CIS national football team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Commonwealth of Independent States

to 1992
Association	Football Federation of the Soviet Union
Head coach	Anatoly Byshovets
Most caps	Dmitri Kharine (11)
Top scorer	Sergei Kiriakov (4)
Home stadium	Various
FIFA code	CIS
First colours Second colours
First international
United States 0–1 CIS  (Miami, United States; 25 January 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	Group stage (1992)

The Commonwealth of Independent States national football team (often called the CIS team) was a special football team that played for a short time in 1992. It was formed after the Soviet Union broke apart into many independent countries.

This team was created so that the former Soviet national team could still play in the Euro 1992 tournament. The Soviet team had already earned a spot in this big European competition. To keep that spot, the newly independent countries agreed to play together as one team for this event.

Why the CIS Team Was Formed

Flag used by the CIS team at Euro 1992.

The Soviet Union officially ended on December 26, 1991. This meant all its organizations, including the football federation, also stopped existing. To handle this, the Association of Football Federations of CIS was created on January 11, 1992. FIFA, the world football governing body, approved it two days later.

The CIS national football team was made up of players who used to play for the Soviet Union team. They played in the Euro 1992 in June 1992. After the tournament, the CIS team was disbanded. All their past results were then given to the Russia national football team, which started playing its own games in August 1992.

FIFA and UEFA (the European football body) decided to let the former Soviet Union team continue as a combined team. This was a unique situation at the time.

The CIS team was coached by Anatoly Byshovets. They did not do very well in the 1992 European Football Championship, finishing last in their group. However, they managed to get two impressive draws against strong teams like Germany and the Netherlands. Their last match was a 3–0 loss to Scotland.

Besides the Euro 1992 matches, the team played six friendly games. These included two against the United States and one each against El Salvador, Israel, Spain, Denmark, and England. The game against England in Moscow was their only match played at home. They also played an unofficial match against Mexico, which they lost 4–0.

After Euro 1992, the CIS team stopped playing. Their final record was three wins, five draws, and three losses (including the unofficial game against Mexico).

CIS Team at Euro 1992

The CIS team played in the 1992 European Football Championship in Sweden. Here's how they did:

• They played 3 games.
• They won 0 games.
• They drew 2 games.
• They lost 1 game.
• They scored 1 goal.
• They had 4 goals scored against them.
• They finished 8th overall in the tournament.

Key Matches and Results

      Win       Draw       Loss

The CIS team played several matches in 1992. Here are some of their notable games:

• January 25, 1992: They won their first game 1–0 against the USA in Miami.
• January 29, 1992: They had their biggest win, beating El Salvador 3–0 in San Salvador.
• February 2, 1992: They lost 2–1 to the USA in Pontiac, Michigan.
• February 12, 1992: They won 2–1 against Israel in Jerusalem.
• February 19, 1992: They drew 1–1 with Spain in Valencia.
• April 29, 1992: They drew 2–2 with England in Moscow, which was their only home game.
• June 3, 1992: They drew 1–1 with Denmark in Brøndbyvester.
• June 12, 1992: At Euro 1992, they drew 1–1 with Germany in Norrköping, Sweden.
• June 15, 1992: At Euro 1992, they drew 0–0 with the Netherlands in Gothenburg, Sweden.
• June 18, 1992: At Euro 1992, they lost 3–0 to Scotland in Norrköping, Sweden. This was their last official match.

Players of the CIS Team

The CIS squad for Euro 1992 included players from different parts of the former Soviet Union. For example, there were seven players from Russia, eight from Ukraine, one from Georgia, and one from Belarus. Some players had already played many games for the Soviet team before joining the CIS team.

After the CIS team was dissolved, many players went on to play for the Russia national football team. Some also played for their own new national teams, like Kakhaber Tskhadadze for Georgia or Akhrik Tsveiba for Ukraine. Even though many players were from Ukraine, most of them chose to play for the Russian national team instead of the Ukraine national football team.

New National Football Federations

After the Soviet Union broke up, many new countries formed their own football federations. These federations then joined international football organizations like UEFA (for Europe) or AFC (for Asia).

Here are some of the countries that formed their own football federations:

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Georgia
• Kazakhstan (later joined UEFA in 2002)
• Kyrgyzstan
• Moldova
• Russia
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Ukraine
• Uzbekistan

Some other countries that were part of the Soviet Union but were not part of the CIS association also formed their own federations:

• Estonia
• Latvia
• Lithuania

See also

In Spanish: Selección de fútbol de la Comunidad de Estados Independientes para niños

• 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