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Russia, Turkey in talks about friendly football match in 2025 â€” Russian sports minister

Since sanctions were introduced, the Russian national football squad has played a series of friendlies against other countries, namely against Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, Cameroon, Kenya, Cuba, Serbia, Belarus, Vietnam, Brunei, and Syria

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The Russian Football Union (RFU) and the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) are engaged in a dialogue regarding the organization of a friendly football match between the national teams in 2025, Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev said on Saturday.

"I've recently paid an official visit to Istanbul, and the Turkish national team expressed its interest [in hosting the match]," Degtyarev said speaking on air of Russia’s Rossiya-24 television channel. "Moreover, the Ambassador of the republic of Turkey came up with his own suggestions regarding this issue."

"This year we mark 100 years since the first match between the national teams of the Soviet Union and Turkey and why not organizing a match with the Turkish national squad next year? We are currently in work on this issue," he added.

The USSR national football team played its first ever international encounter in November 1924 playing against the team from Turkey and winning that match with the final score of 3-0.

Russia’s football ban

The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on February 28, 2022, that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from participating in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision regarding the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.

Since sanctions were introduced, the Russian national football squad has played a series of friendlies against other countries, namely against Kyrgyzstan (2-1), Tajikistan (0-0), Uzbekistan (0-0), Iran (1-1), Iraq (2-0), Cameroon (1-0), Kenya (2-2), Cuba (8-0), Serbia (4-0), Belarus (4-0), Vietnam (3-0), Brunei (11-0), and Syria (4-0).

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