Yugoslavia national football team

This article is about the team representing SFR Yugoslavia and its predecessors 1920-92. For the team representing FR Yugoslavia after the breakup of Yugoslavia, see Serbia and Montenegro national football team.

Yugoslavia

Nickname(s)	Plavi ("Blues") Brazilians of Europe 1945-1992 White Eagles, 1920-1945
Association	Football Association of Yugoslavia
Most caps	Dragan Džajić (85)
Top scorer	Stjepan Bobek (38)
Home stadium	Stadion FK Partizan
Home colours Away colours
First international
Czechoslovakia 7 - 0 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Antwerp, Belgium; 28 August 1920) After 1945 Czechoslovakia 0 - 2 FPR Yugoslavia (Prague, Czechoslovakia; 9 May 1945.) Last International as SFR Yugoslavia Netherlands 2 - 0 Yugoslavia (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 25 March 1992)
Biggest win
Yugoslavia 10 - 0 Venezuela (Curitiba, Brasil; 14 June 1972) Yugoslavia 10 - 1 India (Helsinki, Finland; 15 July 1952)
Biggest defeat
Czechoslovakia 7 - 0 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Antwerp, Belgium; 28 August 1920) Uruguay 7 - 0 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Paris, France; 26 May 1924) Czechoslovakia 7 - 0 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Prague, Czechoslovakia; 28 October 1925)
World Cup
Appearances	8 (First in 1930)
Best result	Fourth Place, 1930, 1962
European Championship
Appearances	4 (First in 1960)
Best result	Runners-Up, 1960 and 1968

Medal record
Men’s Football
Olympic Games
Silver	1948 London	Team
Silver	1952 Helsinki	Team
Silver	1956 Melbourne	Team
Gold	1960 Rome	Team
Bronze	1984 Los Angeles	Team
Mediterranean Games
Gold	1971 İzmir	Team
Gold	1979 Split	Team

The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1943) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1946–1992) in association football. It enjoyed a modicum of success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international competition as part of a United Nations sanction. In 1994, when the boycott was lifted, it was succeeded by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia football team.

History

The first national team was in the kingdom that existed between the two world wars. The Football Federation of what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was founded in Zagreb in 1919 under the name Jugoslovenski nogometni savez (and admitted into FIFA), and the national team played its first international game at the Summer Olympics in Antwerp in 1920. The opponent was Czechoslovakia, and the historic starting eleven that represented Kingdom of SCS on its debut were: Vrđuka, Župančić, Šifer, Tavčar, Cindrić, Rupec, Vragović, Dubravčić, Perška, Granec, and Ružić. They lost by a huge margin 0-7, but nonetheless got their names in the history books.

In 1929, the country was renamed to Yugoslavia and the football association became Fudbalski Savez Jugoslavije and moved its headquarters to Belgrade. The national team participated in the 1930 FIFA World Cup and finished 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: Jakšić, Sekulić, Tirnanić, Ivković, Bek, Đokić, Marjanović, Arsenijević, Vujadinović, Mihajlović, and Stefanović. The national team consisted just of Serbian players as it was boycotted by Croatian players at this World Cup due to the relocation of football association's headquarters from Zagreb to Belgrade.

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 and it organized the 1976 European Championship played in Belgrade and Zagreb. The national team participated in eight World Cups, four Euros, and won the Olympic football tournament in 1960 at the Summer Games (they also finished second three times and third once).

Dragan Džajić holds the record for the most national team caps at 85, between 1964 to 1979. The best scorer is Stjepan Bobek with 38 goals, between 1946 and 1956.

The under-21 team won the inaugural UEFA U-21 Championship in 1978.

The Yugoslav under-20 team won the FIFA World Youth Championship 1987.

Dissolution and UN embargo

With the end of the Cold War, democratic principles were introduced to the country which brought about the end Communist 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.

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. Yugoslavia had also been drawn as the top 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.

Breakup

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the FRY consisted of Montenegro and Serbia. The national team of Serbia and Montenegro continued under the name Yugoslavia until 2003, when country and team were renamed Serbia and Montenegro. With the independence of Montenegro in 2006, FIFA considers the national team of Serbia to be the successor of Yugoslavia.

For the later official football teams, see:

• Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team
• Croatia national football team
• Slovenia national football team
• Republic of Macedonia national football team
• Serbia and Montenegro national football team, later
  • Serbia national football team
  • Montenegro national football team

Competitive record

World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Semi-finals*	4**	3	2	0	1	7	7
1934	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1938	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1950	Round 1	5	3	2	0	1	7	3
1954	Quarter-finals	7	3	1	1	1	2	3
1958	Quarter-finals	5	4	1	2	1	7	7
1962	Semi-finals	4	6	3	0	3	10	7
1966	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1970	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1974	Quarter-finals	7	6	1	2	3	12	7
1978	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	Round 1	16	3	1	1	1	2	2
1986	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1990	Quarter-Finals	5	5	3	1	1	8	6
Total	8/16	2 x 4th	36	16	8	13	60	46

European Championship record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1960	Final	2	1	0	1	6	6
1964	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Final	3	1	1	1	2	3
1972	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1976	Fourth Place	2	0	0	2	4	7
1980	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1984	Round 1	3	0	0	3	2	10
1988	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	Qualified****
Total	4/9	10	2	1	7	14	26

*It was not third place playoff, but Yugoslavia has been awarded one bronze medal

**Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

***Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

****Qualified, but disqualified because of United Nations Security Council Resolution 757 during Yugoslav wars. Denmark entered the competition instead.

