Belarus national football team

Belarus
Nickname(s)	Белыя крылы / Bielyia kryly; (The White Wings)
Association	Football Federation of Belarus
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Carlos Alós
Captain	Yevgeny Yablonsky
Most caps	Alyaksandr Kulchy (102)
Top scorer	Maksim Romaschenko (20)
Home stadium	Dinamo Stadium, Minsk
FIFA code	BLR
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	99 1 (18 July 2024)
Highest	36 (February 2011)
Lowest	142 (March 1994)
First international
	Unofficial:; Lithuania 1–1 Belarus ; (Vilnius, Lithuania; 20 July 1992); Official:; Belarus 1–1 Ukraine ; (Minsk, Belarus; 28 October 1992)
Biggest win
	Belarus 5–0 Lithuania ; (Minsk, Belarus; 7 June 1998); Belarus 6–1 Tajikistan ; (Borisov, Belarus; 4 September 2014); Belarus 5–0 San Marino ; (Minsk, Belarus; 8 September 2018)
Biggest defeat
	Belgium 8–0 Belarus ; (Leuven, Belgium; 30 March 2021)

The Belarus national football team (Belarusian: Зборная Беларусі па футболе, romanized: Zbornaja Biełarusi pa futbole; Russian: Сборная Беларуси по футболу, romanized: Sbornaya Belarusi po futbolu) represents Belarus in men's international football, and is controlled by the Football Federation of Belarus, the governing body for football in Belarus. Belarus' home ground is Dinamo Stadium in Minsk. Since independence in 1991, Belarus has not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship.

History

After the split of the Soviet Union, Belarus played their first match against Lithuania on 20 July 1992.^[3] Before that, a number of Belarusian players played for the Soviet Union national team. The first FIFA-recognized international was a friendly against Ukraine on 28 October 1992, and their first win came in a match against Luxembourg on 12 October 1994.

Belarus have never qualified for either the FIFA World Cup, or the UEFA European Championship. The team were defeated by Wales in the last 2002 group stage match, missing the chance to overtake Ukraine, who drew their last game, finishing the group second.

Their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign was very unsuccessful as Belarus lost seven of their eight games.

Belarus achieved some success in minor tournaments. In 2002, the team defeated Russia and Ukraine to win the LG Cup. In 2004 and 2008, they won the 12th and 14th editions of the Malta International Tournament, respectively.

Belarus won their group in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D that contained Luxembourg, Moldova, and San Marino, and qualified for the country's first-ever playoffs after they finished fourth in their group during UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, and the team was scheduled to play against Georgia. However, they lost 1–0, missing out on a place at Euro 2020.^[4]^[5]

Due to Belarusian involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UEFA, the European governing body for football, banned Belarusian national and club teams from hosting international matches and competitions while allowing the Belarusian club and national team to play competitively, albeit at a neutral ground and behind closed doors.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Team image

Nickname

In August 2016, the Football Federation announced that the team's nickname would be the "White Wings".^[9] The name was influenced by the book The Land Beneath White Wings [be] (1977) by Belarusian writer Uladzimir Karatkievich. The BFF's marketing and communications director said: "We are looking at various ways of establishing links with our literary heritage and cultural traditions", commenting that "If the Belarusian people opt to associate the team with Karatkevich, almost every phrase in the book can be used as a hashtag!"^[10]

Home venue

The team played the majority of its home matches at the Dinamo Stadium in Minsk. In late 2012 Dinamo Stadium was closed for renovation and the team started alternating between different home venues.

Since September 2021, Central Stadium in Kazan, Russia is the home venue because of travel sanctions imposed after an incident with Ryanair Flight 4978.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Kit

In 2011, home colors were changed to all red. All-White became the home colour a short time later and now appears with the pattern on the Belarus flag, with the away kit being in Black in 2016, also using an adidas template and placing the flag pattern on it.

