Serbia national football team

The Serbia national football team represents Serbia in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. It was previously known as the Yugoslavia national football team and the Serbia and Montenegro national football team until June 2006 when Serbia declared independence as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. It was renamed the Serbia national football team on 28 June 2006, with the Montenegro national football team created to represent the new state of Montenegro.

FIFA considers the Serbia national team the direct descendant of the Serbia and Montenegro and Yugoslavia national teams. See Yugoslavia national football team for details of the national team before 1992.

History

Although the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed on April 28, 1992, because of the international sanctions due to the Yugoslav wars banning the country from international sporting events, the football team didn't play its first match until 23 December, 1994, when they lost to Brazil. Since then the team has qualified for the World Cup twice, in 1998 and 2006, and for the European Championship once, in 2000. In 2003, with the reconstitution of the country as Serbia and Montenegro, the team changed its name accordingly.

On May 21, 2006 Montenegro voted to dissolve its political union with Serbia. On June 3, Montenegro became a sovereign state meaning there will be separate Montenegrin national teams competing in future tournaments. This did not affect the finals of the 2006 World Cup, in which the newly independent states of Serbia and Montenegro competed under the same flag for the last time but did not progress past the group stage.

World Cup record

1930 to 1990 - See Yugoslavia
1994 – Banned because of international sanctions due to Yugoslav wars (as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
1998 – Round 2 (as FR Yugoslavia)
2002 – Did not qualify (as FR Yugoslavia)
2006 – Round 1 (as Serbia and Montenegro)

European Championship record

1960 to 1988 - See Yugoslavia
1992 - Qualified, but withdrawn because of international sanctions during Yugoslav wars
1996 – Banned because of the sanctions (as FR Yugoslavia)
2000 – Quarterfinals (as FR Yugoslavia)
2004 – Did not qualify (started qualification as FR Yugoslavia, finished as Serbia and Montenegro)
2008 – Applied as Serbia and Montenegro; due to commence qualification tournament as Serbia

Current squad

(WC2006 squad)

Vukić has spent the run up to the tournament on loan to Partizan.

Mirko Vučinić was forced to withdraw through injury on May 23. He was replaced by Dušan Petković on May 29.Petković replaces stricken Vučinić, by UEFA.com

2006 World Cup Information

Serbia and Montenegro lost their opening game to joint group favourite, the Netherlands. The final score was 1-0 after Arjen Robben scored the only goal of the game. They also lost their second game to Argentina 6-0, the country's worst ever international result. With the team's two losses and with Netherlands and Argentina winning both their games, Serbia and Montenegro could no longer qualify for the knockout matches, and was playing for pride alone in their final group game against Côte d'Ivoire. Despite having a 2-0 lead for much of the first half, the Elephants managed to come back and win 3-2, leaving Serbia and Montenegro with a disappointing 0-3-0 World Cup run and last in the tournament.

Notable players (at least 15 caps)

Coaches

Slobodan Santrač 1994 - July 1998
Milan Živadinović August 1998 - 1999
Vujadin Boškov 1999 - July 2000
Ilija Petković August 2000 - January 2001
Milovan Đorić February 2001 - May 6, 2001
3-man commission: Dejan Savićević, Vujadin Boškov and Ivan Ćurković May 6, 2001 - December 2001
Dejan Savićević December 2001 - June 2003
Ilija Petković July 2003 - June 2006

Notes

External links

Football Association of Serbia - Official Site
FIFA team profile
UEFA team profile
JadranSport.org - South-Eastern European football news coverage (English language)
Serbia & Montenegro football history at RSSSF (slightly outdated)
Serbia & Montenegro player stats at RSSSF (slightly outdated)

European national football teams | Football in Serbia

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