Coach: Stanislav Cherchesov
Star player: Fyodor Smolov
World Cup best: First round, 1994, 2002, 2014 (Soviet Union finished 4th in 1966)
When Russia first entered their bid to host the 2018 World Cup in 2009 they were fresh off their run to the Euro 2008 semi-finals and the Great Bear was flying — but now it’s a different story.
Perhaps through the host’s privilege of not having to play any qualifiers, they are the second worst ranked nation coming into the tournament behind Saudi Arabia, who they play in the opening match in Moscow on June 14.
Without a win in their last five friendlies, they also failed to get out of the group in last year’s Confederations Cup in Russia, which acts as a dry run to the World Cup.
Star striker Aleksandr Kokorin looks set to miss the tournament through a cruciate ligament injury and coach Stanislav Cherchesov has also had bust-ups with senior players, midfielder Igor Denisov and striker Artem Dzyuba.
Injuries to defenders Viktor Vasin and Georgi Dzhikiya have prompted desperate Cherchesov to try and unsuccessfully lure ageing twins Aleksei and Vasily Berezutski out of retirement.
As a result, Cherchesov is expected to give youth a chance like 21-year-old midfielder Aleksandr Golovin, but that said, the average age of their most recent squad was still 28, and only three of them ply their trade outside of Russia.
Keeper Igor Akinfeev and defender Yuri Zhirkov are the most notable pair left over from 2008, and it says a lot about Russia’s chances this summer that it’s their keeper that’s the one to watch.
As the Soviet Union, out of seven World Cup appearances, the team reached three quarter-finals and a best finish of fourth in 1966.
As Russia however, they failed to get out of the group in three attempts, and they don’t look set to redress that this time even with home advantage.
Their semi-final finish at Euro 2008 is their only reason for cheer out of five Euro appearances, where they otherwise failed to get out of the group.
It seems they failed to develop and fully take advantage of that 2008 run under Guus Hiddink, despite the fact Zhirkov, Andrey Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko all got big moves to England out of it.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev, Vladimir Gabulov, Andrei Lunyov
Defenders: Mario Fernandes, Sergei Ignashevich, Vladimir Granat, Fyodor Kudryashov, Ilya Kutepov, Andrei Semyonov, Igor Smolnikov
Midfielders: Denis Cheryshev, Alan Dzagoev, Alexander Golovin, Yuri Gazinsky, Daler Kuzyaev, Alexander Yerokhin, Yuri Zhirkov, Anton Miranchuk, Alexander Samedov, Roman Zobnin
Forwards: Artyom Dzyuba, Alexey Miranchuk, Fyodor Smolov.
