Serbia and Montenegro national football team

• 1. Introduction

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  The Serbia and Montenegro national football team played its very first match on the 23rd of December 1994, a 2-0 friendly defeat to Brazil in Porto Alegre. That quiet loss in South America was the starting point for a team born out of political rupture, international sanctions, and the wreckage of Yugoslavia. For more than a decade, this team would carry the weight of a dissolving state onto every pitch it entered. What kind of football could emerge from those conditions? And what would happen when the country itself ceased to exist mid-tournament?

• 2. Sanctions and a Slow Start

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  Although the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed on the 28th of April 1992, FIFA sanctions imposed because of the Yugoslav Wars barred the team from all international competition for more than two years. The national team could not take part in the 1994 World Cup qualification, nor the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying process. Three days after that first loss to Brazil in Porto Alegre, the team flew to Buenos Aires and lost again, 1-0 to Argentina. The debut squad was the first ever composed exclusively of Serbian and Montenegrin players. Slobodan Santrač, himself a former Yugoslavia national team player, became the side's first-ever manager. On the 31st of March 1995, the team played its first-ever home match at Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, recording a 1-0 win over Uruguay. That same afternoon marked two other firsts: the team's first official victory in history, and the first goal ever scored for the new nation, courtesy of Savo Milošević.

• 3. France 1998

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  FR Yugoslavia arrived at the 1998 World Cup in France ranked 21st in the seedings, yet The New York Times suggested the side could easily reach the semi-finals. Placed in Group F alongside Germany, the United States and Iran, the Yugoslavs opened with a win over Iran, with Siniša Mihajlović converting a free kick. Against Germany, Mihajlović then scored an own goal, and Oliver Bierhoff equalised with roughly ten minutes remaining, but Yugoslavia held on to win. A 1-0 victory over the United States placed them second in the group behind Germany. In the round of 16, Yugoslavia met the Netherlands. Dennis Bergkamp put the Dutch ahead in the 38th minute before Slobodan Komljenović headed an equaliser. Predrag Mijatović had the chance to win it, but his penalty-box shot struck the crossbar. Edgar Davids then beat goalkeeper Ivica Kralj from 20 yards in the dying seconds, ending Yugoslavia's campaign at the round of 16. Before that exit, in qualifying, the team had produced the most remarkable winning run of its short life: a 7-1 win over Hungary in Budapest, followed by a 5-0 win in Belgrade, an aggregate of 12-1, was enough to reach the tournament. Their biggest ever win, 8-1 against the Faroe Islands, came during the same qualifying run.

• 4. Euro 2000 and the Croatia Matches

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  Few qualifying draws generated as much tension as the one placing first-seeded Yugoslavia in the same Euro 2000 group as Croatia, marking the first competitive meeting between the two nations since the breakup of Yugoslavia. The other teams were the Republic of Ireland, Macedonia and Malta. A home game against Malta was relocated to Thessaloniki, Greece, because of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The much-anticipated Croatia fixture in Belgrade was interrupted by a power outage at the start of the second half, resuming after 43 minutes and finishing 0-0. Yugoslavia needed to win its final qualifier in Zagreb or benefit from Ireland failing to beat Macedonia in Skopje. Ireland conceded an injury-time equaliser, so Yugoslavia's 2-2 draw in Zagreb was enough for automatic qualification. At the tournament itself, Yugoslavia fell 3-0 behind Slovenia at the Stade du Pays de Charleroi, then scored three times in six second-half minutes to draw 3-3. Savo Milošević scored a backheel strike to beat Norway 1-0 in Liège. In every one of their three group matches, Yugoslavia had a player sent off: Siniša Mihajlović, Mateja Kežman and Slaviša Jokanović in turn. Milošević finished the tournament as joint top scorer alongside Patrick Kluivert, both on five goals, though Milošević played one fewer match. In the quarter-final, the Netherlands beat Yugoslavia 6-1 in Rotterdam, with Kluivert scoring a hat-trick.

• 5. Qualifying Collapse and Renewal

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  The 2002 World Cup qualifiers brought the first major failure since the team's return from sanctions. Head coach Ilija Petković resigned after just one match, a 2-0 win over Luxembourg. His replacement, Milovan Đorić, oversaw two late equalisers conceded at home to Switzerland and away to Slovenia. A home loss to Russia was the nation's first ever home defeat in an official match. A three-man commission then took charge: Dejan Savićević, Vujadin Boškov and Ivan Ćurković. Savićević eventually assumed sole control but could not prevent the team from finishing third in their group. The Euro 2004 campaign, contested for the first time under the name Serbia and Montenegro, also ended in failure, largely because of a 2-2 home draw and a 2-1 away loss to Azerbaijan, despite taking points from Italy and Wales. Ilija Petković returned as coach in July 2003 and would oversee the team's most striking defensive achievement: in 2006 World Cup qualifying, Serbia and Montenegro conceded just one goal across ten matches, the best defensive record of all 51 teams in the entire qualification competition. The back four of Nemanja Vidić, Mladen Krstajić, Goran Gavrančić and Ivica Dragutinović, with goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevrić behind them, became known as the Famous Four. The team finished first in a group that included Spain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania and San Marino, going through with a 6-4-0 record.

• 6. A Team Without a Country

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  On the 3rd of June 2006, following a referendum, Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia. The World Cup was weeks away. It was decided that the squad which had already qualified would compete in Germany representing a state that had ceased to exist. Only one Montenegrin-born player remained in the group, goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevrić. The team lost its opening match 1-0 to the Netherlands, with Arjen Robben scoring the only goal. Then came a 6-0 loss to Argentina, the worst defeat in the side's history. Eliminated before their final game, Serbia and Montenegro faced the Ivory Coast, also mathematically out. Despite leading 2-0 for much of the first half, the team conceded three times and lost 3-2, finishing the tournament with no points and a goal difference of minus eight. A week after that final match, the Football Association of Montenegro applied to UEFA for separate membership. Serbia was granted the existing federation's place in both UEFA and FIFA, and the new Serbia national team played its first match in August 2006 against the Czech Republic. Montenegro's new national team played its first international in March 2007, against Hungary.