Belarus 2011 Home, matchworn by Uladzimir Khvashchynski, 2011 U21 Euros
Belarus 2014-15 
Home (dubious)
Ok, this one’s a bit of a strange one. We have the angular slice of green which is a nice way of adding the other main colour of Belarus. But the white stripe feels a little out of place, the red triangle down from the collar splits it up a bit too much and there’s a random red half stripe on one side. It isn’t exactly cluttered, but a bit messy around the collar. Otherwise, the green on the sleeves work, the diagonal stripes of aeration are alright and it works reasonably. But it feels like they tried to do too much when what they had would’ve worked.
Used only by the U21s at the 2011 U21 Euros, Belarus edged into the knockout stages by the finest of margins. Switzerland topped the group on 9 points, but the other 3 teams all had 3 points, 3 goals scored and 5 goals conceded. However, Belarus went through by virtue of having the best goal difference against Iceland and Denmark. A late Spanish goal took their semi-final to extra time where the Spanish won, but they edged the Czechs to qualify for the 2012 Olympics!
Next up is a dubious shirt, so I won’t spend long on it. A white half-stripe is all there is, beyond that lovely, detailed badge. Nice typeface for the numbers too but otherwise it is red and that’s about it! White collar and sleeve cuffs were desperately needed to add some life but there’s really not much here. Looks like what the players used so is anything from fake to matchworn…
Used across at least 2015 World Cup qualification and 2017 Euros qualifiers, the Belarusian women finished 2nd last in both, defeating North Macedonia and Montenegro home and away while defeating Slovenia at home. However, all their other games were defeats, typically narrower at home but they regularly suffered away.
Success certainly doesn’t sum up the men’s team from Belarus, but disaster would certainly be harsh. While their results have been fairly variable at times, with several campaigns ending at the foot of the table, they have several 4th places in their qualifying group history. The 2002 World Cup qualifiers brought them within 2 points of the play-offs, the closest they’ve come to a major tournament. Their first Nations League season brought promotion from League D, winning home and away against Luxembourg and San Marino but drawing twice to Moldova. They were a point short of Albania in League C the next season, narrowly missing out on League B football. They might not be hugely successful, but underestimate them at your peril!
The women’s side are fairly variable, having done everything from competing with the bottom side only to narrowly missing out on play-off spots. They’ve never qualified for a tournament but have been within 3 points and within 6 points of a play-off spot. They’ve only finished bottom of a qualification group once, though more regularly have poorer qualification attempts than good ones. Definitely some potential there. The men’s youth teams continue the odd trend. The U21s have been to 3 Championships, with 2 group stage exits and one 3rd place (1 win and two losses at the 2012 Olympics) while the U19s have never been, regularly not reaching the elite round for qualifying and tending to perform poorly when there. The U17s qualified on their first attempt, won their group at the 1995 tournament before being knocked out by Denmark, never to return to date. Variable is the right word. The women’s youth teams have made the elite qualifying round 3 times but also gamed the system by each level hosting a Euros tournament. Both scored a single goal and lost all three matches comfortably.
Futsal has brought a single Euros appearance for Belarus (in 2010), where they were thrashed by Spain but drew with Portugal and lost out to the latter on goal difference to be knocked out. They’ve reached several play-offs for further tournament spots but not managed to convert any of their opportunities. Certainly a reasonable side, expect to see them at future tournaments. They similarly fell short in women’s futsal, reaching the main qualifying round and finishing 3rd in their group. Beach soccer, in contrast, has them high up in UEFA. They’ve twice won their stage in Division A of the Euro Beach Soccer League and regularly do well in World Cup qualification. This culminated in a 3rd place in qualification for the 2019 World Cup, allowing them to debut at the tournament where they finished 3rd in their group, acquitting themselves well against Russia and Senegal as well as beating the UAE. Definitely a side to expect to see more of in future.
While Belarus are not expected to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, there is a slim chance at them competing with Wales and the Czechs for the play-off spot. Belgium will be out of reach and Estonia should be dealt with so their competitiveness against those two seems most important. Failing that, kingmakers will be their expected role as they are never easy to play when they’re at home.
Adam's National Shirt Collection 