1920-29|1930-39| 1940-49|1950-59| 1960-69|1970-79| 1980-89|1990-99| 2000-09
Yugoslavia 1920-1992
Bosnia-Herzegovina|
Croatia|
Macedonia|
Slovenia|
Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro (Serbia|Montenegro)
The South Slavs (or Yugoslavs) are one of the five major ethnic groups of
the Balkan Peninsula, incorporating the Serb, Croat, and Slovene peoples.
Although the movement for political unification of these people dated back
to at least the early 19th century, the South Slavs had historically been
separated and controlled by various neighboring powers, such as Turkey,
Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Political entities in the period
leading up to World War I (1914-1918) included the independent states of
Serbia (including teritory of FYRM, but without Vojvodina) and Montenegro,
mainly inhabited by Serbs, with some Turk and Albanian minorities; Bosnia
and Herzegovina under the sovereignty of Austria-Hungary, inhabited by
Serbs, Croats, and Turk decendents (given the status of muslem nation in
Tito's era); Croatia and Slavonia, a semiautonomous dependency of Hungary
and later an Austrian crown land, inhabited by Croats with Serbian,
Hungarian, and German minorities; and Dalmatia, a possession of Austria,
mainly inhabited by Croats, with some Italians and Serbs. But despite these
divisions and profound ethnic and cultural differences among the South
Slavs, the desire for statehood remained strong. The assassination of
Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria by a Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip
touched off World War I, as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in 1914.
Occupation of Serbia by the Central Powers coalition during World War I and
the subsequent formation, by South Slavs in exile, of a committee for
national unity paved the way for creation of the Yugoslav state. The
political principles for unity were enunciated in the Corfu Declaration in
1917, signed by representatives of the committee and of the Serbian
government in exile. Essentially, the declaration provided for the
establishment of a federated constitutional monarchy under the
Karadjordjevic line of Serbian kings. The disintegration of the dual
monarchy of Austria-Hungary in the final months of World War I gave
tremendous impetus to the South Slav independence movement. In October 1918
representatives from the various South Slav dependencies under Austrian and
Hungarian sovereignty assembled at Zagreb. After organizing a provisional
government, the delegates approved a resolution for union with Serbia. The
national assembly of Montenegro took similar action in November. Alexander,
Prince of Serbia, pending recovery of his ailing father, King Peter I
Karadjordjevic of Serbia, accepted the regency of the provisional
government on December 1, 1918. The new state, officially titled the
Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, was then proclaimed.
Subsequently, Football Federation was founded in 1919, even though the
first club had been founded in Subotica in 1901: FK Backa. The club was
presented to the public in a friendly game against Hungarian side TK
Mohacs. In 1903 Beograd and Zagreb got their first football babies: Soko
(Seagull) and HA?K (Hrvatski Akademski ?portski Klub - Croatian Academic
Sport Club). Football gained a lot of popularity, so clubs were founded in
Ljubljana (Ilirija), Kragujevac (?umadija), Novi Sad (NAK), Sarajevo
(Gradjanski), Varazdin (VG?K), Split (Hajduk), Beograd (BSK, Jugoslavija,
BASK...), Zagreb (Gradjanski, Concordia, Akademija, PNI?K)...
Yugoslav national team played its first international game at Olympic
Tournament in Antwerp in 1920. Two heavy defeats and last place at the
tournament, followed by moderate plays at Olympics in Paris and Amsterdam,
did not discourage football pioneers. National team kept playing friendlies
and local tournaments (Balkan Cup, Neoghoring Countries Cup), and in 1930
participated at First World Cup in Uruguay.
First national championship took place in 1923 and the winners were
Gradjanski Zagreb. Until World War II, Gradjanski and BSK Beograd won five
titles a piece and provided major backbone for national team. In 1929, the
headquarters of FSJ (Fudbalski Savez Jugoslavije - Yugoslav Football
Federation) were moved from Zagreb to Beograd. Antagonism between Serbian
and Croatian officials erupted twice. First in 1930, when Croatian clubs
prohibited their players to play for national team, and then in 1933 when
championship was not held, since the clubs could not agree on competition
system.
