Russia have called up footballers Aleksandr Golovin, Matvey Safonov and Alexey Batrakov to the national team for November friendly matches, the Russian Football Union reported on its Telegram channel.
Head coach Valery Karpin named a total of 28 footballers to the national squad for the November international window. The group was called up to contest friendly matches against the national teams of Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
The upcoming camp follows a three-match friendly run during the previous international break. Russia beat the Iran national team 2-0 in Kazan on 29 September, defeated Namibia 6-0 in Nizhny Novgorod on 3 October, and drew 3-3 with Nigeria in Yekaterinburg three days later.
Russian clubs and national teams have not participated in official international competitions since 2022. As a result, Karpin's side plays exclusively in friendly matches during international windows.
Key players in Valery Karpin's Russia squad
Golovin is one of the longest-serving members of the national setup, having played a central role for Russia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup on home soil before moving from CSKA Moscow to French Ligue 1 club AS Monaco. Safonov, a goalkeeper who came through the youth academy at FC Krasnodar and became its first-choice stopper in the Russian Premier League, also plays in France's top flight after joining Paris Saint-Germain.
Batrakov is an attacking midfielder who progressed through the academy system at Lokomotiv Moscow to establish himself as a regular starter in the Russian top division. The trio will play under Karpin, a former Russian international midfielder who spent much of his club career in Spain with Real Sociedad, Valencia and Celta Vigo before taking charge of the national team in July 2021.
International football ban and November schedule
The Russian Football Union, the sport's national governing body headquartered in Moscow, has arranged non-competitive international fixtures since FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian national teams and clubs from official tournaments in February 2022. That suspension barred Russia from World Cup and European Championship qualifying campaigns as well as the UEFA Nations League, leaving the national team to schedule standalone games largely against nations from outside Europe.
The three autumn fixtures against Iran, Namibia and Nigeria were staged across Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg, three Russian cities that previously hosted matches at the 2018 World Cup. Those games matched Karpin's squad against opponents from the Asian Football Confederation and the Confederation of African Football.
November's schedule brings opposition from Asia and South America, with Uzbekistan competing in the Asian Football Confederation and Venezuela playing in South America's CONMEBOL federation. Russia will face Uzbekistan first on 12 November in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, before Karpin's team returns home to play Venezuela five days later in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar.
