Guest season: who will the Russian national team play against at the first autumn training camp

The Russian national football team has begun preparations for the friendly matches of the first autumn cycle. For the first time in a long time, the gathering will last not one, but almost two and a half weeks — from September 21 to October 6. This season, FIFA decided to combine two autumn breaks into one, giving the national teams the opportunity to play four consecutive matches at once. Russia, however, will have three, but in the current situation it is better than nothing. As part of the training camp, the national team led by Valery Karpin will play Iran in Kazan (September 29), Namibia in Yekaterinburg (October 3) and Nigeria in Nizhny Novgorod (October 6).

Sobolev returned to the national team three years later.

Karpin called 29 players to the national team for the first autumn training camp. This time there were no newcomers. Only proven guys. "Rostov""s" 26-year-old midfielder Alexei Mironov could have been among the debutants, but he suffered a bruised rib, which caused him to miss the last two league matches — against Spartak (0:3) and Dynamo Moscow (0:3). "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." This, according to Karpin, was the reason for Mironov's non-inclusion in the final list.

Perhaps the main loss of the national team for the upcoming cycle is Evgeny Morozov. ""Lokomotiv" defender will miss training camps with the national team for medical reasons, as officially announced by the press service of the "railwaymen".

One of the foreign players, Arsen Zakharyan, was not included in the final list. The "Real Sociedad" midfielder gets little playing practice in Spain: since the beginning of the season, he has played only 11 minutes in three league matches and 6 minutes in the Europa League. According to Karpin, Zakharyan's inclusion in the preliminary list was influenced by his conversation with the "Sociedad" sports director. He stated that "Arsen has fully completed all training camps and his physical condition satisfies everyone." However, this has not affected the positive dynamics of playing time so far, so it was decided to leave Arsen at the club's location, since "there is too little information about him." Although Karpin assured that "no one writes Zakharyan off."

But Alexander Sobolev's comeback happened. Karpin called him for the first time in the status of "Zenit" striker. The last time Sobolev defended the colors of the national team was almost three years ago, on November 20, 2023, in a match against the Cuban national team. Back then, the "Spartak" forward became the author of one of the eight unanswered goals.

In his current form, Sobolev definitely deserved to return to the national team. During the opening round of the Russian championship, Alexander managed to win the competition from the expensive Brazilian newcomer Felipe Augusto, for whom "Zenit" spent a solid € 15 million last summer. Sobolev scored 10 goals in 12 matches of the season, while Augusto scored a modest 1 goal in 9 matches.

Iran: the strongest opponent of the national team

The Iranian national team is the only one of the three closest rivals of the Russian national team who played at the last World Cup in North America. The Persians performed paradoxically at the World Cup: they never lost, but still did not get out of the group. Three draws in Group G (2-2 with New Zealand, 0-0 with Belgium and 1-1 with Egypt) brought Iran three points, which were not enough to become one of the best teams that finished third in their respective quarters.

In the current FIFA ranking, Iran ranks 22nd, 13 positions above the Russian national team (35). Head coach Amir Galenoi, who returned to the national team in 2023 (before that, he worked with the team in 2006-2007), extended his contract with the national team until the end of the 2027 Asian Cup. Galenoi's corporate style is closed, pragmatic 4-2-3-1 football with tight lines and fast transitions.

The main star of the Iranian national team is 34—year-old striker Mehdi Taremi. He is the second scorer in the history of the national team (58 goals in 107 matches) and the first among active players (only the great Ali Daei has 110 goals). ""Taremi currently plays for Al Wasl club from the UAE, but two years ago Mehdi defended the colors of Inter Milan" ".

There is also Serdar Azmun, well-known to Russian football fans, in the Iranian national team. """""" This forward played for "Rubin", "Rostov" and "Zenit" in different years, and now he plays for "Shabab Al-Ahli" — in the same league with Taremi.

Azmun returned to the national team for the first time since March 2025. Serdar did not get to the World Cup because of a political scandal: in January 2025, the striker posted a photo with the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and did not delete it after the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. In Azmun's homeland, this picture was regarded as a manifestation of support for the UAE, from whose territory, among other things, Iran was attacked.

Another Iranian face familiar to the Russian audience is winger Mohammad Mohebi. At the 2026 World Cup, he scored against New Zealand, becoming the first goalscorer at the World Cup from among the representatives of the RPL. "However,"in the summer of 2026, Mohebi left Rostov after the expiration of his contract and moved to the Croatian "Rijeka".

Most of the players of the Iranian national team represent the domestic championship, so the transfer cost of the team is modest (€28 million— according to Alexey Batrakov).

The match in Kazan will be the fifth in the history of the confrontations between Russia and Iran. The last time the teams met was on October 10, 2025 in Volgograd, when Karpin's team won 2-1. Before that, the teams had drawn 1-1 twice (in 2017 and 2023), and in 2011, Iran inflicted the only defeat on the Russian national team so far — 1-0.

Nigeria without stars — the national team is a mystery

Surprisingly, one of the most recognizable African national teams failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The Nigerians finished second in Group C of the African selection, behind South Africa, reached the final of the playoffs - and lost there to DR Congo on penalties. (1:1, 3:4). It's funny that the head coach of the Nigerian national team, 48-year-old Malian Eric Schell, accused his rivals of voodoo magic after the match. The 2026 World Cup was the second consecutive miss for the Nigerian national team.

But at the 2025 African Cup of Nations, they won bronze, beating Egypt on penalties in the match for third place. (0:0, 4:2). Nigeria ranks 26th in the FIFA rankings. In recent matches, the Africans lost to Portugal (1:2), drew with Poland (2:2), and defeated Jamaica (3:0) and Zimbabwe (2:0).

