Soviet Union national under-21 football team

Soviet Union U-21/23

Nickname(s)	Youth (Russian: Молодежная, Molodyozhnaya)
Association	Football Federation of the Soviet Union
Head coach	-
Most caps	?
Top scorer	?
First colours Second colours
First international
Soviet Union (lads) 1–3 Soviet Union (youth) (Moscow, Soviet Union; 21 May 1963) 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
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 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

Started in Balkans as the Under-23 Challenge Cup which ran from 1967 to 1970, the Soviet Union did not participate.

UEFA U-21 championship record

Managers

• In 1992 it also competed as the CIS national under-21 football team coached by Boris Ignatyev. Since August of 1992 Boris Ignatyev continued already with the Russia national under-21 football team.

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 Luzhnyi	(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:

• All data through 31 December 1991.
• Mikhail Yeremin died on 30 June 1991 from injuries he sustained in an auto accident on 23 June, 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-23 team	AFC
Kazakhstan	National team	U-21 team (U-23 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-23 team	AFC
Tajikistan	National team	U-23 team	AFC
Armenia	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Turkmenistan	National team	U-23 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.
• НЕОФИЦИАЛЬНЫЙ РЕЕСТР МАТЧЕЙ МОЛОДЕЖНОЙ СБОРНОЙРОССИИ /СССР, СНГ/. www.rusteam.permian.ru

This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 16:33