Russia's European Championships Record
The Russian team is ranked 22nd in the ranking issued by FIFA in February 2008. The team is currently managed by Guus Hiddink, who continued to impress everyone by leading the Russian team to Euro 2008 qualification, which unfortunately meant that England won't be appearing in this tournament. In total, Russia has appeared in 2 World Cups (1994 and 2002) and three European Championships (1996, 2004 and 2008). However, in both competitions, Russia has never qualified from its group and was eliminated after just 3 games.
At Euro 1996, held in England, Russia played Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy in Group C. The Russians earned a 3-3 draw against Czech Republic, but lost to Italy (2-1) and Germany (3-0). Russia ended the group stage at the bottom of their group with just a single point. Four years ago in Euro 2004 held in Portugal, Russia was drawn in Group A with eventual finalists Portugal, eventual winners Greece, and Spain. Russia lost to Spain 1-0, lost to Portugal 2-0, but ironically beat eventual European Champions Greece 2-1. Therefore, once again, the team ended this phase at the bottom of the group, with just 3 points and were eliminated.
In the qualifying campaign for Euro 2008, Russia eliminated England on the final day, after winning against Andorra 1-0 (with England losing 3-2 at home to Croatia). Russia went through in the second place and were drawn in Group D with Spain (again), Greece (again) and Sweden. Russia have the right manager to realise qualification from the group stage for them. A combination of hard work and good luck may see Russia doing very well in this group.
