The ‘Sbornaya’ (one of Russia’s national team nicknames) will not be playing at Qatar 2022 and there are still people wondering why. But this is not the first time Russia has missed out on a World Cup.
The first time the Russians played in a FIFA World Cup was during the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, and during that time they were the Soviet Union. It wasn’t until 1994 that they played as the country they are today, Russia.
During the previous 2018 World Cup in Russia, they reached the Quarter-Finals thanks to five wins, two draws and two losses. Before that World Cup they played in 2014 and were eliminated in the Group Stage.
Why did Russia not qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?
Russia could have qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar if they had wanted to, but things got out of hand after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, and due to that aggressive conflict Russia suffered a suspension from UEFA (their confederation) and that prevented them from continuing to play during the European Qualifiers.
Russia has good players, many of them do not agree with UEFA’s suspension, they are not even in favor of the war, but unfortunately that measure also affected the national team.
If the war ends before the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers to play in the 2026 edition, it is likely that UEFA, FIFA and other sports organizations will lift the suspension.