CIS national football team

The CIS national football team (Russian: Сборная СНГ по футболу, Sbornaya SNG po futbolu) was a transitional national team of the Football Federation of the Soviet Union in 1992. It was accepted that the team would represent the Commonwealth of Independent States.

CIS

1992
Association	Football Federation of the Soviet Union
Head coach	Anatoly Byshovets
Most caps	Dmitri Kharine (11)[lower-alpha 1]
Top scorer	Sergei Kiriakov (4)
Home stadium	Various
FIFA code	CIS
First colours Second colours
First international
United States 0–1 CIS (Miami, Florida; 25 January 1992)
Last international
Scotland 3–0 CIS (Norrköping, Sweden; 18 June 1992)
Biggest win
El Salvador 0–3 CIS (San Salvador, El Salvador; 29 January 1992)
Biggest defeat
Mexico 4–0 CIS (Mexico City, Mexico; 8 March 1992)
European Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 1992)
Best result	Round 1, 1992

The CIS team was created to allow the Soviet national team further participation as it had already booked a spot in Euro 1992 through the 1990–91 qualification tournament. The only way to preserve the spot for the post-Soviet team was to take part in the competition as a unified team. Players had an option either to play for the team or to play for a team of their country.

With the end of Euro 1992, the Russia national team was recognized as the only successor of the CIS team.

Situation

Flag used by the CIS team at Euro 1992.

As the Soviet Union formally ceased to exist on 26 December 1991, so did all its organizations including the football federation. The Association of Football Federations of CIS was formed on 11 January 1992 and was approved by FIFA two days later. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 was adopted as its anthem. Along with the Association, national federations of its members started to form and apply for international recognition.

The CIS national football team, previously known as the USSR national football team, completed its participation in the Euro 1992 in June 1992. It was disbanded soon thereafter and all its results were transferred to the Russia national football team that played its first game in August 1992.

The CIS national football team was coached by Anatoly Byshovets. The team failed to achieve success in the 1992 European Football Championship, finishing last in the group, but achieved two notable draws with Germany and the Netherlands, before being beaten 3–0 by Scotland in what turned out to be their last match.

European Championship record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1992	Group stage	8th	3	0	2	1	1	4
Total	1/1	8th	3	0	2	1	1	4

Post-Soviet national federations

National federation members of the CIS association

Armenia	18 January 1992	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Azerbaijan	March 1992	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Belarus	1989	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Georgia	15 February 1936	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Kazakhstan	1992	National team	U-21 team	UEFA^[1]
Kyrgyzstan	25 February 1992	National team	U-23 team	AFC
Moldova	14 April 1990	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Russia	8 February 1992	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Tajikistan	1936	National team	U-23 team	AFC
Turkmenistan	1992	National team	U-23 team	AFC
Ukraine	13 December 1991	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Uzbekistan	1946	National team	U-23 team	AFC

1. ^{^} Kazakhstan were affiliated with the AFC from 1994 until 2002, when they joined UEFA.

National federations outside the CIS association

Estonia	14 December 1921	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Latvia	1921	National team	U-21 team	UEFA
Lithuania	9 December 1922	National team	U-21 team	UEFA

UEFA Euro 1992 squad

Head coach: Anatoliy Byshovets

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	GK	Dmitri Kharine	16 August 1968 (aged 23)	12	CSKA Moscow
2	DF	Andrey Chernyshov	7 January 1968 (aged 24)	23	Spartak Moscow
3	DF	Kakhaber Tskhadadze	7 September 1968 (aged 23)	5	Spartak Moscow
4	DF	Akhrik Tsveiba[upper-alpha 1]	10 September 1966 (aged 25)	22	Dynamo Kiev
5	DF	Oleh Kuznetsov	22 March 1963 (aged 29)	60	Rangers
6	MF	Igor Shalimov	2 February 1969 (aged 23)	23	Foggia
7	MF	Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko	30 March 1963 (aged 29)	38	Rangers
8	FW	Andrei Kanchelskis	23 January 1969 (aged 23)	20	Manchester United
9	MF	Sergei Aleinikov	7 November 1961 (aged 30)	75	Lecce
10	MF	Igor Dobrovolski	27 August 1967 (aged 24)	26	Servette
11	FW	Sergei Yuran	11 June 1969 (aged 22)	13	Benfica
12	GK	Stanislav Cherchesov	2 September 1963 (aged 28)	10	Spartak Moscow
13	FW	Sergei Kiriakov	1 January 1970 (aged 22)	8	Dynamo Moscow
14	FW	Volodymyr Lyutyi	20 April 1962 (aged 30)	5	MSV Duisburg
15	FW	Igor Kolyvanov	6 March 1968 (aged 24)	22	Foggia
16	MF	Dmitri Kuznetsov	28 August 1965 (aged 26)	17	Espanyol
17	MF	Igor Korneev	4 September 1967 (aged 24)	5	Espanyol
18	DF	Viktor Onopko	14 October 1969 (aged 22)	1	Spartak Moscow
19	MF	Igor Lediakhov	22 May 1968 (aged 24)	7	Spartak Moscow
20	DF	Andrei Ivanov	6 April 1967 (aged 25)	3	Spartak Moscow

1. Tsveiba was capped once by Ukraine, in 1992. He switched allegiance to Russia in 1997, earning eight caps.

In total, the CIS squad contained eight Russians, six Ukrainians (one born in Germany), a Georgian, a Belarusian, an Abkhazian, and a Circassian. Caps included games played for the Soviet team as well as the CIS. Some players simultaneously played for other national teams such as Kakhaber Tskhadadze (Georgia) and Akhrik Tsveiba (Ukraine).

With the exception of Volodymyr Lyutyi, all the players resumed their international careers with their respective individual nations. Russia qualified for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States with the bulk of the Euro 1992 CIS squad but due to the incident with the Letter of fourteeners in November 1993, Igor Shalimov, Igor Dobrovolsky, Igor Kolyvanov, Sergei Kiriakov, Vasili Kulkov, and Andrei Kanchelskis were excluded from the national team. Oleg Salenko and Andrei Ivanov, who also signed the letter, eventually withdrew their signatures. Tsveiba and Chernyshov were later called to the Russia national football team.

Although almost one third of the team were from Ukraine, only two Ukrainian players ever played for the Ukraine national football team, while another four chose to play for the Russian national team.

See also

• Unified Team at the Olympics, the Olympic counterpart
  • Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics
  • Unified Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics
• Unified Team at the Paralympics, the Paralympic counterpart
  • Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Paralympics
  • Unified Team at the 1992 Winter Paralympics

Notes

1. Includes two FIFA-sanctioned friendlies against Mexico, that were not registered with the Russian Football Federation.

References

External links

• USSR National Football Team (in Russian)