Notable players (at least 15 caps)

from SR Bosnia and Herzegovina Dušan Bajević Elvir Baljić Mirsad "Žvaka" Baljić Mehmed Baždarević Miroslav "Meho" Brozović Josip Bukal Mirsad Fazlagić Džemal Hadžiabdić Faruk Hadžibegić Vahid Halilhodžić Davor Jozić Josip "Škija" Katalinski Mehmed "Meho" Kodro Enver Marić Muhamed Mujić Vahidin Musemić Ivica "Švabo" Osim Haris Škoro Blaž Slišković Safet Sušić Franjo Vladić Zlatko Vujović Zoran Vujović from SR Croatia Bruno Belin Rudolf Belin Stjepan Bobek Ivan Buljan Zlatko Čajkovski Tomislav Crnković Ivan Gajer Franjo Glazer Ivan Gudelj Ivan Horvat Tomislav Ivković Robert Jarni Dražan Jerković Jurica Jerković Mirko Kokotović Gustav Lehner Vlatko Marković Anđelko Marušić Frane Matošić Jozo Matošić Vladimir Beara Marko Mlinarić Dražen Mužinić Željko Perušić Luka Peruzović Danijel Premerl Robert Prosinečki Petar Radaković Josip Skoblar Franjo Šoštarić Ivica Šurjak Bernard Vukas Zoran Vulić Velimir Zajec Slaven Zambata Ante Žanetić Branko Zebec Aleksandar Živković from SR Macedonia Darko Pančev Dragoslav Šekularac Vujadin Stanojković from SR Montenegro Dragoljub Brnović Ljubomir Radanović Dejan Savićević Predrag Mijatović

from SR Serbia Jovan "Kule" Aćimović Milorad Arsenijević Aleksandar Atanacković Nenad Bjeković Vladislav Bogićević Vujadin Boškov Zvezdan Čebinac Ivan Ćurković Predrag Đajić Dragan Džajić Vladimir Durković Milan Galić Svetislav Glišović Dragan Holcer Bernard Hügl Milutin Ivković Živorad Jevtić Miodrag Jovanović Bora Kostić Dobrosav Krstić Vojin Lazarević Blagoje "Moša" Marjanović Vojislav Melić Jovan Miladinović Miloš Milutinović Rajko Mitić Tihomir Ognjanov Dragan Pantelić Blagoje Paunović Miroslav Pavlović Ilija Pantelić Aleksandar Petaković Ilija Petković Ognjen "Olja" Petrović Vladimir "Pižon" Petrović Vladica Popović Zdravko Rajkov Spasoje Samardžić Slobodan Santrač Branislav Sekulić Miloš Šestić Milutin Šoškić Ljubiša Spajić Jovan Spasić Predrag Spasić Branko Stanković Dragoslav Stepanović Dragan "Piksi" Stojković Nenad Stojković Silvester Takač Aleksandar Tirnanić Velibor Vasović Todor Veselinović Đorđe Vujadinović Dobrivoje Zečević Fadil Vokrri Fahrudin Jusufi from SR Slovenia Srečko Katanec Maksimilijan Mihelčič Branko Oblak Danilo Popivoda

Most capped players

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Dragan Džajić	1964 – 1979	85	23
2	Zlatko Vujović	1979 – 1990	70	25
3	Branko Zebec	1951 – 1961	65	17
4	Stjepan Bobek	1946 – 1956	63	38
5	Faruk Hadžibegić	1982 – 1992	61	6
6	Branko Stanković	1946 – 1956	61	3
7	Ivica Horvat	1946 – 1956	60	0
8	Vladimir Beara	1950 – 1959	59	0
9	Rajko Mitić	1946 – 1957	59	32
10	Bernard Vukas	1948 – 1957	59	22
11	Vujadin Boškov	1951 – 1958	57	0
12	Blagoje Marjanović	1926 – 1938	57	36
13	Jovan Aćimović	1968 – 1976	55	3
14	Zlatko Čajkovski	1946 – 1955	55	7
15	Fahrudin Jusufi	1959 – 1967	55	0
16	Mehmed Baždarević	1982 – 1992	54	4
17	Ivica Šurjak	1973 – 1982	54	10
18	Safet Sušić	1977 – 1990	54	21
19	Milorad Arsenijević	1927 – 1936	52	0
20	Dragan Holcer	1965 – 1974	52	0

