Serbia
- Aleksandar Mitrovic – Goals: 45
- Stjepan Bobek – Goals: 38
- Milan Galic – Goals: 37
- Blagoje Marjanovic – Goals: 37
- Savo Milosevic – Goals: 37
Dejan Stankovic made over 100 appearances for the Serbian national team. The midfielder captained the team at the 2010 World Cup and is the only player to ever play for three nations in World Cups. He appeared in the 1998 World Cup for FR Yugoslavia, 2006 for Serbia and Montenegro and 2010 for Serbia. He won six career Serie A titles and was named the Serbian Player of the Year in 2006 and 2010.
Savo Milosevic scored 37 goals for Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia from 1994-2008. Milosevic won the Golden Boot at Euro 2000, scoring an impressive five goals in four matches. He’s one of only three players with over 100 appearances for the national team.
Nemanja Vidic is one of the best defenders of the 2000’s and he was part of the “Famous Four” defense in 2006 World Cup qualifying. Vidic is one of only three players to win the Premier League Player of the Season award twice. He retired from international soccer at the relatively young age of 30 but played in two World Cups.
Dragan Dzajic was a key member of the Yugoslavia team that finished as runners up at the 1968 Euros. He scored a famous winning goal vs. England in the semifinals, a lob of keeper Gordon Banks. He was the top scorer at the tournament and is regarded as one of the best Yugoslavian players ever. The winger was chosen as Serbia and Montenegro’s most important player from the last 50 years in 2003.
Branislav Ivanovic is the most capped player in the history of the Serbia national football team, with 105 appearances. In 2012, he won the Champions League with Chelsea and in 2013 he became just the third player to win two Serbian Player of the Year awards. A versatile defender, Ivanovic appeared at two World Cups.
Dragan Stojkovic was named to the World Cup All Star Team in 1990 as Yugoslavia made the quarterfinals. He also captained the team at the 1998 World Cup and scored 15 times in 84 appearances. Stojkovic is considered one of Yugoslavia’s greatest ever players and is a Red Star Belgrade legend.
After falling to the Soviet Union 2-0 in their opening match at the 1962 World Cup, Yugoslavia outscored their opponents 8-1 in their next two matches. First, they defeated Uruguay 3-1 and dismantled Colombia 5-0. So, Yugoslavia advanced to the knockout stage as group runners-up.
In the quarterfinals, they defeated West Germany 1-0 from a later goal and moved on to play Czechoslovakia in the semifinals. Czechoslovakia scored two late goals to win 3-1 and Yugoslavia lost the resulting third place match 1-0 on Chile’s 90th minute winner.
Serbia and Montenegro were dark horses in their last combined tournament at World Cup 2006. They gave up the fewest goals ever in the UEFA Qualifying round, just one in ten games. Serbia and Montenegro finished ahead of Spain in qualifying and had a defense referred to as the “famous four”.
Unfortunately, they didn’t live up to the hype at Germany ‘06. Serbia and Montenegro lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in the first match and were destroyed 6-0 by Argentina in their next match. They were officially eliminated from knockout stage contention with the loss, but had a match remaining vs. the Ivory Coast.
Playing for pride, Serbia and Montenegro took a 2-0 lead, but conceded three consecutive goals to lose 3-2. It was the first time ever Serbia or Yugoslavia failed to win a game at the World Cup.
Team Information
Serbia National Football Team History
FIFA recognizes Serbia as the official successor to the Yugoslavia national team. Among Croatian, Slovenian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, and Macedonian players, Serbian players had a huge role in the team’s success.
Yugoslavia finished fourth at the 1930 and 1962 World Cups, and were runners-up at the 1960 and 1968 European Championships. Serbian Drazan Dzajic was the top scorer at Euro 1968.
Yugoslav Conflict Affects the Team
When Serbia and Montenegro became an independent country in 1992 as FR Yugoslavia, they were sanctioned by FIFA. Because of the Yugoslav conflict, the team could not enter into World Cup 1994 qualifying or Euro 1996 qualifying.
With only Serbian and Montenegrin players, FR Yugoslavia qualified for their first World Cup in 1998 and were seen as dark horses. Sinisa Mihajlovic scored the game’s only goal in a 1-0 win over Iran.
Yugoslavia led Germany 2-0 in the next match, but the Germans got two goals back and the match finished level at 2-2. Then, Yugoslavia defeated the USA 1-0 to advance to the round of 16. There, they lost 2-1 to the Netherlands.
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Team’s Change of Name
Two years later, FR Yugoslavia made the quarterfinals of the Euros and Savo Milosevic won the Golden Boot. The year 2000 remains the last Euros appearance for Serbia.
In 2003, FR Yugoslavia’s official name was changed to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. So, from 2003 to 2006 the Serbia national football team was referred to as Serbia and Montenegro.
Separation of Montenegro and Serbia
Shortly before the 2006 World Cup, Montenegro declared their independence from Serbia. Regardless, the combined national team appeared at the FIFA World Cup but lost all three of their matches. A 6-0 loss to Argentina in the second match is Serbia’s worst ever World Cup result.
So the first independent Serbia FIFA World Cup appearance was in 2010. Serbia national football team got one of their most famous wins there, as Milan Jovanovic scored to defeat Germany 1-0. However, the Eagles lost their other two matches and finished last in their group.
Serbia also qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Alexander Kolarov scored the winner in Serbia’s opening match vs. Costa Rica. Then, Serbia led against Switzerland in their next match but conceded two unanswered goals to fall 2-1. Needing a win to advance to the round of 16, Serbia fell 2-0 to Brazil in their last group stage match.
Serbia, as UEFA Group A group winners, qualified directly for the 2022 World Cup.
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