During World War II, there was no national competition or international
games. Semiautonomous Croatia played some games with their nazi allies:
Germany, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. Communist
authorities were looking for an affirmation through football as well.
Hajduk Split (converted to National Army team) played some friendlies with
English allies and visited Italy and Egypt. Some famous players joined
Serbian Royal Army (Chetniks), communsists or Croatian Ustashi, and lost
their lives. The most famous football victim was Milutin Ivkovic, 1930
World Cup hero, who had earned 39 caps for national team.
After World War II, majority of clubs had to change their names or ceased
to exist. Among the survivors, Hajduk Split, Vojvodina, and BSK were the
most prominent sides. Gradjanski, Concordia and HA?K Zagreb unofficially
merged to Dinamo Zagreb, Crvena zvezda started playing at the gound of SK
Jugoslavija, Yugoslav Army founded Partizan Beograd. Most of newly founded
clubs had politically correct names: Sloboda (Freedom), Napredak
(Progress), Metalac (Metal worker), Radnik (Laborer), Radnicki (Workers'
Club), Buducnost (Future), Proleter (Communist), Rudar (Miner), Zeljeznicar
(Rail worker)...
Yugoslavia hosted European Championship finals in 1976. Czechoslovakia
surprisingly won it, leaving Germany F.R., Netherlands and Yugolsavia
behind. Crvena zvezda stadion, the biggest stadium in the country, built in
1964, hosted the final game, as well as European Champions Cup final in
1973, when Ajax defeated Juventus.
Although Yugoslav national team has always had very respected players and
coaches, the greatest achievement at World Cup came in 1930. Even though
majority of European football forces did not bother participating, the
victory over Brazil and third place shared with USA, remained the greatest
success in World Cup history. Due to high insurances requested by Croatian
clubs, national team ended up fielding all players from Beograd clubs with
two professionals playing in France. One Croat, though, was one of the best
scorers of the tournament. It was Ivan Bek. The squad could have definitely
used some help from some important players (goalkeeper Maksimilijan
Mihelcic, central defender Danijel Premerl and forward Antun Bonacic) from
Croatian clubs. Aleksandar Tirnanic, Milorad Arsenijevic, Milutin Ivkovic
and Blagoje Marjanovic were the legends of Yugoslav football at that
competition. Yugoslavia participated at nine final tournaments and reached
semi-finals again in 1962. Drazen Jerkovic was the joint topscorer of the
tournament, and Dragoslav ?ekularac ("Enfant Terrible") was elected in the
best team of the championship. Four more times, "Plavi" (the "Blues")
reached 1/4 finals (1954, 1958, 1974, and 1990), failing to qualify to the
second round just twice (in 1950 and 1982).
Yugoslavia had more success at European Championships. They reached finals
twice (in 1960 and 1968), and semi-finals once, in 1976. Yugoslavia played
Soviet Union in 1960 finals, and lost in overtime. Eight years later,
Dragan Dzajic was the topscorer of the tournament in Italy. His free kick
against world champions England put Yugoslavia through to the finals for
the second time. Host country Italy needed two games (and some help from
Swiss referee, according to some sources) to overcome "Plavi" at Stadio
Olimpico in Rome. Fourth place at 1976 championship, played in Beograd and
Zagreb was considered a disaster. Yugoslavia had a comfortable 2:0 lead
over rulling European and World champions, but within last 15 minutes
Germans managed to come back and eliminate Yugoslavia in overtime.
Brightest moments for Yugoslav football came in Olympic Games. Yugoslavia
won Olympic tournament in Rome in 1960, and reached finals three more times
(1948, 1952, and 1956). One bronze medal (1984) and fourth place (1980)
make Yugoslav total of five Olympic medals equal to Hungary and Soviet
Union. Until 1972, there was no segregation between Olympic and A team.
