Initially playing as the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union, it was while they were the Soviet Union that they enjoyed the most success, notably winning the 1960 European Championship and finishing in fourth place at the 1966 World Cup.
However, they had some success playing as the Russian Federation after a brief period playing as the Commonwealth of Independent States following the fall of the Soviet Union. Most notably, they made the semi-finals of Euro 2008 and the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup on home soil.
The Soviet Union made the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Two years later, they won the first edition of the European Championship, held in France. They beat Czechoslovakia 3-0 in the semi-finals and Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final. Valentin Ivanov and Viktor Ponedelnik were among five players who finished in a tie for top scorer.
Chile's Eladio Rojas (out of pic) scores the winning goal past USSR goalkeeper Lev Yashin (r), watched by teammate Jaime Ramirez (7) and USSR's Leonid Ostrovski (6)
At the 1966 World Cup in England, the Soviet Union produced their best-ever performance in the tournament, finishing in fourth place. They were beaten by West Germany in the semi-finals and a Eusebio-inspired Portugal in the third-place play-off.
After the 1973 Chilean coup d'etat, the Soviet Union refused to play in Chile and were subsequently disqualified from the 1974 World Cup in West Germany as a result. They failed to qualify for the European Championships of 1976 and 1980, as well as the 1980 World Cup.
Oleh Protasov and Hennadiy Lytovchenko scored in a 2-0 semi-final win over Italy, but in the final at the Olympiastadion in Munich, the Soviets were outclassed by an inspired Dutch outfit. Netherlands won the match 2-0 courtesy of goals from Ruud Gullit and tournament top scorer Marco van Basten.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia played their first international fixture in their current form on August 16, 1992, winning 2-0 with a team made up of former Soviet Union players, including some born in other former Soviet republics.
Pavel Sadyrin led Russia into their qualification campaign for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States and they ultimately qualified for the tournament alongside Greece.
Russia were drawn into a group with Cameroon, Sweden and Brazil. In Detroit, they lost 2-0 to Brazil and 3-1 to Sweden. Five goals from Oleg Salenko saw them to a 6-1 thrashing of Cameroon, but Russia were eliminated from the group stage and Sadyrin was subsequently sacked and replaced by Oleg Romantsev.
At Euro 1996, Russia fared no better than at the World Cup two years prior, losing 2-1 to Italy and 3-0 to Germany. They were eliminated from the tournament despite a 3-3 draw with the Czech Republic.
World Cup 2002 Qualifier - Group One - Luxembourg v Russia
They were drawn into Group H with Belgium, Tunisia, and Japan. They beat Tunisia 2-0 in their opening fixture, but lost 1-0 to Japan in the next. Two lives were reportedly lost in riots in Moscow after the match.
Valery Gazzaev was appointed manager of the national team, but he too struggled to earn positive results and was replaced by Georgi Yartsev. Under Yartsev's guidance, Russia qualified for Euro 2004 via a play-off against Wales, which was overshadowed by a positive doping test for Yegor Titov. The midfielder was subsequently banned for a year.
The experienced Guus Hiddink took charge of the team and Russia qualified for Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland along with Croatia and at the expense of England. Hiddink's charges, galvanised by impressive performances upfront from Roman Pavlyuchenko, made it past the group stage and then stunned Netherlands 3-1. Eventually, they were beaten 3-0 in the semi-finals by eventual champions Spain.
Russia head coach Guus Hiddink (c) reacts after a referee decision
Hiddink's Russia reign came to an end after he failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. The team was beaten by Slovenia in a play-off.
Under Stanislav Cherchesov, Russia did not get off to a positive start, exiting the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017 at the group stage, but at the FIFA World Cup the following year on home soil, they impressed, making it to the quarter-finals with a shock round-of-16 win over Spain before being eliminated by Croatia on penalties.
They were again pitted against Belgium in their group for the finals and despite losing 3-0 to Roberto Martinez's side, looked well placed to qualify when they beat Finland 1-0.
However, they capitulated 4-1 to Denmark in their final group game to sink to the bottom of the group and exit the competition.
Aleksandr Golovin shows his disappointment as Russia exit Euro 2020
Russia's fans have been the subject of negative media coverage for racist and xenophobic tendencies, but there is some activism against this within Russia. In 2018, activist group Pussy Riot claimed responsibility for a pitch invasion at the World Cup final between France and Croatia.
The Football Association has invited more than 1,000 Ukrainian refugees and their host families across Great Britain to attend England’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley on Sunday.
FIFA announced that Russia will be removed from the 2022 World Cup after their invasion of Ukraine.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a number of athletes being banned from competing, a decision Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has labelled "unfair".
With Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the Premier League decided to suspend its agreement with Russian broadcast partner Rambler.
The Russian Football Union say they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the ban on its national teams and clubs from international competitions.
Russia have been expelled from the World Cup as FIFA and UEFA suspend the country’s clubs and national teams from all competitions.
Following the announcement that the IOC banned Russian and Belarusian athletes, World Athletics have now followed suit, barring them from competing in next summer's World Championships.
