The Serebryany Bor, specifically Beach No. 3, is said to be the birthplace of Russian beach soccer. Players including Andrey Bukhlitskiy and Egor Eremeev used that beach for training and fun games.^[4]

Russia debuted at the 1996 Beach Soccer World Championship, with a squad including Vagiz Khidiyatullin, Vyacheslav Chanov and Andrei Yakubik. In their first match against Italy, Russia lost 1–5, which is one of their biggest losses to date. Notwithstanding the overall fifth place at the Championships, beach soccer was not supported by the government for the next 10 years. In 2005, Nikolai Pisarev and other sportsmen suggested Sport's Minister Vitaly Mutko reviving the Russian national beach soccer team. Mutko supported the idea and in the same year Russia participated at the Euro Beach Soccer Cup, sending Mostovoi, Karpin, Nikiforov, Lediakhov, Kiriakov and Popov. Furthermore, one Brazilian consulted the team.^[5]

In the following years, Russia progressed. In 2007, players such as Makarov, Shkarin and Bukhlitskiy debuted for the team. That year Russia became third at the Euro Beach Soccer Cup. At the 2007 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Russia finished ninth, and in the following year already sixth. Since Mikhail Likhachev's appointment as head coach in 2010,^[6] the team of Russia won the 2011 and 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.^[5] One of the exceptions was the insufficient result from the World Cup qualification tournament, where Russia was placed 5th at the end and so missed the opportunity to qualify for the 2017 World Cup.^{[citation needed]}

There was some regress for Russia in the 2018 season. While they traditionally played well in the Moscow stage of the Euro Beach Soccer League, winning the group which included the teams of Switzerland, Azerbaijan and Poland, and finishing second in the last Stage in Warnemünde, losing only to Spain, Russia placed second in their team after Italy and so qualified for the 3rd-place match, where they lost to Portugal after penalty shoot-out. For the first time Russia did not finish within the top 3.^[7] They rebounded in the Intercontinental Cup, defeating Tahiti and the United States in the group stage. In the semifinals they defeated Brazil after penalty shoot-out, ending the South American's 66-game winning streak,^[8] but the Russians were defeated by Iran in the final.^{[citation needed]}

Russia started well in the next season. They qualified for the inaugural World Beach Games after beating Norway, Ukraine, Switzerland and Spain, and proceeded to win silver at that tournament. The team then finished just 6th at the European Games. At the Euro Beach Soccer League, in the first stage, Russia was again placed 2nd in their group after Spain, but still qualified for the Superfinal. Russia rebounded in the FIFA World Cup qualification in Moscow, beating all of their eight opponents to win the title for the second time. In the final Russia beat Italy 7–1.^{[citation needed]}

In the new 2021 season, Russia played their first international matches at the 2021 Euro Beach Soccer League, defeating Turkey, Belarus and Spain in the 1st Stage. As host of the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Russia automatically qualified for this edition.^{[citation needed]}

Matches played within the last 12 months, as well as upcoming fixtures, are displayed.

Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose   Fixture

2019 edit

2021 edit

Source: [1]

Current squad edit

The national squad for the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Coach: Mikhail Likhachev

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Top goalscorers edit

As of 29 August 2021^[15]

*Players in bold are still active with Russia.

Team record edit

Winning streak (22) edit

Beach Soccer World Championships edit

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup edit