ST PETERSBURG: Russia defeated Iraq 2-0 on Sunday in St Petersburg in their first home game since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago.

Coach Valeri Karpin’s team had not played on Russian territory since they crushed Cyprus 6-0 in November 2021 in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, a tournament from which they were later excluded by FIFA.

Iraqi were better in the first half but Russia turned around the balance of control after the interval. Anton Miranchuk punished a mistake by the goalkeeper then Sergei Pinyayev scored the second.

The Russian starting team featured only a handful of recognised internationals with the exceptions of Ivan Obliakov from CSKA and leksandr Sóbolev from Spartak Moscow.

This was not Russia’s first game since the internatonal competitive ban.

Last September they lost a friendly 2-1 in Kyrgyzstan and in November they secured goalless draws in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

The Russian Football Union, worried that it will not be allowed to compete in the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, is exploring the possibility of transferring from UEFA to the Asian confederation.

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