Kit suppliers

Kit provider	Period
Umbro	2002–2004
Puma	2004–2012
Adidas	2012–2018
Macron	2018–2022
Erreà	2022–present

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Win Draw Loss Fixture

2023

9 September UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Andorra	0–0	Belarus	Andorra la Vella, Andorra
18:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Estadi Nacional Attendance: 1,026 Referee: Eldorjan Hamiti (Albania)

12 September UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Israel	1–0	Belarus	Tel Aviv, Israel
21:45 UTC+3	Kanichowsky 90+3'	Report		Stadium: Bloomfield Stadium Attendance: 28,435 Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (Spain)

12 October UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Belarus	0–0	Romania	Budapest, Hungary
20:45		Report		Stadium: Szusza Ferenc Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway)

15 October UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Switzerland	3–3	Belarus	St. Gallen, Switzerland
18:00 UTC+2	Shaqiri 28' Akanji 89' Amdouni 90'	Report	Ebong 61' Polyakov 69' Antilevsky 84'	Stadium: Kybunpark Attendance: 17,000 Referee: João Pinheiro (Portugal)

18 November UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Belarus	1–0	Andorra	Budapest, Hungary
18:00	Laptev 83'	Report		Stadium: Szusza Ferenc Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Bulat Sariyev (Kazakhstan)

21 November UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Kosovo	0–1	Belarus	Pristina, Kosovo
20:45 UTC+2		Report	Antilevsky 43'	Stadium: Fadil Vokrri Stadium Attendance: 5,026 Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria)

2024

21 March Friendly	Montenegro	2–0	Belarus	Antalya, Turkey
21:00 UTC+3	Marušić 27' Krstović 45'	Report		Stadium: Mardan Sports Complex Referee: Kadir Sağlam (Turkey)

26 March Friendly	Malta	0–0	Belarus	Ta' Qali, Malta
19:00 UTC+1		Report		Stadium: National Stadium Referee: Martin Dohál (Slovakia)

7 June Friendly	Belarus	0–4	Russia	Minsk, Belarus
20:00		Report	Oblyakov 8' Tyukavin 20' Chalov 63', 69'	Stadium: Dinamo Stadium Attendance: 21,483 Referee: Rustam Omarov (Kazakhstan)

11 June Friendly	Belarus	0–4	Israel	Budapest, Hungary^{[note 1]}
18:00 UTC+2		Report	Melamed 7' Safouri 18' Shlomo 36' Kna'an 82'	Stadium: Szusza Ferenc Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)

5 September UEFA Nations League C	Belarus	v	Bulgaria	TBD^{[note 2]}
20:45				Stadium: TBD

8 September UEFA Nations League C	Luxembourg	v	Belarus	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
15:00				Stadium: Stade de Luxembourg

12 October UEFA Nations League C	Belarus	v	Northern Ireland	TBD^{[note 2]}
20:45				Stadium: TBD

15 October UEFA Nations League C	Belarus	v	Luxembourg	TBD^{[note 2]}
20:45				Stadium: TBD

15 November UEFA Nations League C	Northern Ireland	v	Belarus	Larne, Northern Ireland
19:45				Stadium: Inver Park

18 November UEFA Nations League C	Bulgaria	v	Belarus	Razgrad, Bulgaria
21:45				Stadium: Ludogorets Arena

Coaching history

As of 11 June 2024

Manager	Career	Games Managed	Wins	Draws	Loses	Goals
Mikhail Vergeyenko	1992–1994, 1997–1999	24	2	6	16	22–40
Sergei Borovsky	1994–1996, 1999–2000	26	4	9	13	21–43
Eduard Malofeyev	2000–2003	22	10	5	7	31–31
Valery Streltsov (caretaker)	2002	1	0	0	1	0–3
Anatoly Baidachny	2003–2005	22	10	4	8	34–29
Yury Puntus	2006–2007	14	3	4	7	19–26
Bernd Stange	2007–2011	49	17	14	18	65–54
Georgy Kondratyev	2011–2014, 2021–2023	49	14	11	24	54–67
Andrei Zygmantovich (caretaker)	2014	2	1	0	1	3–5
Alyaksandr Khatskevich	2014–2016	18	6	6	6	14–19
Igor Kriushenko	2017–2019	25	8	4	13	23–37
Mikhail Markhel	2019–2021	18	7	3	9	23–35
Oleg Radushko (caretaker)	2021	1	0	0	1	0–2
Carlos Alós	2023–Present	10	2	4	4	5–14
Total:	1992–Present	282	84	70	128	314–406

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for UEFA Nations League matches against Bulgaria and Luxembourg on 5 and 8 September 2024.