Since then, they operate as two different selections.
Yugoslav U-21 team won the Youth World Cup in Chile in 1987 (known as
"Cileanci" - Chile boys). Their rise at full international level was
stopped by civil war in 1991. Undoubtedly best generation of Yugoslav
football was banned from international competition in the eve of Euro'92.
They returned to France'98, but some of them were already out of the peak
of their careers. Savicevic, Mijatovic, Jugovic, and Mihajlovic missed
major international competitions while playing the best football of their
careers in Milan, Real Madrid, Sampdoria, Roma and other leading European
clubs. Suker, Boban, Prosinecki, Jarni and Stimac, on the other hand,
started playing for their new homeland - Croatia.
At club level, Yugoslav teams started playing important role in European
football at the very beginning of European club competitions. In only
second edition of European Champions Cup in 1957, Crvena zvezda reached the
semi-finals. More successes arrived in the sixties. Dinamo Zagreb (founded
as HA?K, today known as Croatia Zagreb), won Fairs Cup in 1967 and reached
the finals in 1963. Great players like Drazan Jerkovic, Vladimir Markovic
and Slaven Zambata showed their class in international competitions and at
national team, but could not win a domestic title. It was the era of
Partizan Beograd, who reached European Champions finals in 1966. Partizan
could easily field two lineups of players who played for national team.
Goalkeeper Milutin Soskic, defenders Fahrudin Jusufi and Velibor Vasovic,
and striker Milan Galic were the best players of the generation. In
seventies, Crvena zvezda lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1979 UEFA Cup
finals. Non-typical Yugoslav team, who did not base its strength on fine
technical skills, but rather on team play, discipline, energy, speed and
stamina (they were always behind and three times their winning goal was
scored in last three minutes). Midfield captain Vladimir Petrovic and
prolific striker Dusan Savic were the leader of that generation. After some
moderate results in eighties (three UEFA Cup semi-finals, Radnicki Nis in
1982, Hajduk Split in 1984 and Zeljeznicar Sarajevo in 1985), Crvena zvezda
Beograd won European Champions Cup and Intercontinental Cup in 1991. Club
with major Serbian stars Savicevic, Mihajlovic and Jugovic, enforced by
likes of Romanian Serb Belodedici, Croatian Prosinecki, Bosnian
Sabanadzovic, and Macedonians Pancev and Najdoski, swept through the
competition without a defeat.
Since 1920, Yugoslavia had 23 coaches and 13 coaching commissions (see the
list of national coaches). Aleksandar Tirnanic was on national team bench
for record 125 times (from 1946 to 1967, independently, or as a member of
various commissions).
Dragan Dzajic played record 85 games for national team, from 1964 to 1979
(see the list of players with most caps). The best scorer in the history of
Yugoslav national team is Stjepan Bobek, with 38 goals (see the list of
players with most goals).
Yugoslav players earned call-ups to various international selections. In
1953 England played "The Rest of Europe" on behalf of ninetieth anniversary
of English Football Association. Zlatko Cajkovski, Branko Zebec, Bernard
Vukas, and Vladimir Beara were selected in European team. After them,
Vujadin Boskov, Milutin Soskic, Dragan Dzajic, Enver Maric, Josip Skoblar,
Petar Krivokuca, Miroslav Pavlovic, Josip Katalinski, Dragan Pantelic,
Safet Susic, Vladimir Petrovic, Nenad Stojkovic, Vahid Halilhodzic, Ivica
Surjak, Velimir Zajec, and Slavisa Jokanovic played in numerous selections
over past several decades.
