The Soviet national youth football team was the under-21 football team of the Soviet Union. Before 1978 it was known as under-23 team. It ceased to exist on the breakup of the Union. Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, the USSR Under-21 team was formed. The team had a good record, winning the competition twice, reaching the last four once, but failing to qualify for the last eight on five occasions. After the dissolution of the USSR (on 26 December 1991), the senior team played out its remaining fixtures, which were the finals of Euro 92. Because the USSR U-21s had, by 26 December, already failed to qualify for their version of the 1992 European Championship, the former Soviet states didn't play as a combined team at U-21 level ever again. Of the former Soviet states, only Russia entered the 1992–1994 competition. A total of 15 former Soviet states play international football today; 11 in Europe under UEFA, 4 in Asia under the AFC. Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. USSR's unparalleled record in U-23 competitions is also shown. UEFA U-23 championship record Started in Balkans as the Under-23 Challenge Cup which ran from 1967 to 1970, the Soviet Union did not participate. UEFA U-21 championship record Managers 1963 Boris Nabokov 1964 Boris Nabokov and Vasiliy Sokolov 1964 Vasiliy Sokolov 1965 Yevgeniy Goryanskiy 1965 Gavriil Kachalin 1966 Viktor Lakhonin and Yevgeniy Rogov 1966 Nikita Simonyan 1967 Boris Nabokov 1967 German Zonin 1967 Vsevolod Blinkov 1968 Gavriil Kachalin and Aleksei Paramonov 1968 Gavriil Kachalin 1968 Vitaliy Artemyev 1969–1973 Boris Nabokov 1974–1976 Valentin Nikolayev 1976 Sergei Mosiagin 1977–1979 Valentin Nikolayev 1980 Valentin Nikolayev and Sergei Korshunov 1980–1985 Valentin Nikolayev 1985 Vladimir Salkov 1985 Eduard Malofeyev 1986–1990 Vladimir Radionov 1988 Leonid Pakhomov 1991–1992 Boris Ignatyev In 1992 it also competed as the CIS national under-21 football team coached by Boris Ignatyev. Since August of 1992 Boris Ignatyev continued already with the Russia national under-21 football team. 1990 European Championship squad The last Soviet U-21 team Head coach Vladimir Radionov Notes: All data through 31 December 1991. Mikhail Yeremin died on 30 June 1991 from injuries he sustained in an auto accident on 23 June, less than a week after his birthday. Rogovskoi moved to Poland (Zagłębie Lubin), Sydelnykov - Germany