Caps and goals are correct as of 11 June 2024, after the game against Israel.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Pavel Pavlyuchenko	(1998-01-01) 1 January 1998 (age 26)	14	0	Pakhtakor
1GK	Sergey Ignatovich	(1992-06-29) 29 June 1992 (age 32)	9	0	Ordabasy
1GK	Fyodor Lapoukhov	(2003-06-20) 20 June 2003 (age 21)	1	0	Dinamo Minsk

2DF	Alyaksandr Martynovich	(1987-08-26) 26 August 1987 (age 37)	75	2	Kairat
2DF	Denis Polyakov	(1991-04-17) 17 April 1991 (age 33)	64	2	Dinamo Minsk
2DF	Kiryl Pyachenin	(1997-03-18) 18 March 1997 (age 27)	29	0	Krylia Sovetov Samara
2DF	Zakhar Volkov	(1997-08-12) 12 August 1997 (age 27)	17	0	Khimki
2DF	Sergey Karpovich	(1994-03-29) 29 March 1994 (age 30)	11	0	Neman Grodno
2DF	Aleksandr Pavlovets	(1996-08-13) 13 August 1996 (age 28)	10	0	Ararat-Armenia
2DF	Pavel Zabelin	(1995-06-30) 30 June 1995 (age 29)	1	0	Sokol Saratov
2DF	Ilya Moskalenchik	(2003-05-04) 4 May 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Alania Vladikavkaz

3MF	Vladislav Klimovich	(1996-06-12) 12 June 1996 (age 28)	39	1	Diósgyőr
3MF	Max Ebong	(1999-08-26) 26 August 1999 (age 25)	38	5	Astana
3MF	Yevgeny Yablonsky	(1995-05-10) 10 May 1995 (age 29)	36	3	Asteras Tripolis
3MF	Yury Kavalyow	(1993-01-27) 27 January 1993 (age 31)	22	1	Baltika Kaliningrad
3MF	Valery Gromyko	(1997-01-23) 23 January 1997 (age 27)	17	1	Kairat
3MF	Aleksandr Selyava	(1992-05-17) 17 May 1992 (age 32)	10	0	Dinamo Minsk
3MF	Kirill Kaplenko	(1999-06-15) 15 June 1999 (age 25)	9	0	Khimki
3MF	Maksim Kireev	(2004-07-09) 9 July 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Lierse

4FW	Ivan Bakhar	(1998-07-10) 10 July 1998 (age 26)	29	2	Dinamo Minsk
4FW	Dmitry Antilevsky	(1997-06-12) 12 June 1997 (age 27)	13	2	Hapoel Haifa
4FW	Yevgeny Shikavka	(1992-10-15) 15 October 1992 (age 31)	2	0	Korona Kielce
4FW	German Barkovsky	(2002-06-25) 25 June 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Dinamo Brest
4FW	Trofim Melnichenko	(2006-09-18) 18 September 2006 (age 17)	0	0	Dinamo Minsk

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Belarus squad during last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Yevgeny Abramovich	(1995-09-17) 17 September 1995 (age 28)	0	0	Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
GK	Mikhail Kozakevich	(2002-05-19) 19 May 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Dinamo Brest	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
GK	Andrey Kudravets	(2003-09-02) 2 September 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Dynamo Moscow	v. Montenegro, 21 March 2024 ^INJ
GK	Konstantin Rudenok	(1990-12-15) 15 December 1990 (age 33)	0	0	Bumprom Gomel	v. Kosovo, 21 November 2023
GK	Maksim Plotnikov	(1998-01-29) 29 January 1998 (age 26)	6	0	Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	v. Israel, 12 September 2023