While playing for Olympique Marseille, Josip Skoblar became first Yugoslav
player to win Golden Boot award in 1971. Darko Pancev, topscorer of Crvena
zvezda golden generation, scored record 34 goals in 1990/91 season. Dragan
Dzajic was placed third at France Football's "European Footballer of the
Year Award" in 1968. In 1991, Dejan Savicevic and Darko Pancev were tied
for second place with Lotthar Matthäus, and in 1997, Predrag Mijatovic was
placed second. Same weekly gave Yugoslavia "European Team of the Year"
award in 1979. Six straight victories and gold medal at Mediterranean Games
in Split helped them achieve that award.
Today, former Yugoslavia is divided into five countries: F.R. Yugoslavia,
Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and F.Y.R. Macedonia. They are
separate countries, separate football associations, separate leagues,
separate national teams. The future of football organization in
Bosnia-Herzegovina is still undetermined. Republika Srpska (Serbian part
of Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Herceg-Bosna (Croatian part) have their own
separate leagues, but no national teams. Best players tend to play for
Yugoslav and Croatian teams respectively. The only Bosnian Serbs who played
for Yugoslav national team are Zaragoza strike Savo Milosevic and
occasional starter Risto Vidakovic, while Mario Stanic is irreplaceable
member of Croatian national team.
National team games on this page have been presented in the following
format:
1st line: game number, venue, stadium name (if available), date, purpose
(see the list of abbreviations), attendance, and referee. Ex: #500,
Beograd, Stadion Crvene zvezde, Oct 31, ECQ, A: 11,422, R: Aron Schmidhuber
(GFR)
2nd line: result, with half-time. Ex: Yugoslavia - Austria 4-1 (2-1)
3rd line: Yugoslav lineup with players' first and last name, number of
appearances, and clubs where they played (see the list of abbreviations),
coach name. Ex: Tomislav Ivkovic (Sporting Lisaboã, Por) 33, Zoran Vulic
(Mallorca, Spa) 21, Predrag Spasic (Real M, Spa) 25, Srecko Katanec
(Sampdoria, Ita) 30, Faruk Hadzibegic (Sochaux, Fra) 52, Davor Jozic
(Cesena, Ita) 24, Robert Prosinecki (Czv) 12, Safet Susic (PSG, Fra) 53,
Darko Pancev (Czv) 19, Mehmed Bazdarevic (Sochaux, Fra) 45, Zlatko Vujovic
(PSG, Fra) 69 - Coach Ivan Osim 46
4th line: substitutions, with minutes when they were made (if available).
Ex: 46' Robert Jarni (Haj) 3 for Katanec, 66' Zvonimir Boban (Dzg) 4 for
Susic
5th line: opponent lineup (if available) with substitutions in the
brackets. Ex: AUT: Konsel, Aigner, Pecl, Streiter, Schöttel, Reisinger,
Artner, Herzog (46' Linzmeier), Hörtnagl, Ogris (56' Pacult), Polster
6th line: scorers (either by sequence of goals, or devided by team). Ex:
0-1 Ogris (14'), 1-1 Darko Pancev 9th (31'), 2-1 Srecko Katanec 7th (43'),
3-1 Darko Pancev 10th (52'), 4-1 Darko Pancev 11th (86')
7th line: comments regarding bookings or ejections (if available)
Even though every effort has been made, the author of these pages cannot
guarantee 100% accuracy of data. He would therefore urge all readers and
other RSSSF members to advise him on any mistakes and discrepancies at:
mmiladinovich@sprint.ca
Our goal is after all, to create the most complete and most accurate
football server in the world.
Data has been compiled from the following sources:
1. Several editions (1988-1989, 1989-1990, 1990-1991, 1991-1992) of
"Almanah YU-fudbal", yearbook issued by Belgrade weekly "Tempo". The author
of Yugoslav national team data base was Aleksandar Konstantinovic.
2. "Almanah FSJ 1978-86", yearbook issued by FSJ in 1989, Part 1 and 2
(details about games between 1978 and 1986. The author of Yugoslav national
team data base was Milos Marinkovic.
