the first international match played by a soviet team came in august 1923, nine months after the establishment of the soviet union, when a russian sfsr (russian soviet federative socialist republic) team beat sweden 2–1 in stockholm. the first formally recognised match played by the soviet union took place a year later, a 3–0 win over turkey. this and a return match in ankara were the only officially recognised international matches played by the soviet union prior to the 1952 summer olympics, though several unofficial friendlies against turkey took place in the 1930s.
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