Eric Schell, the head coach of the national team, was born in Côte d'Ivoire, and played for the national team of Mali. He took over the team in January 2025. In official matches, his team did not lose in regular time: defeats from DR Congo (in the final of the qualifying playoffs) and Morocco (in the semifinals of CAN-2025) occurred following a penalty shootout. Schell""s signature scheme is a 4-4-2 "rhombus", which maximizes the attacking potential: two forwards in front and a "diamond" in midfield with an emphasis on central dominance.

The total cost of the Nigerian national team is about €182 million. The most expensive player is Batrakov's teammate, Victor Osimhen from "Galatasaray", whose market value according to Transfermarkt is €75 million. Another star of the Nigerian national team is Ademola Lukman. "Africa's"best footballer of 2024" moved from "Atalanta" to "Atletico Madrid" in February for €35 million. """""" Also in the clip are Wilfried Ndidi ("Besiktas"), Alex Iwobi ("Fulham"), Bright Osayi—Samuel ("Birmingham") and Moses Simon (FC Paris), no less well-known.

But there is an important caveat: Osimhen, Lukman and Iwobi have not been called up for the match with Russia. Osimhen — due to injury, the rest were saved before the African Cup of Nations selection. """""""" Kelechi Iheanacho (ex-Manchester City, Leicester and Sevilla player, now playing at Bursaspor) and the previously mentioned Ndidi are included in the application.

Russia and Nigeria will play each other for only the second time in history. The first face—to-face meeting of the teams took place quite recently - on June 6, 2025. Then Druzhba won the friendly match at "Luzhniki" — 1:1. So Karpin's squad has a great motivation to try to win on October 6 in Nizhny Novgorod. Moreover, the "super eagles" were left without their star wings.

Namibia: the most exotic rival of the autumn window

The lowest-ranked team that Russia has played against in recent years. ""121st place in the FIFA ranking, 86 positions below the Russians — Valery Karpin bluntly called Namibia "a team of the wrong level," but made a reservation that "you have to play against everyone."

Namibia did not qualify for the 2026 World Cup, taking second place in Group H of the African selection, losing the leadership to the Tunisian national team (4 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses, 13:10). But this is the best result of the team in the history of qualifying campaigns. In recent matches, Namibia suffered defeats from Kazakhstan (0:2) and the Comoros (0:4) in the FIFA Series in Astana, and also drew with the same Comoros (0:0, pen. 5:4). Before that, there were three consecutive defeats in the qualifying: from Tunisia (0:3), Liberia (1:3) and Malawi (1:2).

"The head coach of the Namibian national team is Colleen Benjamin, a 48-year-old Namibian, former Hamburg midfielder, who was appointed to the national team in 2022 and extended his contract until July 2027." Benjamin led the team to the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations, where Namibia reached the playoffs for the first time in history (they lost to Angola in the 1/8 finals - 0:3),

This coach educates the players with an emphasis on athleticism and team discipline. The basic scheme is 4-3-3. The most recognizable figure is 34—year-old left-back Deon Hotto from "Orlando Pirates" in South Africa, the national team's record holder for the most matches among currently called-up players (65). ""The top scorer is central striker Peter Shalulile (19 goals) from the Tanzanian club, whose name translates into Russian as "Young Africans".

The total cost of the entire national team is about €3.5 million, and the most expensive player is Shalulile (€1 million).

The match on October 3 in Yekaterinburg will be the first face-to-face in the history of the national teams of Russia and Namibia.

The match against Namibia is also made even more unique by the fact that the Russian national team will play at the "Yekaterinburg Arena" for the first time in its history. This stadium was built back in 1957 and has been reconstructed twice (the second time specifically for the 2018 World Cup). Now it can accommodate up to 35 thousand people. the audience.

Paradoxically, "Yekaterinburg Arena" has never hosted the national team, but it has become the main venue for four matches of the group stage of the Russian World Cup (Egypt – Uruguay, 0:1; Japan – Senegal, 2:2 and Mexico — Sweden, 0:3), including a duel with the participation of future trophy holders. — the French national team (France – Peru, 1-0). Now the geography of the tours of "our guys" will expand.

The Russian national team for the first autumn training camp

"""" Goalkeepers: Matvey Safonov (PSG, France), Anton Mitryushkin ("Locomotive"), Stanislav Agkatsev ("Krasnodar"), Alexander Maksimenko ("Spartak").

"""""""" Defenders: Arsen Adamov ("Akhmat"), Mingiyan Beveev ("Baltika"), Ilya Vakhania ("Krasnodar"), Kirill Danilov, Danil Krugovoy (both — CSKA), Igor Diveev ("Zenit"), Viktor Melekhin ("Rostov"), Evgeny Morozov, Alexander Silyanov (both – "Locomotive"), Maxim Osipenko ("Dynamo", Moscow).

"""""" Midfielders: Artem Karpukas, Maxim Glushenkov (both Zenit), Danil Prutsev, Nail Umyarov (both Spartak), Alexey Batrakov (Galatasaray, Turkey), Matvey Kislyak, Ivan Oblyakov, Kirill Glebov (all CSKA), Alexey Miranchuk ("Atlanta United", """USA"), Maxim Petrov ("Baltika"), Lechi Sadulaev ("Akhmat"), Alexander Golovin ("Monaco", France).

"Forwards" ""Konstantin Tyukavin" ("Dynamo", Moscow), Dmitry Vorobyov ("Krasnodar"), Alexander Sobolev ("Zenit").