2. "Zlatna knjiga nogometa" (Golden Book of Football), issued by
"Prosvjeta", Zagreb in 1983. The information used pertains to some opponent
lineups, especially the ones in World Cup, Olympics and European
Championships.
3. "Euro 84", special edition of magazine "Reporter", published on the eve
of European Championship in France 1984. European Championship final
tournaments and qualifications details have been used.
4. "Italia 90", special edition of magazine "SN Revija", published in
Zagreb on the eve of World Cup in Italy 1990. Details about World Cup
appereances have been used.
5. "Annuario Illustrato del Calcio", published by "Edizione Panini" in 1997
(details about games against Italy)
6. Various issues of "World Soccer", "France Football", "Gazzetta dello
Sport", "Sportski zurnal", "Sport", "Tempo", "Novine"...
7. "Fudbalska reprezentacija Jugoslavije", book published by FSJ in 1999.
Authors are Radisav Gvozdenovic and Vasa Stojkovic
8. Internet sites: www.sport.co.yu, www.fsj.co.yu, www.uefa.org, and
www.beograd.com (general information about games played in the last couple
of years)
These pages would not contain this much information without generous help
of the following RSSSF members, who provided opponent lineups and general
info about the games Yugoslavia played against the following countries:
Lars Arhus - Norway
Luis Javier Bravo - Spain
Jean-Michel Cazal - varia
Karsten Dähn - Germanies
Guy de Dekker - Belgium
Miron Goihman - Soviet Union and Romania
Andrei Libin - Soviet Union
Roberto Mamrud and Julio Macías - Argentina
Mike D. Raney - Soviet Union
Karel Stokkermans - Austria, Netherlands, and Romania
Bernd Timermann - Germanies
Specail thanks Didier Fort and Igor Kramarsic who filled in the blanks :)
I have also used information from existing RSSSF pages, created by:
Marcelo Leme de Arruda - Brazil
Søren Elbech and Jimmie Thomsen - Denmark
Jean-Michel Cazal - France
Gwidon Naskrent - Poland and World Cup
John Maxwell - Scotland
Various - Olympic Games
Also, some gentlemen who are not RSSSF members contributed information:
Borislav Bajagic - crosschecking data after 1992 and opponent lineups
Julio César Gard - Uruguay
Competitions abbreviations:
BC: Balkan Cup
BIC: Brazil Independence Cup
CC: Carlsberg Cup
DC: Danube Cup
DrG: Dr Gerö Cup
EC: European Championship Finals
ECQ: European Championship Qualifications
F: Friendly Match
KAC: King Aleksandar Cup (also known as Neighbornig Countries Cup)
KiC: Kirin Cup
KoC: Korea Cup
NC: Nehru Cup
OG: Olympic Tournament
OGQ: Olympic qualifications
WC: World Cup Finals
WCQ: World Cup Qualifications
Clubs abbreviation:
Bac - Backa Subotica
Bas - BASK Beograd
Bbl - Borac Banja Luka
Bsk - Beogradski SK Beograd
Bud - Buducnost Podgorica (formerly: Titograd)
Con - Concordia Zagreb
Cuk - Cukaricki Beograd
Czv - Crvena zvezda Beograd
Dvk - Dinamo (now: Cibalia) Vinkovci
Dzg - Dinamo (formerly HASK Gradjanski, now: Croatia) Zagreb
Gra - Gradjanski Zagreb
Haj - Hajduk Split
Has - HASK Zagreb
Ili - Ilirija Ljubljana
Jug - SK Jugoslavija Beograd
Lok - Lokomotiva Zagreb
Nap - Napredak Krusevac
Obi - Obilic Beograd
Ofk - OFK Beograd
Oli - Olimpija Ljubljana
Osi - NK Osijek
Par - Partizan Beograd
Pos - Proleter Osijek
Pri - FK Pristina
Pro - Proleter Zrenjanin
Rad - Rad Beograd
Rbg - Radnicki Beograd
Rij - NK Rijeka
Rkg - Radnicki Kragujevac
Rns - Radnicki Nis
San - SAND Subotica
Sar - FK Sarajevo
Slo - Sloboda Tuzla
Sls - Slavija Sarajevo
Sos - Slavija Osijek
Spa - Spartak Subotica
Sut - Sutjeska Niksic
Tre - Tresnjevka Zagreb
Var - Vardar Skopje
Vel - Velez Mostar
Voj - Vojvodina Novi Sad
Zag - NK Zagreb
Zel - Zeljeznicar Sarajevo
Zem - FK Zemun (formerly: Galenika)
Foreign clubs are indicated in full, usually using their best known name.