DF	Sergey Politevich	(1990-04-09) 9 April 1990 (age 34)	45	1	Dinamo Minsk	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
DF	Roman Yuzepchuk	(1997-07-24) 24 July 1997 (age 27)	23	1	Sokol Saratov	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
DF	Vladislav Malkevich	(1999-12-04) 4 December 1999 (age 24)	16	1	Ural Yekaterinburg	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
DF	Yegor Parkhomenko	(2003-01-07) 7 January 2003 (age 21)	3	0	Neman Grodno	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
DF	Denis Levitsky	(1997-02-05) 5 February 1997 (age 27)	1	0	Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
DF	Maksim Kasarab	(2003-06-10) 10 June 2003 (age 21)	1	0	Dinamo Brest	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
DF	Aleksey Zalesky	(1994-10-07) 7 October 1994 (age 29)	0	0	Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
DF	Pavel Chikida	(1995-06-21) 21 June 1995 (age 29)	0	0	Slavia Mozyr	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
DF	Gleb Shevchenko	(1999-02-17) 17 February 1999 (age 25)	16	0	Torpedo Moscow	v. Malta, 26 March 2024
DF	Danila Nechayev	(1999-10-30) 30 October 1999 (age 24)	9	0	Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	v. Malta, 26 March 2024
DF	Leo Kapilevich	(2003-08-02) 2 August 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Sevilla Atlético	v. Israel, 12 September 2023
DF	Gleb Yakushevich	(2002-07-31) 31 July 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Shinnik Yaroslavl	v. Andorra, 9 September 2023 ^PRE

MF	Nikita Korzun	(1995-03-06) 6 March 1995 (age 29)	26	0	Elimai	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
MF	Valery Bocherov	(2000-08-10) 10 August 2000 (age 24)	14	0	Ural Yekaterinburg	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
MF	Artyom Kontsevoy	(1999-08-26) 26 August 1999 (age 25)	10	1	Rodina Moscow	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
MF	Yevgeny Beryozkin	(1996-07-05) 5 July 1996 (age 28)	1	0	Kyzylzhar	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
MF	Kirill Kirilenko	(2000-10-08) 8 October 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Maxline Vitebsk	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
MF	Yaroslav Oreshkevich	(2000-09-08) 8 September 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Dinamo Brest	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
MF	Ilya Chernyak	(2002-05-19) 19 May 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Dinamo Brest	v. Malta, 26 March 2024
MF	Dzmitry Baradzin	(1999-07-19) 19 July 1999 (age 25)	0	0	Kaisar	v. Switzerland, 15 October 2023
MF	Artyom Bykov	(1992-10-12) 12 October 1992 (age 31)	27	1	PAS Lamia	v. Israel, 12 September 2023
MF	Denis Grechikho	(1999-05-22) 22 May 1999 (age 25)	5	0	Zhenis	v. Andorra, 9 September 2023 ^PRE

FW	Vladislav Morozov	(2000-10-12) 12 October 2000 (age 23)	13	2	Arouca	v. Israel, 11 June 2024
FW	Maksim Skavysh	(1989-11-13) 13 November 1989 (age 34)	33	4	Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
FW	Mikhail Gordeychuk	(1989-10-23) 23 October 1989 (age 34)	26	4	Dinamo Brest	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
FW	Vitaly Lisakovich	(1998-02-08) 8 February 1998 (age 26)	21	5	Rubin Kazan	v. Russia, 7 June 2024 ^PRE
FW	Denis Laptev	(1991-08-01) 1 August 1991 (age 33)	33	1	Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino	v. Malta, 26 March 2024
FW	Yegor Karpitsky	(2003-11-27) 27 November 2003 (age 20)	3	0	Sokol Saratov	v. Malta, 26 March 2024
FW	Artyom Shumansky	(2004-11-25) 25 November 2004 (age 19)	1	0	CSKA Moscow	v. Malta, 26 March 2024
FW	Pavel Savitsky	(1994-07-12) 12 July 1994 (age 30)	28	7	Neman Grodno	v. Israel, 12 September 2023
^INJ Withdrew due to injury ^PRE Preliminary squad / standby

Records

As of 11 June 2024^[15]

Players in bold are still active with Belarus.

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Years
1	Alyaksandr Kulchy	102	5	1996–2012
2	Sergei Gurenko	80	3	1994–2006
2	Alexander Hleb	80	6	2001–2019
4	Sergei Kornilenko	78	17	2003–2016
5	Timofey Kalachyov	76	10	2004–2016
6	Alyaksandr Martynovich	75	2	2009–2020
7	Syarhey Amelyanchuk	74	1	2002–2011
7	Syarhey Kislyak	74	9	2009–2021
9	Syarhey Shtanyuk	71	3	1995–2007
10	Stanislaw Drahun	68	11	2011–2020

