Why isn’t Russia playing in the 2026 World Cup and how long is their suspension?

This summer’s World Cup promises to be the biggest ever with 48 teams taking part in the new, expanded tournament. Despite an extra 16 nations taking part, one country will be a notable absentee - Russia.

Since the World Cup’s creation in 1930, Russia has made 11 appearances - seven of them as the Soviet Union - a founder member of European football’s governing body UEFA. It also hosted the 2018 edition.

So why was Russia not involved in the qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup?

Russia banned from official tournaments since February 2022

Russia’s men’s, women’s and youth teams are barred from taking part in any soccer matches organised either by European football’s governing body UEFA or its world equivalent, FIFA. The ban was enforced by both organizations on February 28, 2022 as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that month. The suspension is indefinite.

“Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which decisions envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice,” a joint statement read. “These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters”.

It meant that Russia could not take part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar - the team had been scheduled to face Poland in the Path B playoff semi-final in March 2022 but their opponents were handed a bye into the next round. The men’s team were also absent for Euro 2024.

Russia’s last official game was a 1-0 defeat to Croatia in a 2022 World Cup qualifier on November 14 2021.

Russia is still playing international football despite ban

While Russia is unable to participate in UEFA and FIFA competitions, it doesn’t mean that the team is inactive. The team is still able to play. The men’s team played two friendlies last month, beating Nicaragua 3-1 and held to a goalless draw by Mali.

Last year, Russia played 10 friendly games against African, South American and Middle Eastern rivals. It has faced UEFA-affiliated teams on just two occasions - friendlies against Serbia and Belarus. Such games do not require permission from UEFA or FIFA.

Russia had considered withdrawing their UEFA membership and switching to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) but that option was discarded. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is hopeful that the situation will one day return to normal: “As I’ve said many times before, when the war stops, they will be readmitted,” Ceferin said at the 49th Ordinary UEFA Congress last year.

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