Head to head records

Opponent	P	W	D	L	%W	%D	%L
Argentina	6	2	1	3	33.33	16.67	50.00
Bulgaria	28	17	5	6	60.71	17.85	21.43
Brazil	14	2	6	6	14.28	42.86	42.86
Czechoslovakia	31	9	4	18	29.03	12.90	58.06
England	14	4	5	5	28.57	35.71	35.71
France	25	10	7	8	40.00	28.00	32.00
Germany	25	8	3	14	32.00	12.00	56.00
Italy	12	1	4	7	8.33	33.33	58.33
South Korea	3	3	0	0	100.00	00.00	00.00
Portugal	5	2	0	3	40.00	00.00	60.00
Romania	40	17	5	18	42.50	12.50	45.00
Soviet Union	17	2	4	11	11.76	23.53	64.71
Spain	16	5	4	7	31.25	25.00	43.75
Sweden	11	5	2	4	45.45	18.18	36.36
United Arab Emirates	1	1	0	0	100.00	0.00	0.00

Home venues record

Stadium	City	First Time	Last Time	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost
Concordia Stadium	Zagreb	1920	1940	12	5	6	1
Koševo Stadium	Sarajevo			7	5	2	0
Grbavica Stadium	Sarajevo			1	1	0	0

Head coaches

Head coach	Period	Record
		Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost
Ivica Osim	1986–1992	51	27	10	14
Ivan Toplak Ivica Osim	1986	3	1	1	1
Miloš Milutinović	1984–1985	15	7	3	5
Todor Veselinović	1982–1984	18	9	3	6
Miljan Miljanić	1979–1982	22	18	2	2
Dražen Jerković	1978	1	1	0	0
Ante Mladinić	1978	2	0	0	2
Slavko Ljuštica	1978	0	0	0	0
Stevan Vilotić	1978	2	0	2	0
Marko Valok Stevan Vilotić Gojko Zec	1977	6	1	2	3
Ivan Toplak	1976–1977	8	2	0	6
Ante Mladinić	1974–1976	15	9	2	4
Miljan Miljanić Milan Ribar Sulejman Rebac Tomislav Ivić Milovan Ćirić	1973–1974	11	3	3	5
Vujadin Boškov	1971–1973	27	10	12	5
Rajko Mitić	1967–1970	34	13	10	11
Aleksandar Tirnanić Miljan Miljanić Rajko Mitić Vujadin Boškov Branko Stanković	1966	4	2	0	2
Aleksandar Tirnanić Miljan Miljanić	1966	2	0	1	1
Aleksandar Tirnanić Milan Antolković Miljan Miljanić	1966	3	1	0	2
Aleksandar Tirnanić Milan Antolković Miljan Miljanić Abdulah Gegić	1965	7	2	3	2
Ljubomir Lovrić	1964	11	3	1	7
Ljubomir Lovrić Hugo Ruševljanin	1963–1964	7	5	0	2
Ljubomir Lovrić Prvoslav Mihajlović Hugo Ruševljanin	1961–1963	22	15	2	5
Dragomir Nikolić Aleksandar Tirnanić Ljubomir Lovrić	1959–1961	29	16	8	5
Aleksandar Tirnanić	1955–1958	34	13	11	10
Branko Pešić Aleksandar Tirnanić Leo Lemešić Franjo Wölfl Milovan Ćirić	1954	9	5	2	2
Milorad Arsenijević Aleksandar Tirnanić Leo Lemešić	1952–1954	18	14	2	2
Milorad Arsenijević	1949–1952	23	15	3	5
Milorad Arsenijević Aleksandar Tirnanić	1946–1948	18	12	1	5
Svetozar Popović	1940–1941	3	1	2	0
Boško Simonović	1939–1940	4	1	1	2
Svetozar Popović	1939	1	0	0	1
Boško Simonović	1939	4	1	0	3
Svetozar Popović	1937–1938	13	4	5	4
Nikola Simić	1936	4	1	1	2
Boško Simonović	1935	5	3	2	0
Ivo Šuste Mata Miodragović Petar Pleše	1934–1935	6	3	0	3
Boško Simonović	1933–1934	6	3	1	2
Branislav Veljković	1933	6	3	1	2
Boško Simonović	1930–1932	24	12	1	11
Ante Pandaković	1926–1930	19	7	2	10
Dušan Zinaja	1924–1925	3	0	0	3
Todor Sekulić	1924	1	0	0	1
Veljko Ugrinić	1920–1924	10	3	1	6

See also

Related articles

• List of Yugoslavia national football team goalscorers
• Yugoslavia national football team games
• Yugoslavia national under-20 football team
• Yugoslavia national under-21 football team

Successor teams

• Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team
• Croatia national football team
• Macedonia national football team
• Montenegro national football team
• Serbia national football team
• Slovenia national football team