Yugoslavia national football team

Yugoslavia

Nickname(s)	Plavi (The Blues) Brazilians of Europe[1]
Association	Football Association of Yugoslavia
Most caps	Dragan Džajić (85) (SFRY)
Top scorer	Stjepan Bobek (38) (SFRY)
Home stadium	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade
FIFA code	YUG
First colours Second colours
First international
Czechoslovakia 7–0 KY (Antwerp, Belgium; August 28, 1920) After 1945  Czechoslovakia 0–2 SFRY (Prague, Czechoslovakia; May 9, 1945) Last International as SFRY[2]  Netherlands 2–0 SFRY (Amsterdam, Netherlands; March 25, 1992)
Biggest win
SFRY 10–0 Venezuela (Curitiba, Brazil; June 14, 1972)
Biggest defeat
Czechoslovakia 7–0 KY (Antwerp, Belgium; August 28, 1920)  Uruguay 7–0 KY (Paris, France; May 26, 1924)  Czechoslovakia 7–0 KY (Prague, Czechoslovakia; October 28, 1925)
World Cup
Appearances	8[2] (first in 1930)
Best result	Third place, 1930, Fourth place 1962
European Championship
Appearances	4[2] (first in 1960)
Best result	Runners-up, 1960 and 1968
Medal record Yugoslavia national football team Medal record Men's Football Olympic Games 1960 Rome Team 1948 London Team 1952 Helsinki Team 1956 Melbourne Team 1984 Los Angeles Team Mediterranean Games 1971 İzmir Team 1979 Split Team

The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941, until 1929 as Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes), and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1943–1992, until November 29, 1945 as Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, 29 November 1945–1963 as Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia) in association football. It enjoyed success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international competition as part of a United Nations sanction. In 1994, when the boycott was lifted, it was succeeded by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia national football team.

The Serbia national football team inherited Yugoslavia's spot within FIFA and UEFA and is considered by both organisations as the only successor of Yugoslavia.^[3][4][5]

History

Yugoslavia at the 1924 Summer Olympics

The first national team was in the kingdom that existed between the two world wars. The Football Federation of what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was founded in Zagreb in 1919 under the name Jugoslovenski nogometni savez (and admitted into FIFA), and the national team played its first international game at the Summer Olympics in Antwerp in 1920. The opponent was Czechoslovakia, and the historic starting eleven that represented Kingdom of SCS on its debut were: Dragutin Vrđuka, Vjekoslav Župančić, Jaroslav Šifer, Stanko Tavčar, Slavin Cindrić, Rudolf Rupec, Dragutin Vragović, Artur Dubravčić, Emil Perška, Ivan Granec, and Jovan Ružić. They lost by a huge margin 0–7, but nonetheless got their names in the history books.

1930 World Cup

A Yugoslavia line-up in the 1930 FIFA World Cup

In 1929, the country was renamed to Yugoslavia and the football association became Fudbalski Savez Jugoslavije and moved its headquarters to Belgrade. The national team participated at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, finishing in fourth place. In its first ever World Cup match in Montevideo's Parque Central, Yugoslavia managed a famous 2–1 win versus mighty Brazil, with the following starting eleven representing the country: Milovan Jakšić, Branislav Sekulić, Aleksandar Tirnanić, Milutin Ivković, Ivica Bek, Momčilo Đokić, Blagoje Marjanović, Milorad Arsenijević, Đorđe Vujadinović, Dragoslav Mihajlović, and Ljubiša Stefanović. The national team consisted of players based in Serbian football clubs, while the Zagreb Subassociation forbid players from Croatian clubs, some of whom were regulars in the national team until then, to play in the World Cup due to the relocation of football association's headquarters from Zagreb to Belgrade.^[6]

Silver Medal at 1948 Summer Olympics

Yugoslavia began their football campaign by defeating Luxembourg 6–1, with five different players scoring the goals. In the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, they would take out Turkey and Great Britain by the same score of 3–1. In the final though, they would lose to Sweden.