The games are presented in the following format: Game number, venue, date, stadium name (if available), game status/purpose (competition, friendly, etc.), attendance (if available), referee (if available): #558, Skopje (Mac), February 23, friendly, attendance: 10,000, referee: Atanas Uzunov (Bulgaria) Result, with halftime: Macedonia - Yugoslavia 1-2 (0-2) Lineups. The Yugoslav players have their first and last names, clubs they play for and approximate number of appearances. The players within large brackets are the ones that came in as substitutes for the players that are labeled just before them. The opponent’s lineups are also listed for most games. The goalkeeper always appears first on the list. YUG: Ivica Kralj (Eindhoven, Hol) 30 [Zeljko Cicovic (Las Palmas, Spa) 1], Nenad Sakic (Sampdoria, Ita) 2 [Drazen Bolic (Salernitana, Ita) 7], Goran Djorovic 39 (Celta Vigo, Spa) [Mladen Krstajic (Partizan) 3], Slavisa Jokanovic (Deportivo La Coruna, Spa) 48 [Nisa Saveljic (Bordeaux, Fra) 26], Miroslav Djukic (Valencia) 35, Nenad Grozdic (Vitesse, Hol) 7, Vladimir Jugovic (Inter, Ita) 32 [Predrag Djordjevic (Olympiakos, Gre) 3], Predrag Mijatovic (Fiorentina, Ita) 45, Savo Milosevic (Real Zaragoza, Spa) 43, Darko Kovacevic (Juventus, Ita) 33, Ljubinko Drulovic (Porto, Por) 25, Sinisa Mihajlovic (Lazio, Ita) 41 [Goran Bunjevcevic (Red Star) 2] – coach: Vujadin Boskov 37 MAC: Nikolov (Milosevski), Stavrevski, Gerasimovski (Memedi), Stojanovski, Nikolovski, Babunski (Karanfilovski), Serafimovski (Miserdovski), Lazarovski, Hristov (Beqiri), Ciric (Georgievski), Shaqiri (Petrov) Goals: Mijatovic (20’, 42’); Karanfilovski (77’) Booked: Djorovic, Mihajlovic (Yug), Stojanoski (Mac) A lot of effort was put into this page, but sometimes the data might not be 100% accurate. Yugoslavia played an unofficial match against the Hong Kong League in 1997 and some of the players who played in that match might not have been credited for that appearance on this site. However, as far as I know, players were awarded caps for that match. The friendly against the Hong Kong League in 2000 was also unofficial and players were not awarded caps for that match. Special thanks for other sources used: www.fsj.co.yu www.rsssf.com www.homepage2.nifty.com/yugoslavia/player/ www.serbia-info.com www.serbia.sr.gov.yu www.blic.co.yu www.glas-javnosti.co.yu www.danas.co.yu www.politika.co.yu www.uefa.com www.euro2004.com www.fifa.com
Prepared and maintained by Misha Miladinovich and Sinisha Nikolic for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Misha Miladinovich (1920-1999)
(miladinovich_misha at yahoo.com)
and Sinisha Nikolic (2000-2009)
nikolic_s@hotmail.com
Last updated: 11 Feb 2016
(C) Copyright Misha Miladinovich, Sinisha Nikolic and RSSSF 1998/2016
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the authors. All rights reserved.