Russia EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 29 Feb 2020 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 5 minutes

Russia's national team will strive at all costs to reach the phase of direct eliminations of the European Championship in 2021. "Sbornaya" was one of the participants in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2018, on which tournament they were also hosts. Led by Stanislav Cherchesov, they lost in a game for a place in the semi-finals from Croatia after penalties.

Is the Russian team able to reach the top 4 in a big forum this time or can it fail in the group stage? Find out more about the selection of "Sbornaya" at Euro 2020 from our preview. 

Russia European Championships - History and successes

Russia will participate in the European Championship for the sixth time as an independent nation. "Sbornaya" has also another 6 participations as the former USSR. Their best performance at the tournament is reaching the semi-finals in 2008 of the competition in Austria and Switzerland. At the last European Championship, Russia was eliminated in the group stage. In fact, in four of its five appearances in the European finals as an independent nation, Russia has dropped out of the group stage. The Russian team won a title in the competition under the flag of the Soviet Union in 1960 at the forum in France.

The Road to Euro 2020

The Russian team ranks second in its qualifying group. "Sbornaya" performed at a level and lived up to expectations, winning a total of 24 points out of 30 possible. Stanislav Cherchesov's team lost only its two games with Belgium, which finished first in the group with a full asset of points. In the other matches against the national teams of Scotland, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, and San Marino, the Russian team did not lose any points and recorded eight victories, with a total goal difference of 33-8. We have to admit that the Russians were in an easy group and if they had not qualified for the European finals, it would have been a big failure.

Euro 2020 fixtures

Russia is in Group B of Euro 2020 with the teams of Belgium, Finland, and Denmark.

• June 12, 9:00 pm: Belgium - Russia / Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg /
• June 16, 3:00 pm: Finland - Russia / Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg /
• June 21, 6:00 pm: Russia - Denmark / Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg /

Russia squad for the European Football Championship 2020

Russia has a lot of players over the age of 30, for whom this will be another participation in a major forum, but maybe also the last big tournament for some of them. We have to honor players like Yuri Zhirkov, Mario Fernandez, Fyodor Kudryashov, Roman Neustadter, Alexei Yonov, Denis Cheryshev, and of course the captain Artyom Dzyuba. The Russian team has to show a lot in attack, where there are young talents such as Fyodor Chalov and Alexander Sobolev. We also like Alexander Golovin, who plays quite well in Monaco. The defense of the team with figures like Zhirkov, Fernandez, Kudrashov, and Neustadter should be quite stable, and in the midfield line names like brothers Alexei and Anton Miranchuk, and Roman Zobnin will try to make an impression.

Goalkeepers: Anton Shunin (Dynamo Moscow), Yury Dyupin (Rubin Kazan), Matvei Safonov (Krasnodar)
Defenders: Yuri Zhirkov (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Fyodor Kudryashov (Antalyaspor), Georgi Dzhikiya (Spartak Moscow), Igor Diveev (CSKA Moscow), Vyacheslav Karavaev (Zenit), Andrei Semenov (Akhmat), Mario Fernandes (CSKA Moskva)
Midfielders: Dmitri Barinov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Roman Zobnin (Spartak Moscow), Denis Makarov (Rubin), Denis Cheryshev (Valencia), Aleksandr Golovin (Monaco), Aleksei Ionov (Krasnodar), Daler Kuzyayev (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Aleksei Miranchuk (Atalanta), Magomed Ozdoev (Zenit), Andrei Mostovoy (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Daniil Fomin (Dynamo Moscow), Rifat Zhemaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Maksim Mukhin (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Forwards: Artem Dzyuba (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Anton Zabolotny (Sochi), Aleksandr Sobolev (Spartak Moscow)

Source: www.tass.com

The Big Star: Artyom Dzyuba

Artyom Dzyuba is the captain of the Russian national team. He finished 2020 with 47 games for Sbornaya and 26 goals. The striker of Zenit St. Petersburg will be the key figure in the composition of Russia and he will be expected to score. At the 2018 World Cup, Artyom Dzyuba proved his class and scored three goals for Russia, helping the team to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament. The Zenit striker will almost certainly play an important role in Russia's forthcoming participation in Euro 2020 and is quite likely to be the country's top scorer in the tournament.

Expectations for Russia at Euro 2020

We expect the Russian team to fight for the second in its group with the teams of Denmark and Finland. "Sbornaya" will again have a rival team of Belgium, as in the qualifications it was seen that the team of Stanislav Cherchesov is inferior to the "red devils". Not that in a match in the European finals it is impossible for Russia to take a point from Belgium or beat them, but in general we believe that the "red devils" will win this group. The Russian team should fight Denmark and Finland for second place, but both opponents are not easy. Thus securing a place in the 1/8 finals of the tournament, and this is likely to be the maximum of their performance in the finals.

Odds for Russia

The group of Russia is not a hard one, but the teams there, except Belgium, are at the same level. This is our personal view, but maybe the bookmakers are thinking the same way. They are giving a very low probability to win the group and go through the 1/8 finals. Russia is also out of the top 5 favorites for winning the European title in 2020. Here are the current odds for the "Sbornaya":

To win Euro 2020	67.00
To win Group B	5.00