Silver Medal at 1952 Summer Olympics

Having a team with many players from the 1948 generation, Yugoslavia was a formidable side at the 1952 Summer Olympics and finished as runners-up behind the famous "Golden Team" representing Hungary. Against the USSR, Yugoslavia was 5–1 up with 15 minutes of their first round match to go. The Yugoslavs, understandably, put their feet up. Arthur Ellis, the match referee, recorded what happened next in his book, The Final Whistle (London, 1963): "The USSR forced the most honourable draw ever recorded! [Vsevolod] Bobrov, their captain, scored a magnificent hat-trick. After the USSR had reduced the lead to 5–2, he, almost single-handed, took the score to 5–5, scoring his third in the last minute. For once, use of the word sensational was justified." Although Bobrov's early goal in their replay presaged a miraculous recovery, Yugoslavia recovered sufficiently to put out their opponents easily in the second half.

Later decades

The federation and football overall was disrupted by World War II. After the war, a socialist federation was formed and the football federation reconstituted. It was one of the founding members of the UEFA and it organized the 1976 European Championship played in Belgrade and Zagreb. The national team participated in eight World Cups and four Euros, and won the Olympic football tournament in 1960 at the Summer Games (they also finished second three times and third once).

Dragan Džajić holds the record for the most national team caps at 85, between 1964 and 1979. The best scorer is Stjepan Bobek with 38 goals, between 1946 and 1956.

Dissolution and UN embargo

With the end of the Cold War, democratic principles were introduced to the country which brought about the end of Titoist rule. In the subsequent atmosphere, national tensions were heightened. At the Yugoslavia-Netherlands friendly in preparation for the 1990 World Cup, the Croatian crowd in Zagreb jeered the Yugoslav team and anthem and waved Dutch flags (owing to its resemblance to the Croatian tricolour). With the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the team split up and the remaining team of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was banned from competing at Euro 92. The decision was made on May 31, 1992, just 10 days before the competition commenced.^[7]

They had finished top of their qualifying group, but were unable to play in the competition due to United Nations Security Council Resolution 757. Their place was taken by Denmark, who went on to win the competition. Yugoslavia had also been drawn as the top seed in Group 5 of the European Zone in the qualifying tournament for the 1994 World Cup. FRY was barred from competing, rendering the group unusually weak.

Breakup

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the FRY consisted of Montenegro and Serbia. The national team of Serbia and Montenegro continued under the name Yugoslavia until 2003, when country and team were renamed Serbia and Montenegro. For the later official football teams, see:

• Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team (member of UEFA and FIFA since 1990s)
• Croatia national football team (member of UEFA and FIFA since 1990s)
• Slovenia national football team (member of UEFA and FIFA since 1990s)
• Republic of Macedonia national football team (member of UEFA and FIFA since 1990s)
• Serbia and Montenegro national football team, (considered successor of Yugoslavia) later
  • Montenegro national football team (member of UEFA and FIFA since 2006)
  • Serbia national football team (considered successor of Serbia and Montenegro)
  • Kosovo national football team (considered successor of Serbia)

National teams

Former republics

Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbian national team to be the direct and sole successor of the Yugoslavia (Kingdom of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia and FR Yugoslavia) and Serbia and Montenegro national football teams. The teams of other republics were inducted as fully new members.

Nation	International tournament (s)	FIFA Active
Croatia	UEFA Euro 1996 1998 FIFA World Cup 2002 FIFA World Cup UEFA Euro 2004 2006 FIFA World Cup UEFA Euro 2008 UEFA Euro 2012 2014 FIFA World Cup UEFA Euro 2016	(since 1991)
Serbia	1998 FIFA World Cup (represented Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) UEFA Euro 2000 (represented Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) 2006 FIFA World Cup (represented State Union of Serbia and Montenegro) 2010 FIFA World Cup (represented Republic of Serbia)	(various)
Slovenia	UEFA Euro 2000 2002 FIFA World Cup 2010 FIFA World Cup	(since 1991)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2014 FIFA World Cup	(since 1996)
Macedonia		(since 1991)
Montenegro		(since 2007)
Kosovo		(since 2016)

Additional stats:

Youth teams

The under-21 team won the inaugural UEFA U-21 Championship in 1978.

