# 1988 in Soviet football

The 1988 Soviet football championship was the 56th seasons of competitive football in the Soviet Union. Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk won the Top League championship becoming the Soviet domestic champions for the second time.

## Honours

| Competition | Competition | Winner | Runner-up |
| Top League | Top League | Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk (2) | Dinamo Kiev |
| First League | First League | Pamir Dushanbe (1) | Rotor Volgograd |
| Second League | Finals 1 | Nistru Kishinev | Neftianik Fergana |
| Second League | Group 2 | Torpedo Kutaisi | Tsement Novorossiysk |
| Second League | Group 3 | Fakel Voronezh | Bukovina Chernovtsy |
| Soviet Cup | Soviet Cup | Metallist Kharkov (1) | Torpedo Moscow |
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

## Soviet Union football championship
### Top League

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (C) | 30 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 49 | 23 | +26 | 46 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 43 | 19 | +24 | 43 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Torpedo Moscow | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 39 | 23 | +16 | 42 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | Spartak Moscow | 30 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 39 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Žalgiris Vilnius | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 35 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Zenit Leningrad | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 35 | 34 | +1 | 31 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 35 | 29 | +6 | 30 | |
| 8 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 30 | 28 | +2 | 28 | |
| 9 | Ararat Erevan | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 28 | −7 | 27 | |
| 10 | Dinamo Moscow | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 32 | 38 | −6 | 26 | |
| 11 | Metalist Kharkiv | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 29 | 36 | −7 | 26 | |
| 12 | Dinamo Minsk | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 25 | |
| 13 | Chornomorets Odessa | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 24 | 37 | −13 | 24 | |
| 14 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 23 | |
| 15 | Neftchi Baku (R) | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 28 | 46 | −18 | 17 | Relegation to First League |
| 16 | Kairat Alma-Ata (R) | 30 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 25 | 53 | −28 | 16 | Relegation to First League |
* 1 2 No draw limit for Spartak M and Dinamo Mn
* ↑ 2 points deducted (10 draw limited)

### First League

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Pamir Dushanbe (C, P) | 42 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 78 | 44 | +34 | 58 | Promotion to Top League |
| 2 | Rotor Volgograd (P) | 42 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 76 | 37 | +39 | 57 | Promotion to Top League |
| 3 | CSKA Moscow | 42 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 69 | 35 | +34 | 56 | |
| 4 | Guria Lanchkhuti | 42 | 23 | 7 | 12 | 71 | 44 | +27 | 53 | |
| 5 | Pakhtakor Tashkent | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 64 | 38 | +26 | 52 | |
| 6 | Dynamo Stavropol | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 59 | 46 | +13 | 47 | |
| 7 | SKA Karpaty Lviv | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 51 | 39 | +12 | 44 | |
| 8 | Daugava Riga | 42 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 56 | 54 | +2 | 43 | |
| 9 | SKA Rostov-on-Don | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 57 | 64 | −7 | 42 | |
| 10 | Rostselmash Rostov-on-Don | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 59 | 67 | −8 | 40 | |
| 11 | Shinnik Yaroslavl | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 40 | |
| 12 | Geolog Tyumen | 42 | 17 | 5 | 20 | 46 | 58 | −12 | 39 | |
| 13 | Spartak Ordjonikidze | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 57 | 60 | −3 | 39 | |
| 14 | Tavriya Simferopol | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 34 | 43 | −9 | 38 | |
| 15 | Kuzbass Kemerevo | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 38 | |
| 16 | Dinamo Batumi | 42 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 40 | 53 | −13 | 36 | |
| 17 | Metalurh Zaporizhia | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 43 | −13 | 36 | |
| 18 | Kotayk Abovyan | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 55 | 83 | −28 | 35 | |
| 19 | Kuban Krasnodar | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 41 | 56 | −15 | 35 | |
| 20 | Zarya Voroshylovhrad (R) | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 44 | 59 | −15 | 32 | Relegation to Second League |
| 21 | Zvezda Perm (R) | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 37 | 69 | −32 | 32 | Relegation to Second League |
| 22 | Kolos Nikopol (R) | 42 | 10 | 7 | 25 | 31 | 62 | −31 | 27 | Relegation to Second League |
* 1 2 3 There was a draw limit for the draws earned, 12. Only twelve draws earn a point, in contrast, over the limit draws earn no points.

### Group 1

| Pos | Rep | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | MDA | Nistru Kishinev | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 7 | Promoted |
| 2 | UZB | Neftyanik Fergana | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 | RUS | Irtysh Omsk | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 | |

### Group 2

| Pos | Rep | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | GEO | Torpedo Kutaisi | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 | Promoted |
| 2 | RUS | Cement Novorossiysk | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 4 | |
| 3 | KAZ | Traktor Pavlodar | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 3 | |

### Group 3

| Pos | Rep | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | RUS | Fakel Voronezh | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 6 | Promoted |
| 2 | UKR | Bukovina Chernovtsy | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | RUS | UralMash Sverdlovsk | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 | −9 | 0 | |

### Top goalscorers

Top League
* Yevhen Shakhov (Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk), Aleksandr Borodyuk (Dinamo Moscow) – 16 goals
First League
* Aleksandr Nikitin (Rotor Volgograd), Mukhsin Mukhamadiev (Pamir Dushanbe) – 22 goals