Soviet Union national under-21 football team

Soviet Union U-21/23

Nickname(s)	-
Association	Football Federation of USSR
Head coach	-
Most caps	?
Top scorer	?
First colours Second colours
First international
Spain 1-2 USSR Málaga, March 30, 1971 Last International USSR 1-1 Italy Simferopol, October 16, 1991
Biggest win
USSR 6-0 Czechoslovakia Yerevan, April 10, 1974
Biggest defeat
West Germany 5-0 USSR Aachen, March 30, 1982
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	3 (first in 1980)
Best result	Winners, 1976 (as U-23), 1980 & 1990

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.

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 December 26, 1991), the senior team played out its remaining fixtures, which were the finals of Euro 92. Because the USSR U-21s had, by December 26, 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. However, the Russian U-21 team should not be considered as a continuation of this team; a large percentage of the team's players came from outside Russia (Russia still provided the most). 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
	GK	Andriy Kovtun	28 February 1968 (aged 23)	6	Shakhtar Donetsk / Dynamo Kyiv
	GK	Dmitriy Kharine	16 August 1968 (aged 23)	10	Dynamo Moscow / CSKA Moscow
	GK	Mikhail Yeremin	17 June 1968 (aged 23)	2	CSKA Moscow / deceased*
	DF	Dmitriy Chugunov	9 June 1968 (aged 23)	6	Shinnik Yaroslavl / Torpedo Moscow
	DF	Andriy Bal	16 January 1958 (aged 33)	8	Maccabi Tel Aviv / Bnei Yehuda
	DF	Vadim Rogovskoi	6 February 1962 (aged 29)	1	Torpedo Moscow
	DF	Andriy Sydelnykov	27 September 1967 (aged 24)	6	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
	DF	Andrei Chernyshov	7 January 1968 (aged 23)	5	Dynamo Moscow
	DF	Oleh Luzhny	5 August 1968 (aged 23)	4	Dynamo Kyiv
	DF	Ravil Sabitov	8 March 1968 (aged 23)	4	Lokomotiv Moscow
	DF	Serhiy Zayets	18 August 1969 (aged 22)	3	Dynamo Kyiv
	DF	Boris Pozdnyakov	31 May 1962 (aged 29)	2	Spartak Moscow
	DF	Andrei Solovtsov	17 October 1967 (aged 24)	2	Lokomotiv Moscow
	DF	Mikhail Solovyov	23 December 1968 (aged 23)	2	Torpedo Moscow
	DF	Gennadi Nagornykh	20 May 1968 (aged 23)	1	Rostselmash Rostov
	DF	Gela Ketashvili	27 September 1965 (aged 26)	1	Guria Lanchkhuti
	DF	Kakhaber Tskhadadze	7 September 1968 (aged 23)	5	Dinamo Tbilisi
	MF	Igor Shalimov	2 February 1969 (aged 22)	11	Spartak Moscow
	MF	Serhiy Shmatovalenko	20 January 1967 (aged 24)	11	Dynamo Kyiv
	MF	Andrei Kobelev	22 October 1968 (aged 23)	10	Dynamo Moscow
	MF	Andrei Kanchelskis	23 January 1969 (aged 22)	8	Shakhtar Donetsk
	MF	Aleksandr Mostovoi	22 August 1968 (aged 23)	7	Spartak Moscow
	MF	Andrei Pyatnitskiy	27 September 1967 (aged 24)	6	Pakhtakor Tashkent
	MF	Yevgeniy Smertin	17 January 1969 (aged 22)	4	Dynamo Moscow
	MF	Igor Dobrovolskiy	27 August 1967 (aged 24)	2	CD Castellón
	MF	Zaza Revishvili	23 May 1968 (aged 23)	2	Dinamo Tbilisi
	MF	Gia Dzhishkariani	30 November 1967 (aged 24)	1	Dinamo Tbilisi
	MF	Serhiy Pohodin	29 April 1968 (aged 23)	1	Shakhtar Donetsk
	FW	Igor Kolyvanov	6 March 1968 (aged 23)	11	Dynamo Moscow
	FW	Sergei Kiriakov	1 January 1970 (aged 21)	6	Dynamo Moscow
	FW	Nikolai Pisarev	23 November 1968 (aged 23)	2	FC Winterthur
	FW	Oleg Salenko	25 October 1969 (aged 22)	1	Dynamo Kyiv
	FW	Sergei Yuran	11 June 1969 (aged 22)	1	Dynamo Kyiv

Notes:

• All data through December 31, 1991.
• Mikhail Yeremin died on June 30, 1991 from injuries he sustain in auto accident June 23, 1991, less than a week after his birthday.
• Rogovskoi moved to Poland (Zagłębie Lubin), Sydelnykov - Germany (SG Wattenscheid 09), Pozdnyakov - Austria (FC Stahl Linz), Tskhadadze - Sweden (GIF Sundsvall), Shalimov - Italy (U.S. Foggia), Kanchelskis - England (Manchester United F.C.), Pyatnitskiy - Russia (Spartak Moscow), Mostovoi - Portugal (S.L. Benfica), Dobrovolskiy - Switzerland (Servette FC), Kolyvanov - Italy (U.S. Foggia), Yuran - Portugal (S.L. Benfica).

National teams of the former Soviet republics

Russia	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Ukraine	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Belarus	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Uzbekistan	National team	U-20 team	AFC
Kazakhstan	National team	U-21 team	UEFA (AFC:1992-2002)
Georgia	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Azerbaijan	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Lithuania	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Moldova	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Latvia	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Kyrgyzstan	National team	U-20 team	AFC
Tajikistan	National team	U-20 team	AFC
Armenia	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Turkmenistan	National team	U-20 team	AFC
Estonia	National team	U-21 team	UEFA

See also

• European Under-21 Football Championship

External links

• UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships.