Serbia national football team

1998 World Cup

As FR Yugoslavia joined FIFA and UEFA in 1994, the team was available to participate in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. Slobodan Santrač was appointed manager for the team.^[35] In the qualifiers, Yugoslavia was drawn in Group 6 with Euro 1996 runners-up Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Faroe Islands and Malta. With 23 points, Yugoslavia ended up in second place behind Spain. Yugoslavia qualified for the play-off in which they were drawn to play against Hungary. Winning 12–1 on aggregate, Yugoslavia qualified for the World Cup.^[36]

The draw put the team in Group F alongside Germany, the United States, and Iran. Yugoslavia won its first game 1–0 against Iran thanks to a goal from defender Siniša Mihajlović.^[37] The next game was a draw for Yugoslavia; after leading Germany 2–0, a free kick from Michael Tarnat deflected off Mihajlović and into the goal, then Oliver Bierhoff equalised it at 2–2 at the 80th minute.^[38] Yugoslavia responded in the next game against the United States and won 1–0 due to a goal in the fourth minute by Slobodan Komljenović.^[39] Yugoslavia finished second in the group behind Germany on goal difference.

Due to their second position, Yugoslavia saw itself face the Netherlands in the Round of 16. Yugoslavia entered in the match with a sole attacker, but its defensive tactics proved unsuccessful as Dennis Bergkamp put the Netherlands in front in the 38th minute. Following the start of the second half, Yugoslavia pressured the Dutch, who conceded a header from Komljenović. The turning point of this match was a penalty awarded to Yugoslavia after Vladimir Jugović was fouled.^[40] Predrag Mijatović missed, and the scoreline remained the same at 1–1.^[41] Such an event demoralized the Yugoslavs, as the Dutch took the initiative. In the late seconds of the game Edgar Davids' shot towards the Yugoslav net from a distance of 20 meters and beat goalkeeper Ivica Kralj.^[40]

Euro 2000

The draw for the Euro 2000 qualifiers saw first-seeded Yugoslavia drawn in a group with Croatia, thus marking the first games between the two teams after the breakup of Yugoslavia. The other teams in the group were the Republic of Ireland, Macedonia, and Malta. Milan Živadinović was dismissed and was replaced by Vujadin Boškov.^[42][43]

The team started with a 1–0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Belgrade, before beating Malta 3–0 in Ta' Qali. The home fixture against the Maltese followed, but was moved to Thessaloniki, Greece due to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The team won 4–1. The first match against Croatia took place in Belgrade after the bombing ended, and was interrupted due to a power outage at the beginning of the second half, resuming after 43 minutes and eventually finishing 0–0.^[44] A 2–1 defeat against Ireland in Dublin was followed by victories home and away against Macedonia (3–1 and 4–2 respectively), meaning that Yugoslavia needed to win its final qualifier against Croatia in Zagreb, or to draw with the Republic of Ireland failing to beat Macedonia in Skopje, in order to qualify automatically for Euro 2000. In the event, the Republic of Ireland conceded an injury-time equaliser, meaning that Yugoslavia's 2–2 draw with the Croatians put them through.

The draw for the finals placed Yugoslavia in Group C along with Spain, Norway and another former Yugoslav republic, Slovenia. The Slovenians took a 3–0 lead in the first game at the Stade du Pays de Charleroi, but three goals in six second-half minutes enabled Yugoslavia to secure a 3–3 draw. Thanks to an early Savo Milošević backheel strike, the Serbs beat Norway 1–0 in Liège. The final group game, against Spain in Bruges, saw the Yugoslavs take the lead three times, before a Gaizka Mendieta penalty and an Alfonso strike in injury-time secured a 4–3 win for the Spaniards and top spot in the group. Yugoslavia nonetheless finished second, level on points with Norway but ranked ahead due to its victory in Liège. In each of the three games, the team had one player sent off (Siniša Mihajlović, Mateja Kežman, and Slaviša Jokanović, respectively).^[45] In the quarter-finals, Yugoslavia was paired with the Netherlands. The co-hosts won 6–1 in Rotterdam with Patrick Kluivert scoring a hat-trick. Despite Yugoslavia's elimination, Savo Milošević was crowned the joint top scorer of the tournament alongside Patrick Kluivert. Both players scored five goals, although Milošević played one game fewer.^[46]

2002 World Cup campaign

Ilija Petković replaced Boškov as head coach in July 2000.^[47] For the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Yugoslavia was drawn in Group 1 with Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg. After winning against Luxembourg, Petković was sacked and replaced with a three-pieced team which consisted of Boškov, Dejan Savićević and Ivan Ćurković. Yugoslavia won both matches against Luxembourg and the Faroe Islands, as well as the away game against Switzerland, but suffered a home loss and an away draw against Russia, a home draw against Switzerland, and draws in both home and away games against Slovenia. Yugoslavia ended the qualifying campaign in third place in the group, just one point behind second-placed Slovenia who advanced to the second round of qualifying.^[48]

Euro 2004 campaign

Savićević was appointed as coach in July 2002.^[49] For the Euro 2004 qualifiers Yugoslavia was drawn in Group 9 with Italy, Wales, Finland and Azerbaijan. During qualifying, the country went under a political transformation, and the newly named Serbia and Montenegro appeared for the first time in a game against Azerbaijan in February 2003.^[50] In June, after a 2–1 loss to Azerbaijan, Savićević resigned and was replaced by Ilija Petković.^[51] Despite drawing both games against eventual group winners Italy and winning both games against runners-up Wales, Serbia and Montenegro failed to qualify, mostly due to a 2–2 home draw, the 2–1 loss to Azerbaijan, as well as a 3–0 away loss to Finland.

2006 World Cup

Petković remained as manager for the team.^[52] Qualifying for the 2006 World Cup resulted in six wins and four draws, with Serbia and Montenegro ending up first in the group with an undefeated record in their qualification group ahead of Spain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania and San Marino. The Serbia and Montenegro team also allowed only one goal in the ten matches, the best defensive record of all 51 teams participating in qualification.

On 3 June 2006, following a referendum, Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia. As the World Cup was about to start, it was decided that the Serbia and Montenegro team that had qualified for the tournament would compete, with the split into separate teams representing the new countries of Montenegro and Serbia to take place once the team was no longer in the tournament.

In the group stage, Serbia and Montenegro lost their opening game to the Netherlands. The final score was 1–0 after Arjen Robben scored the only goal of the game. They also lost their second game to Argentina 6–0, Serbia and Montenegro's worst ever international result. With the team's two losses and with Netherlands and Argentina winning both their games, Serbia and Montenegro could no longer qualify for the knockout matches and was playing for pride alone in their final group game against Ivory Coast. After a 2–0 lead for much of the first half, the Elephants managed to come back and win 3–2, leaving Serbia and Montenegro with no points.^[53]

Euro 2008 campaign

Javier Clemente, Serbia's first-ever foreign coach, was appointed to lead the team for the 2008 Euro campaign.^[54] After Montenegro declared independence, Serbia marked their split from Montenegro with a 3–1 win over the Czech Republic. For the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Serbia was drawn in Group A along with Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan. A strong start in qualification was overshadowed by the final hurdle of matches where inconsistency took over, the side dropping points against the likes of Finland, Belgium, Armenia and Kazakhstan. They eventually finished third, three points behind runners-up Portugal and Group A winners Poland. Clemente was sacked after the team's failure to qualify.^[55]

Serbia replaced Clemente with Miroslav Đukić, who then left the position on 19 August of the following year without having played any official games, due to disagreements with the Football Association of Serbia.^{[citation needed]}

2010 World Cup

Subsequent to Ðukić's departure, Radomir Antić was appointed coach. Serbia's World Cup qualification campaign began in 2008. Their qualification group featured 1998 World Cup winners and 2006 World Cup runners-up France, Romania, as well as Austria, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands. Serbia played consistently during the qualifiers and this led to the team automatically qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. They confirmed qualification with a 5–0 home victory against Romania.

The 2010 World Cup team featured captain Dejan Stanković, who became the only player to feature in a World Cup having played under three different national names (although he never changed nationality; this was a result of geopolitical events involving the identity of Yugoslavia).^[57] They faced Ghana, Germany, Australia.

Their opening group game was against Ghana and chances came to both sides but a red card to Aleksandar Luković and a handball by substitute Zdravko Kuzmanović in the second half gave Ghana a penalty to take all three points at the death. Asamoah Gyan converted eight minutes from full-time and Serbia were defeated 1–0. In Serbia's second group match, they defeated Germany by a score of 1–0 with a goal by Milan Jovanović in the first half. FIFA's official YouTube channel called the win "the most famous day in Serbia's footballing history".^{[58][better source needed]}

Serbia only needed a single point to reach the knockout stages, but was defeated by Australia 2–1. Australia scored two goals in the second half through Tim Cahill and Brett Holman. A late Marko Pantelić goal served only as a consolation. They finished last in the group.^[59][60]

Euro 2012 campaign

Radomir Antić was sacked two games into the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying process, a 1–1 home draw against Slovenia ending his two-year stint. The dismissal meant the bringing in of Vladimir Petrović to the job.

For the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, Serbia was drawn in Group C featuring Italy, Slovenia, Estonia, Northern Ireland and the Faroe Islands. The qualifying stage began with Antić as coach and finished with Vladimir Petrović. Serbia started the first two games with a 3–0 win away to Faroe Islands and a 1–1 draw at home to Slovenia but this result ended Antić's stint as the country's coach.^[61] New coach Petrović faced setbacks with a 3–1 home loss against Estonia^[62] and an abandoned match resulting in a 3–0 loss to Italy due to crowd trouble from the Serbian away supporters in Genoa.^[63]

Serbia returned to form with a 2–1 home victory over Northern Ireland but could only manage a 1–1 away draw against Estonia. Afterwards, Serbia won back to back games with a 1–0 win away to Northern Ireland and a crucial 3–1 home victory against Faroe Islands. These results put Serbia in pole position to confirm a play-off spot behind Italy.

Serbia needed a home victory against Italy to confirm a play-off spot but their efforts only resulted in a 1–1 draw. However, the team still had one more chance to confirm a play-off place when they faced Slovenia away. Serbia also must win the match despite having superior goal difference over Estonia; a draw was not good enough for progression. Neither side played better in the first half, but a long-range goal put Slovenia up 1–0 at half time. In the second half, Nemanja Vidić missed penalty. Serbia left empty-handed after a 1–0 loss and exited the tournament for the third time in a row during the qualifying group stages, missing out by one point behind Estonia. Serbia once again failed to qualify for the European Championships.^[64] Vladimir Petrović was sacked after the team's failure to qualify.

2014 World Cup campaign

Ahead of the qualifying campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Dejan Stanković and Nemanja Vidić announced that they were retiring from international football.^[65][66] Branislav Ivanović became the new captain. Siniša Mihajlović, a former member of the national team, was appointed as the coach on 24 April 2012. Serbia was drawn in Group A in qualification for the 2014 World Cup, together with Croatia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, and Wales. The team began the qualification campaign with a goalless draw with Scotland and a 6–1 win over Wales. In the next two games, Serbia suffered two defeats from Macedonia and Belgium.

On 22 March 2013, Serbia played in Zagreb against Croatia. The game was highly anticipated in both countries due to their rivalry both on and off the pitch. Croatia won 2–0.^[67] Serbia defeated Scotland 2–0 at home in a crucial qualifier, but their World Cup hopes were taken away after a 2–1 defeat to Belgium. Serbia drew with Croatia 1–1 in the corresponding fixture at home, where 18-year-old Aleksandar Mitrović scored an equalizer in the second-half after Mario Mandžukić opened the scoring.^[68] They defeated Wales 3–0 in Cardiff. Dejan Stanković's farewell game was completed in a friendly against Japan, which Serbia won 2–0. He finished his career with 103 appearances for the national team, a record previously held by Savo Milošević, with 102 appearances. Serbia finished qualifying with a 5–1 home win against Macedonia,^[69] putting them in third in the group, three points from a playoff spot behind Croatia and group winners Belgium.

Euro 2016 campaign

After failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, Dick Advocaat was appointed as the coach in 2014.^[70] Serbia was drawn in Group I in qualification for UEFA Euro 2016, together with Portugal, Denmark, Albania and Armenia. Advocaat started with a 1–1 friendly draw against France and began qualification with the same result against Armenia. The following game was a game against Albania in Belgrade, abandoned as a result of crowd trouble after a drone carrying an Albanian flag and a map of Greater Albania was flown over the pitch.^[71] Serbia was originally awarded with a 3–0 victory by UEFA, and deducted three points, but on 10 July 2015, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reversed the earlier decision and awarded Albania a 3–0 victory.^[71] On 14 November 2014, Serbia played against Denmark in Belgrade and lost, 1–3. After this game, Advocaat left,^[72] whereupon Radovan Ćurčić was announced as a new coach on 25 November.^[73]

Serbia's first match in 2015 was a qualifying match against Portugal in Lisbon, during which Serbia lost 2–1, cutting their chances for qualification to Euro 2016. On 13 June 2015, Serbia played a qualifying match against Denmark in Copenhagen, losing 2–0. With the 10 July ruling by CAS on the abandoned game against Albania, Serbia would become mathematically eliminated from Euro 2016 qualification. On 4 September 2015, Serbia had their first victory, winning 2–0, against Armenia. On 8 October 2015, Serbia defeated Albania with a goal each from Aleksandar Kolarov and Adem Ljajić.^[74] In the table of Group I, Serbia finished second to last place with four points in a five-team group.^[75]

2018 World Cup

After failing to qualify for Euro 2016, Slavoljub Muslin was appointed as a coach. Serbia was drawn in Group D in qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup with Euro 2016 semi-finalists Wales, Austria, Ireland, Georgia and Moldova. They started off their campaign with a 2–2 draw against Ireland at the Red Star Stadium and eventually won against Austria, Georgia and Moldova.^{[citation needed]}

Serbia beat Moldova in Belgrade with goals from Aleksandar Kolarov, Aleksandar Mitrović and Mijat Gaćinović. This consolidated their first position going into their top-of-the group clash with Ireland. They won this match with a 55th-minute goal from Kolarov. Serbia finished the qualifying campaign with a 1–0 home win against Georgia, and ended at the top of Group D and therefore qualified for the 2018 tournament. Despite Serbia's qualification, Muslin was sacked by the Football Association of Serbia as a result on differences regarding team selection.^[76] Muslin was criticized for not inviting Sergej Milinković-Savić to play in the campaign which sparked controversy in Serbia. Mladen Krstajić took the place as a temporary coach after Muslin's dismissal and led the team in the World Cup.^[77]

In the World Cup, Serbia opened their match against Costa Rica. Kolarov's free kick at the second half meant Serbia won their first World Cup game in eight years. Serbia lost their later encounters, losing 1–2 to Switzerland with a 90th-minute goal scored by Xherdan Shaqiri^[78] and 0–2 to Brazil, thus being eliminated in the group stage.^[79]

2018–19 UEFA Nations League

Due to the performance of Serbia in previous years, the country found itself started the campaign of the inaugural Nations League, where they were drawn into Group 4 with Montenegro, Lithuania and Romania. With both wins against Lithuania and Montenegro and both draw games against Romania, Serbia finished on top of the group, securing the Euro 2020 play-off spot and being promoted into League B for 2020–21 season. With six goals, Aleksandar Mitrović finished the tournament as the top scorer.

Euro 2020 campaign

In December 2017, Mladen Krstajić became the permanent coach for Serbia.^[80] Serbia started the campaign of 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, which served as a part of UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.