The Yugoslav under-20 team won the FIFA World Youth Championship 1987.

Kit history

Kingdom

1930.[8][9]

SFRY

1950–1962

1974

1982

1984

1990

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup record

     Champions       Runners-up       Third Place       Fourth Place  

FIFA World Cup record											Qualification Record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squads		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Semi-finals	3rd	3	2	0	1	7	7	Squad		Invited
1934	Did Not Qualify
1938
1950	Group Stage	5th	3	2	0	1	7	3	Squad
1954	Quarter-final	7th	3	1	1	1	2	3	Squad
1958	Quarter-final	5th	4	1	2	1	7	7	Squad
1962	Fourth Place	4th	6	3	0	3	10	7	Squad
1966	Did Not Qualify
1970
1974	2nd Group Stage	7th	6	1	2	3	12	7	Squad
1978	Did Not Qualify
1982	Group Stage	16th	3	1	1	1	2	2	Squad
1986	Did Not Qualify
1990	Quarter-final	5th	5	3	1	1	8	6	Squad
1994	Banned [10]										Banned
Total	Fourth Place	8/15	33	14	7	12	55	42	–

UEFA European Championship record

     Champions       Runners-up       Third Place       Fourth Place  

UEFA European Championship record											Qualification Record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squads		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960	Runners-up	2nd	2	1	0	1	6	6	Squad
1964	Did Not Qualify
1968	Runners-up	2nd	3	1	1	1	2	3	Squad
1972	Did Not Qualify
1976	Fourth Place	4th	2	0	0	2	4	7	Squad
1980	Did Not Qualify
1984	Group Stage		3	0	0	3	2	10	Squad
1988	Did Not Qualify
1992	Qualified**** [11]
Total	Runners-up	4/9	10	2	1	7	14	26	–

*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

**There was no third place playoff, but Yugoslavia was awarded a bronze medal^[12][13]

Most capped players

Head to head records

Opponent	P	W	D	L
Albania	5	4	1	0
Algeria	1	1	0	0
Argentina	6	2	1	3
Austria	17	8	4	5
Belgium	11	5	2	4
Bolivia	2	1	1	0
Brazil	14	2	6	6
Bulgaria	28	17	5	6
Chile	1	0	0	1
Colombia	3	3	0	0
Cyprus	4	4	0	0
Czechoslovakia	31	9	4	18
Denmark	9	7	0	2
East Germany	6	3	2	1
Ecuador	1	0	0	1
Egypt	5	4	0	1
England	14	4	5	5
Ethiopia	1	1	0	0
Faroe Islands	2	2	0	0
Finland	4	2	1	1
France	25	10	7	8
Greece	20	16	2	2
Honduras	1	1	0	0
Hong Kong	1	1	0	0
Hungary	29	5	9	15
India	2	2	0	0
Indonesia	3	3	0	0
Iran	2	1	1	0
Israel	9	6	1	2
Italy	18	4	6	8
Japan	2	2	0	0
South Korea	3	3	0	0
Luxembourg	9	8	1	0
Mexico	4	3	0	1
Morocco	3	3	0	0
Netherlands	7	3	1	3
Northern Ireland	7	5	1	1
Norway	12	9	1	2
Paraguay	2	1	1	0
Poland	19	6	4	9
Portugal	5	2	0	3
Republic of Ireland	2	1	0	1
Romania	40	17	5	18
Saar	1	1	0	0
Scotland	8	1	5	2
Soviet Union	17	2	4	11
Spain	16	5	4	7
Sweden	11	5	2	4
Switzerland	9	5	2	2
United Arab Emirates	1	1	0	0
Tunisia	4	3	0	1
Turkey	11	7	3	1
United States	1	1	0	0
Uruguay	4	2	0	2
Venezuela	1	1	0	0
Wales	7	4	3	0
West Germany	25	8	3	14
Zaire	1	1	0	0

