Former men's national association football team representing Yugoslavia
This article is about the 1920–92 team representing the SFR Yugoslavia and its predecessor states. For the team representing the union of Serbia and Montenegro after the breakup of Yugoslavia, see Federal Republic of Yugoslavia national football team.
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:
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.[4]
Post-World War II period
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.
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
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".[5]
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 31 May 1992, just 10 days before the competition commenced.[6] 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.[7][8]
In 1992, Yugoslavia had also been drawn as 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.[11][12]
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 the name Yugoslavia until 2003 when the country and team were renamed Serbia and Montenegro.
↑ Serbian: Фудбалска репрезентација Југославије, Fudbalska reprezentacija Jugoslavije; Croatian: Jugoslavenska nogometna reprezentacija; Slovene: Jugoslovanska nogometna reprezentanca; Macedonian: Фудбалска репрезентација на Југославија, romanized:Fudbalska reprezentacija na Jugoslavija
↑ 1930 World Cup didn't feature a match for the third place. Retroactively, FIFA established rankings based on overall tournament record, placing Yugoslavia at the fourth place
↑ Yugoslavia earned 4th place below the loser of the other semi-final, the United States, because of a lower goal difference (0 to the United States' +1). No third place match was played.
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For teams that have undergone name changes but no border alterations see here For teams that have undergone border changes but no name alterations see here
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(1920–1941) and 
(1945–1992) 
Czechoslovakia 7–0 Kingdom of SCS 
Netherlands 2–0 Yugoslavia 
Uruguay 7–0 Kingdom of SCS 
Runners-up (1960, 1968)
