Russia confirms visitors for football friendly

The Russia men’s national football team will welcome Bosnia and Herzegovina to a friendly in St Petersburg in November, it has been confirmed.

The Russia national team announced earlier this week that they are targeting three games in the next three months, with a game against Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek confirmed for September 24 and a meeting with Iran – believed to be scheduled for Tehran – for an unconfirmed date planned is November.

It was announced on Friday that Russia’s third friendly rival will be Bosnia and Herzegovina, with St Petersburg being named as the venue and a target date of 19 November.

“The agreement in principle to hold a friendly match with the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina has actually been reached,” said the Russian Football Union (RFU) in a statement shared by TASS.

“Any further information about this game will be published additionally.”

The website of the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina also confirmed The agreement was reached for the match, which is to be played at the 67,000-seat Gazprom Arena in the northern Russian city.

September’s game against Kyrgyzstan is the first for the Russian side since they faced Croatia in a World Cup qualifier last November.

All Russian teams have since been banned from official UEFA and FIFA competitions because of the conflict in Ukraine.

This decision resulted in the Russian men’s team being prevented from qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.