NB Sergei Aleinikov reached a combined 81 caps and 6 goals for Soviet Union, CIS and Belarus between 1984 and 1994.^[16]

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Years
1	Maksim Romaschenko	20	64	0.31	1998–2008
2	Sergei Kornilenko	17	78	0.22	2003–2016
3	Vitali Kutuzov	13	52	0.25	2002–2011
4	Vyacheslav Hleb	12	45	0.27	2004–2011
5	Stanislaw Drahun	11	68	0.16	2011–2020
6	Raman Vasilyuk	10	24	0.42	2000–2008
	Vitali Rodionov	10	48	0.21	2007–2017
	Valyantsin Byalkevich	10	56	0.18	1992–2005
	Timofey Kalachyov	10	76	0.13	2004–2016
10	Syarhey Kislyak	9	74	0.12	2009–2021

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1990	Part of the Soviet Union								Part of the Soviet Union
1994	FIFA member from 1992. Not admitted to the tournament.^[a]								Not admitted to the tournament
1998	Did not qualify								6th	10	1	1	8	5	21
2002									3rd	10	4	3	3	12	11
2006									5th	10	2	4	4	12	14
2010									4th	10	4	1	5	19	14
2014									5th	8	1	1	6	7	16
2018									6th	10	1	2	7	6	21
2022									5th	8	1	0	7	7	24
2026	To be determined								To be determined
2030
2034
Total	–	0/7	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	66	14	12	40	68	121

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Belgium	8	6	2	0	25	6	+19	20	Qualification for 2022 FIFA World Cup	—	3–1	3–0	3–1	8–0
2	Wales	8	4	3	1	14	9	+5	15	Advance to play-offs	1–1	—	1–0	0–0	5–1
3	Czech Republic	8	4	2	2	14	9	+5	14	Advance to play-offs via Nations League	1–1	2–2	—	2–0	1–0
4	Estonia	8	1	1	6	9	21	−12	4		2–5	0–1	2–6	—	2–0
5	Belarus	8	1	0	7	7	24	−17	3		0–1	2–3	0–2	4–2	—

Source: FIFA, UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1960 to 1992	Part of the Soviet Union								Part of the Soviet Union
1996	Did not qualify								4th	10	3	2	5	8	13
2000									5th	8	0	3	5	4	10
2004									5th	8	1	0	7	4	20
2008									4th	12	4	1	7	17	23
2012									4th	10	3	4	3	8	7
2016									4th	10	3	2	5	8	14
2020									4th	9	1	1	7	4	17
2024									4th	10	3	3	4	9	14
2028	To be determined								To be determined
2032	To be determined								To be determined
Total	–	0/8	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	77	18	16	43	62	118

UEFA Euro 2024 qualification

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Romania	10	6	4	0	16	5	+11	22	Qualify for final tournament	—	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	4–0
2	Switzerland	10	4	5	1	22	11	+11	17	Qualify for final tournament	2–2	—	3–0	3–3	1–1	3–0
3	Israel	10	4	3	3	11	11	0	15	Advance to play-offs via Nations League	1–2	1–1	—	1–0	1–1	2–1
4	Belarus	10	3	3	4	9	14	−5	12		0–0	0–5	1–2	—	2–1	1–0
5	Kosovo	10	2	5	3	10	10	0	11		0–0	2–2	1–0	0–1	—	1–1
6	Andorra	10	0	2	8	3	20	−17	2		0–2	1–2	0–2	0–0	0–3	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
Season	Division	Group	Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK
2018–19	D	2	1st	6	4	2	0	10	0		43rd
2020–21	C	4	2nd	6	3	1	2	10	8		38th
2022–23	C	3	4th	6	0	3	3	3	7		46th
2024–25	C	3	To be determined
Total			–	18	7	6	5	23	15	38th

2024–25 UEFA Nations League

Pos	Team v t e	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Luxembourg	Promotion to League B	—	15 Nov	18 Nov	8 Sep
2	Bulgaria	Qualification for promotion play-offs	12 Oct	—	8 Sep	18 Nov
3	Northern Ireland		5 Sep	15 Oct	—	15 Nov
4	Belarus	Relegation to League D or qualification for relegation play-offs	15 Oct	5 Sep	12 Oct	—

First match(es) will be played: 5 September 2024. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Head-to-head record