Head coaches

Head coach	Period	Record
		Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost
Ivica Osim	1986–1992	51	27	10	14
Ivan Toplak Ivica Osim	1986	3	1	1	1
Miloš Milutinović	1984–1985	15	7	3	5
Todor Veselinović	1982–1984	18	9	3	6
Miljan Miljanić	1979–1982	22	18	2	2
Dražan Jerković	1978	1	1	0	0
Ante Mladinić	1978	2	0	0	2
Slavko Luštica	1978	0	0	0	0
Stevan Vilotić	1978	2	0	2	0
Marko Valok Stevan Vilotić Gojko Zec	1977	6	1	2	3
Ivan Toplak	1976–1977	8	2	0	6
Ante Mladinić	1974–1976	15	9	2	4
Miljan Miljanić Milan Ribar Sulejman Rebac Tomislav Ivić Milovan Ćirić	1973–1974	11	3	3	5
Vujadin Boškov	1971–1973	27	10	12	5
Rajko Mitić	1967–1970	34	13	10	11
Aleksandar Tirnanić Miljan Miljanić Rajko Mitić Vujadin Boškov Branko Stanković	1966	4	2	0	2
Aleksandar Tirnanić Miljan Miljanić	1966	2	0	1	1
Aleksandar Tirnanić Milan Antolković Miljan Miljanić	1966	3	1	0	2
Aleksandar Tirnanić Milan Antolković Miljan Miljanić Abdulah Gegić	1965	7	2	3	2
Ljubomir Lovrić	1964	11	3	1	7
Ljubomir Lovrić Hugo Ruševljanin	1963–1964	7	5	0	2
Ljubomir Lovrić Prvoslav Mihajlović Hugo Ruševljanin	1961–1963	22	15	2	5
Dragomir Nikolić Aleksandar Tirnanić Ljubomir Lovrić	1959–1961	29	16	8	5
Aleksandar Tirnanić	1955–1958	34	13	11	10
Branko Pešić Aleksandar Tirnanić Leo Lemešić Franjo Wölfl Milovan Ćirić	1954	9	5	2	2
Milorad Arsenijević Aleksandar Tirnanić Leo Lemešić	1952–1954	18	14	2	2
Milorad Arsenijević	1949–1952	23	15	3	5
Milorad Arsenijević Aleksandar Tirnanić	1946–1948	18	12	1	5
Svetozar Popović	1940–1941	3	1	2	0
Boško Simonović	1939–1940	4	1	1	2
Svetozar Popović	1939	1	0	0	1
Boško Simonović	1939	4	1	0	3
Svetozar Popović	1937–1938	13	4	5	4
Nikola Simić	1936	4	1	1	2
Boško Simonović	1935	5	3	2	0
Ivo Šuste Mata Miodragović Petar Pleše	1934–1935	6	3	0	3
Boško Simonović	1933–1934	6	3	1	2
Branislav Veljković	1933	6	3	1	2
Boško Simonović	1930–1932	24	12	1	11
Ante Pandaković	1926–1930	19	7	2	10
Dušan Zinaja	1924–1925	3	0	0	3
Todor Sekulić	1924	1	0	0	1
Veljko Ugrinić	1920–1924	10	3	1	6

See also

Related articles

• List of Yugoslavia international footballers
• List of Yugoslavia national football team goalscorers
• Yugoslavia national football team games
• Yugoslavia national under-21 football team
• Yugoslavia national under-20 football team

Successor teams

• Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team
• Croatia national football team
• Kosovo national football team
• Macedonia national football team
• Montenegro national football team
• Serbia national football team (considered the only official successor of Yugoslavia by FIFA and UEFA)
• Slovenia national football team

References

Bibliography

• Gigi Riva (2016). L’ultimo rigore di Faruk. Una storia di calcio e di guerra [The Faruk's last penalty. A story about football and war] (in Italian). Palermo: Sellerio. ISBN 8838935645. 

External links

Media related to Yugoslavia national football team at Wikimedia Commons

• RSSSF – Yugoslavia men's national football team international matches 1920–1992 (in English)
• RSSSF – Yugoslavia men's national football team international matches + Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia (in English)
• Yugoslavia national football team web page (in Serbian)