TEAM  INFORMATION.

HOW DID RUSSIA PERFORM IN THE 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION ROUND?

Russia finished in third place in their seven-team group behind Portugal and Slovakia following six victories, five draws and just one defeat from their 12-match campaign. They ended seven points behind the first-placed Portuguese and an inferior goal difference denied them a second place finish ahead of Slovakia after both teams ended on 23 points.

Russia dropped their first points of the competition in their opening match in Moscow against Slovakia after Robert Vittek's 87 minute equaliser cancelled Dmitri Bulykin's opener on the quarter-hour.

A subsequent 4-0 away victory against Luxembourg seemed to have steadied the slip thanks to a brilliant second-half Dmitri Sychev (56, 68 and 86) hat-trick, but only four days later, the Russians were on the receiving end of a 7-1 defeat away against Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo and Patit both scoring at the Jose Alvalade stadium.

It was to be Russia's only defeat of the campaign, but their away form remained inconsistent as they struggled to a 2-1 win in Liechtenstein before drawing away against Estonia (1-1) and Latvia (1-1) with Andrei Arshavin scoring in both games.

Home victories against Estonia (4-0), Latvia (2-0) and Liechtenstein (2-0) still kept them in contention with three matches remaining, but they could not defeat Portugal (0-0) in Moscow, their plight not helped by Aleskei Smertin's sending-off on the stroke of half-time following a second bookable offence.

Luxembourg were defeated 5-1 in Moscow in their penultimate match, but needing victory away against Slovakia in their final game, Russia were held to a scoreless stalemate and thus beaten to second spot by their opponents. Click on page 'World Cup 2006' for all the information on Russia's World Cup 2006 group games.

HOW DID RUSSIA PERFORM IN UEFA EURO 2004.

Russia finished second to Switzerland in their UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying round campaign to ultimately book their place at the finals via the play-offs, but their involvement in Portugal would be for the minimum three games as they failed to negotiate a route beyond the group stage.

The Russians recorded four wins and two draws from their eight matches, with all of their victories coming on home soil to the tune of 15 goals and only five conceded. On the receiving end were group rivals the Republic of Ireland (4-2), Albania (4-1), Switzerland (4-1) and Georgia (3-1).

Although the Russians endured some poor performances on the road, they managed to secure draws against their main rivals, Switzerland (2-2) and the Rep of Ireland (1-1)

Russia faced Wales in the two-legged play-off for a place in the UEFA EURO 2004 finals in Portugal, winning 1-0 on aggregate. Although they were held to a scoreless draw in Moscow's Lokomotiv stadium in the opening match, Russia scored the only goal of the return leg at Cardiff's Millennium stadium with Vadim Evseev on target after 21 minutes.

Having lost against both Spain (1-0) and Portugal (2-0) in their opening two games at the final tournament, Russia were already eliminated from the competition prior to taking the field against Greece in their final match. Pride, however, was restored with a 2-1 victory at Algrave stadium in Faro-Loule thanks to goals from Dmitri Kirichenko 3 minutes and Dmitri Bulykin on 17 minutes. Russia were the only team to beat Greece (EURO 2004 Champions)

RUSSIA COMPETITION RECORD.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN THE UEFA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP.

Russia's best performance since competing as an independent state came at UEFA EURO 2004 although their best qualification round came in the run up to EURO 96. From ten matches, Russia collected 26 points to claim first position from a group featuring Finland, Scotland, the Faroe Islands and San Marino. Their involvement in the EURO 96 was less memorable with one point from three games, a 3-3 draw against the Czech Rep after earlier losing their opening two games to Italy (2-1) and Germany (3-0).

KEY FACTS.

Prior to EURO 96, Russia participated as part of the 'Commonwealth of Independent States' during the 1992 UEFA European Championship having previously played as a member of the Soviet Union from the competition's inception in 1958. The Soviet Union appeared in the first rounds of the EURO Championship, winning the competition in 1960. They would end up losing finalists in 1964, 1972 and 1988.

ALL-TIME RECORD.

Up until the start of qualifying for EURO 2008, Russia had appeared in the UEFA European Championships on three occasions, and had played 36 matches. In that time, they had won 20, drawn seven and lost nine of those fixtures with 82 goals scored and 41 conceded.

Russia's first International since the dissolution of the Soviet Union came on 16th August 1992 when they defeated Mexico 2-0. Previously, Russia had played International matches as an Independent State between 1912 and 1914.