| Yugoslavia | |
| Date: | 1920–1992 |
| Badge: | and |
| Nickname: | Plavi (The Blues) Brazilians of Europe[1] |
| Association: | Football Association of Yugoslavia |
| Most Caps: | Dragan Džajić (85) |
| Top Scorer: | Stjepan Bobek (38) |
| Home Stadium: | Stadium Rajko Mitić, Belgrade |
| Elo Min Date: | 10 April 1927 |
| Fifa Trigramme: | YUG |
| First Game: | (Antwerp, Belgium; 28 August 1920) |
| Last Game: | 2–0 (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 25 March 1992) |
| Largest Win: | (Curitiba, Brazil; 14 June 1972)[2] [3] |
| Largest Loss: | 7–0 (Antwerp, Belgium; 28 August 1920) 7–0 (Paris, France; 26 May 1924) 7–0 (Prague, Czechoslovakia; 28 October 1925) |
| World Cup Apps: | 8 |
| World Cup First: | 1930 |
| World Cup Best: | Fourth place (1930, 1962) |
| Regional Name: | European Championship |
| Regional Cup Apps: | 4 |
| Regional Cup First: | 1960 |
| Regional Cup Best: | Runners-up (1960, 1968) |
| Pattern B1: | _yugoslovia1990_home |
| Pattern Sh1: | _adidas_blue |
| Pattern So1: | _color_3_stripes_white |
| Leftarm1: | 0000FF |
| Rightarm1: | 0000FF |
| Shorts1: | FFFFFF |
| Socks1: | FF0000 |
| Pattern B2: | _yugoslavia1990_away |
| Pattern Sh2: | _adidas_blue |
| Pattern So2: | _color_3_stripes_blue |
| Leftarm2: | FFFFFF |
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| Rightarm2: | FFFFFF |
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The Yugoslavia national football team represented Yugoslavia in international association football.
Although the team mainly represented the pre-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the post-war SFR Yugoslavia, various iterations of the state were formally constituted in football, including the:
It enjoyed success in international competition, reaching the semi-finals at the 1930 and 1962 FIFA World Cups. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international competition as part of the United Nations sanctions on Yugoslavia.[4] [5]
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 Jugoslavenski 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.
In 1929, the country was renamed to Yugoslavia and the football association became Fudbalski savez Jugoslavije and ordered to move its headquarters from Zagreb 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 team was the youngest squad at the inaugural World Cup at an average age of just under 22 years old, and became quite popular among the Uruguayan public, who dubbed them "Los Ichachos". 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]
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 in 1954.
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.
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.
In 1976, Yugoslavia organized the European Championship played in Belgrade and Zagreb. The national team participated in eight World Cups and four Euros, won the Olympic football tournament in 1960 at the Summer Games (they also finished second three times and third once), and developed a reputation for skillful and attacking football, leading them to be dubbed "the Brazilians of Europe".[7]
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.
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 31 May 1992, just 10 days before the competition commenced.[8] 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.[9] [10]
After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the FRY consisted of Montenegro and Serbia.[11] [12]
In 1992, Yugoslavia had also been drawn as the second 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.[13] [14]
In 1994, when the boycott was lifted, the union of Serbia and Montenegro competed under the name "Yugoslavia", as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia national football team. The Serbia and Montenegro national team continued under Yugoslavia's naming until 2003 when the country and team were renamed Serbia and Montenegro.
The Serbia national football team inherited Yugoslavia's spot within FIFA and UEFA and is considered by both organizations as the only successor of Yugoslavia (and of Serbia and Montenegro).[15] [16] [17]
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.
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
| FIFA World Cup record | Qualification Record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Squads | |||||||||||||
 1930 | Semi-finals[18] | 4th | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | Squad | Invited | ||||||
 1934 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
 1938 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
 1950 | Group stage | 5th | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | Squad | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 6 | |
 1954 | Quarter-final | 7th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Squad | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
 1958 | Quarter-final | 5th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 | Squad | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | |
 1962 | Fourth place | 4th | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 7 | Squad | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | |
| 1966 | Did not qualify | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | |||||||||
 1970 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 7 | ||||||||||
| 1974 | Second group stage | 7th | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 7 | Squad | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | |
 1978 | Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | |||||||||
 1982 | Group stage | 16th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Squad | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 7 | |
| 1986 | Did not qualify | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||
| 1990 | Quarter-final | 5th | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | Squad | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 6 | |
| Total | Fourth place | 8/14 | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 55 | 42 | – | 66 | 38 | 15 | 13 | 130 | 68 | |
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
| UEFA European Championship record | Qualification Record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Squads | |||||||||||||
| 1960 | Runners-up | 2nd | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | Squad | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | |
| 1964 | Did not qualify | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | |||||||||
| 1968 | Runners-up | 2nd | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Squad | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | |
 1972 | 1/4 playoffs | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 5 | |||||||||
| 1976 | Fourth place | 4th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | Squad | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 5 | |
| 1980 | Did not qualify | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 6 | |||||||||
| 1984 | Group stage | 8th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | Squad | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 11 | |
| 1988 | Did not qualify | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 9 | |||||||||
| 1992 | Banned after qualification | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 4 | |||||||||
| Total | Runners-up | 4/9 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 26 | – | 56 | 35 | 10 | 11 | 114 | 54 | |
Yugoslavia Olympic football team
| Competition | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIFA World Cup | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Olympic Games | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | |
| UEFA European Championship | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Total | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| Rank | Name | Caps | Goals | Position | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dragan Džajić | 85 | 23 | MF | 1964–1979 |
| 2 | Zlatko Vujović | 70 | 25 | FW | 1979–1990 |
| 3 | Branko Zebec | 65 | 17 | DF | 1951–1961 |
| 4 | Stjepan Bobek | 63 | 38 | FW | 1946–1956 |
| 5 | Faruk Hadžibegić | 61 | 6 | DF | 1982–1992 |
| Branko Stanković | 3 | DF | 1946–1956 | ||
| 7 | Ivica Horvat | 60 | 0 | DF | 1946–1956 |
| 8 | Vladimir Beara | 59 | 0 | GK | 1950–1959 |
| Rajko Mitić | 32 | FW | 1946–1957 | ||
| Bernard Vukas | 22 | MF | 1948–1957 | ||
| Rank | Name | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stjepan Bobek | 38 | 63 | 0 | 1946–1956 | |
| 2 | Milan Galić | 37 | 51 | 1959–1965 | ||
| Blagoje Marjanović | 58 | 1926–1938 | ||||
| 4 | Rajko Mitić | 32 | 59 | 1946–1957 | ||
| 5 | Dušan Bajević | 29 | 37 | 1970–1977 | ||
| 6 | Todor Veselinović | 28 | 37 | 1953–1961 | ||
| 7 | Borivoje Kostić | 26 | 33 | 1956–1964 | ||
| 8 | Zlatko Vujović | 25 | 70 | 1970–1977 | ||
| 9 | Dragan Džajić | 23 | 84 | 1964–1979 | ||
| 10 | Bernard Vukas | 22 | 59 | 1948–1958 |
| Opponents | Pld | W | D | L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 14 | 2 | 6 | 6 | ||
| 28 | 17 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 31 | 9 | 4 | 18 | ||
| 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 29 | 5 | 9 | 15 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 40 | 17 | 5 | 18 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 17 | 2 | 4 | 11 | ||
| 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 25 | 8 | 3 | 14 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||