# 2002 in Russian football

2002 in Russian football was the first season of the Premier League, which was won by FC Lokomotiv Moscow (this was their first ever national title). The national team participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

## National team

Russia national football team participated in the final tournament of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where they finished third in Group H.
| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score$^1$ | Competition | Russia scorers | Match Report |
| 13 February 2002 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin (A) | Republic of Ireland | 0–2 | F | | Sport-Express |
| 27 March 2002 | A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn (A) | Estonia | 1–2 | F | Vladimir Beschastnykh | Sport-Express |
| 17 April 2002 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis (A) | France | 0–0 | F | | Sport-Express |
| 17 May 2002 | Dynamo Stadium, Moscow (H) | Belarus | 1–1 (4–5 on penalties) | FT | Andrei Solomatin | Sport-Express |
| 19 May 2002 | Dynamo Stadium, Moscow (H) | FR Yugoslavia | 1–1 (5–6 on penalties) | FT | Dmitri Sychev | Sport-Express |
| 5 June 2002 | Wing Stadium, Kobe (N) | Tunisia | 2–0 | WC | Egor Titov, Valery Karpin | FIFA |
| 9 June 2002 | International Stadium, Yokohama (A) | Japan | 0–1 | WC | | FIFA |
| 14 June 2002 | Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka (N) | Belgium | 2–3 | WC | Vladimir Beschastnykh, Dmitri Sychev | FIFA |
| 21 August 2002 | Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow (H) | Sweden | 1–1 | F | Aleksandr Kerzhakov | Sport-Express |
| 7 September 2002 | Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow (H) | Republic of Ireland | 4–2 | ECQ | Andrey Karyaka, Vladimir Beschastnykh, Aleksandr Kerzhakov, 1 own goal | uefa |
| 16 October 2002 | Central Stadium, Volgograd (H) | Albania | 4–1 | ECQ | Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Sergei Semak (2), Viktor Onopko | uefa |
* Russia score given first

### Key

* H = Home match
* A = Away match
* N = Neutral ground
* F = Friendly
* FT = Friendly tournament
* WC = 2002 FIFA World Cup, Group H
* ECQ = 2004 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying, Group 10

## Leagues
### Premier League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Lokomotiv Moscow (C) | 30 | 19 | 9 | 2 | 46 | 14 | +32 | 66 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 2 | CSKA Moscow | 30 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 60 | 26 | +34 | 66 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Spartak Moscow | 30 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 49 | 36 | +13 | 55 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Torpedo Moscow | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 47 | 32 | +15 | 50 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 5 | Krylia Sovetov Samara | 30 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 39 | 32 | +7 | 49 | |
| 6 | Saturn | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 41 | 37 | +4 | 47 | |
| 7 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 47 | |
| 8 | Dynamo Moscow | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 38 | 33 | +5 | 42 | |
| 9 | Rotor Volgograd | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 38 | |
| 10 | Zenit St. Petersburg | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 36 | 42 | −6 | 33 | |
| 11 | Rostselmash | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 29 | 49 | −20 | 31 | |
| 12 | Alania Vladikavkaz | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 31 | 42 | −11 | 30 | |
| 13 | Uralan Elista | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 29 | |
| 14 | Torpedo-ZIL Moscow | 30 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 20 | 39 | −19 | 28 | |
| 15 | Anzhi Makhachkala (R) | 30 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 22 | 43 | −21 | 25 | Relegation to First Division |
| 16 | Sokol Saratov (R) | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 24 | 45 | −21 | 23 | Relegation to First Division |
* ↑ The title was decided in a championship playoff as Lokomotiv Moscow and CSKA Moscow finished with equal points.
* ↑ Torpedo qualified for the UEFA Cup thanks to Spartak winning the Russian Cup in 2003.

### First Division

Rubin Kazan and Chernomorets Novorossiysk won the promotion from the First Division.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Rubin Kazan (P) | 34 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 51 | 14 | +37 | 72 | Promotion to Premier League |
| 2 | Chernomorets Novorossiysk (P) | 34 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 59 | 29 | +30 | 70 | Promotion to Premier League |
| 3 | Tom Tomsk | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 51 | 23 | +28 | 61 | |
| 4 | Kuban Krasnodar | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 44 | 30 | +14 | 54 | |
| 5 | Amkar Perm | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 47 | 31 | +16 | 54 | |
| 6 | Spartak Nalchik | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 42 | 30 | +12 | 53 | |
| 7 | Khimki | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 38 | 27 | +11 | 52 | |
| 8 | Lada-Togliatti | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 54 | 35 | +19 | 50 | |
| 9 | Lokomotiv Chita | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 38 | 46 | −8 | 45 | |
| 10 | Kristall Smolensk | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 39 | 43 | −4 | 44 | |
| 11 | Gazovik-Gazprom | 34 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 44 | |
| 12 | SKA-Khabarovsk | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 35 | 37 | −2 | 42 | |
| 13 | Fakel Voronezh | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 34 | 42 | −8 | 40 | |
| 14 | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | 34 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 38 | |
| 15 | Volgar-Gazprom Astrakhan | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 34 | 51 | −17 | 36 | |
| 16 | Dynamo St. Petersburg | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 28 | 56 | −28 | 36 | |
| 17 | SKA Rostov-on-Don (R) | 34 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 38 | 62 | −24 | 31 | Relegation to Second Division |
| 18 | Metallurg Krasnoyarsk (R) | 34 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 24 | 87 | −63 | −8 | Relegation to Second Division |
* ↑ Dynamo SPb were awarded 0–3 defeats in ten matches for fielding ineligible players
* ↑ Metallurg were docked 24 points for failing to pay transfer fees for four players
Vyacheslav Kamoltsev of Chernomorets became the top goalscorer with 20 goals.

### Second Division

The following clubs have earned promotion by winning tournaments in their respective Second Division zones:
* FC Baltika Kaliningrad (West)
* FC Metallurg Lipetsk (Centre)
* FC Terek Grozny (South)
* FC Svetotekhnika Saransk (Povolzhye)
* FC Uralmash Yekaterinburg (Ural)
* FC Metallurg-Zapsib Novokuznetsk (East)

## Cup

The Russian Cup was won by CSKA Moscow, who beat Zenit Saint Petersburg 2–0 in the final at the Luzhniki Stadium.

## UEFA club competitions
### 2001–02 UEFA Cup

Lokomotiv Moscow participated in the third round of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, but were knocked out by Hapoel Tel Aviv FC who won 3–1 on aggregate.

### 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup

Krylya Sovetov Samara played in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup. After defeating Dinaburg FC in the second round they lost to Willem II Tilburg on away goals.

### 2002–03 UEFA Champions League

Lokomotiv Moscow's victory over Grazer AK ensured there are two Russian clubs in the group stage of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League. Lokomotiv finished second in the group with Club Brugge, Galatasaray, and the dominant FC Barcelona.
On the contrary, Spartak Moscow, the automatic qualifiers for the group stage, lost all their matches to Valencia CF, FC Basel, and Liverpool F.C., finishing with the goal differential of 1–18.

### 2002–03 UEFA Cup

Zenit Saint Petersburg set the record for aggregate score for the Russian teams, beating FC Encamp 13–0 in the qualifying round of the 2002–03 UEFA Cup and joining CSKA Moscow in the first round. Both Russian clubs lost in the first round, Zenit to Grasshopper Club Zürich (3–4) and CSKA to Parma F.C. (3–4).