is currently still an active player. At the time of writing, he scored 30 goals, just like Aleksandr Kerzhakov. Kerzhakov needed 91 appearances to reach this number of goals, while Artem Dzyuba only needed 55 matches.
The Russian Premier League is the highest Russian football League. Multiple teams are active in the European tournaments and can proceed till the end of the tournament.
Do you want to make an application for the Russian national team or the leagues? We cover 15 Russian leagues. Do you want more information about our coverage? Go to our coverage page.
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