For Euro 2020 qualifiers, Serbia was drawn into Group B with Euro 2016 champions Portugal, Ukraine, Lithuania and Luxembourg. Serbia kicked off the qualifiers with 1–1 away draw against Portugal. However, in the next away game against Ukraine, Serbia lost 5–0. Krstajić was sacked after the loss and replaced with Ljubiša Tumbaković. Tumbaković started with a 2–4 home loss against Portugal. The next two games were away wins against Luxembourg and Lithuania, before beating Luxembourg at home. Serbia then drew 2–2 to Ukraine at home, meaning they could not finish in the top two and a play-off would ensue.

After the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs were resumed, Serbia placed itself against Norway in Oslo. Two goals, one in extra time helped Serbia to overcome Norway 2–1, thus marching to the final playoff game against Scotland at home.^[81] The game was won by Scotland in a penalty shootout (5–4) after the game was tied 1–1 after full time.^[82] Serbia once again failed to qualify for the Euros, making 20 years since the country last took part in the tournament. Tumbaković was sacked after the team's failure to qualify for the tournament.^[83]

2022–23 UEFA Nations League

Serbia was drawn in 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B Group 4 alongside Norway, Sweden and Slovenia, finishing first and being promoted after wins against Sweden at home and Norway in Oslo.

2022 World Cup

Serbia was drawn in Group A in qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan.^[84]

After a penalty shootout loss against Scotland in the Euro 2020 qualifying playoffs, Ljubiša Tumbaković was sacked and replaced with Dragan Stojković.

Serbia started qualification with a 3–2 win against the Republic of Ireland in Belgrade in March 2021. After a 2–2 draw against Portugal, Serbia won against Azerbaijan in Baku 2–1. Mixed results meant Serbia needed a victory against Portugal to qualify directly from the group. On 14 November 2021, Serbia faced Portugal at the Estádio da Luz, and trailed by a goal. However, an equaliser by Dušan Tadić and a decisive goal from Aleksandar Mitrović in the final minutes of the second half meant Serbia automatically booked a ticket for Qatar.^[85]

Serbia was drawn in Group G with 2018 opponents Brazil and Switzerland, as well as African representatives Cameroon. Serbia was defeated in the first match against Brazil 2–0, drew against Cameroon 3–3, and lost against Switzerland 3–2 after a fight between multiple Serbs and Granit Xhaka, ending up with only one point.^[86]

Euro 2024

Following the elimination in the group stage at the 2022 World Cup, Stojković stayed as a coach with a goal to bring Serbia to UEFA Euro 2024.^[87]

Serbia was drawn in Group G in qualification for Euro 2024 with Hungary, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Lithuania.^[88] Serbia started the qualifying campaign with 2–0 wins against Lithuania in Belgrade and Montenegro in Podgorica in March 2023.^[89][90] After a friendly match against Jordan in which Serbia won 3–2, Serbia ended up in a 1–1 draw against Bulgaria in Razgrad. For the next game against Hungary in Belgrade, Serbia was forced to play behind closed doors due to UEFA sanctioning the Serbian association chants against Montenegrins; Serbia eventually lost the game 1–2. The next game was another win against Lithuania in Kaunas, 3–1, with Aleksandar Mitrović scoring a hat-trick. On 14 October 2023, Serbia once again lost against Hungary in Budapest 1–2, but won against Montenegro in Belgrade 3–1 three days later. After the crucial final game against Bulgaria at home which ended in a 2–2 draw, Serbia ended the campaign in second place in group G with 14 points, qualifying for their first European Championship as an independent nation and in 24 years.^[91]

In the tournament, Serbia was drawn into group C with England, Slovenia and Denmark. They lost 1–0 to England in the first game.^[92] They followed that up with a 1–1 draw with Slovenia, after Luka Jović scored a last minute equalizer in extra time.^[93] They needed to beat Denmark in their last group stage match in order to advance, but came up with a 0–0 draw, resulting in their elimination.^[94]