They will get a double: who will the Russian national team play against in the March matches

The Russian national football team has begun preparations for the friendly matches of the March training camp. On March 27, Valery Karpin's team will play against Nicaragua in Krasnodar, and on March 31 they will meet with the national team of Mali in St. Petersburg. At the same time, the national team approached the games with personnel losses — midfielder Alexei Batrakov dropped out of the squad, and defender Igor Diveev continues to recover from illness.

Minus Diveev and Batrakov

The final squad of the Russian national team for the March matches included 31 players. However, on March 24, two players were forcibly excluded from the list — former CSKA defender Igor Diveev and Moscow Lokomotiv midfielder Alexei Batrakov.

Railwaymen reported that Batrakov was slightly injured after the match of the 22nd round of the Russian Premier League against Akron (5:1), where he scored a goal and an assist. The injury was revealed after a medical examination at the national team's location.

"Together with the medical staff of the national team, it was decided that Lyosha will miss training camps and will recover at the club," the Moscow Lokomotiv Telegram channel reported.

This season, the 20-year-old midfielder remains one of the team's leaders. He has 16 goals and 10 assists in 29 Russian League and Cup matches.

Igor Diveev had complications after a recent cold. The footballer announced this in his telegram channel.

"I want to share with you some not very happy news," wrote the Zenit defender. — After a recent cold, I started having complications in the form of sinusitis (headaches, nasal congestion), so together with the medical staff of the national team, we decided that it would be better for me to continue my recovery under the supervision of club doctors in order to be fully prepared for the April championship games. Unfortunately, I won't be able to fully help the national team and will be rooting for our guys at the screen."

Diveev is a really important player in Zenit. The defender played 90 minutes each in the RPL matches against Kaliningrad Baltika, Orenburg and Dynamo Moscow, and only came out for the second half against Spartak due to the fact that he was not ready to play at full strength after a week of illness.

The first match of the March training camp will be held in Krasnodar. Goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev and defender Valentin Paltingov can enter the field from the current champions. The audience will surely warmly welcome graduates of the Bulls Academy — Matvey Safonov, Nikolai Komlichenko and Daniil Fomin.

"I came to my native region," Daniil Fomin told Izvestia. — It's always a pleasure for me. This is the second time I have been to the Krasnodar base. It's fantastic! Playing games at home? It's always more enjoyable to play in Russia than in other countries. My relatives are coming to the game. This is an additional motivation. Rivals? We did not prepare in detail. Theory is ahead.

Valentin Paltsev was equally enthusiastic about the upcoming games.

— I believed that I would get a call-up to the Russian national team. I've been striving for this for a long time. Being in the national team is a great pride," said the defender.

Rivals of the Russian national team

The first opponent of the Russian national team at the March training camp will be the team of Nicaragua. The national team represents the CONCACAF confederation, which unites the countries of North and Central America. In the current FIFA ranking, Nicaragua ranks 131st.

This team has never participated in the final stage of the World Cup, and Nicaragua has not won any prizes at the continental tournaments in North America.

The Nicaraguan national team is led by Marco Antonio Figueroa, a participant in the 1984 Olympic Games in the USA and a legend of the Mexican championship. Playing for Atletico Morelia, Figueroa scored 130 goals, earning him the nickname The Phantom. The captain and leader of the Nicaraguan national team is 36—year-old midfielder Juan Barrera, who plays for the Real Esteli club from the local championship.

Spring starts: the Russian national team will test itself in Nicaragua and Mali

Valery Karpin's team will play the first friendly matches of 2026

The second opponent of our national team is the national team of Mali, ranked 54th in the FIFA rankings, between the national teams of Chile and Peru, with whom Russia played in November 2025.

The Malians have never been to the World Cup. But recently they have been performing regularly at the Africa Cup of Nations and even successfully in some places. In the last four cup draws, the national team of Mali has been out of the group. The national team of Mali has finished the tournament with medals three times in its history: silver in 1972 and two bronze medals in 2012 and 2013.

The national team is coached by 52-year-old Belgian Tom Saintfit, who previously led such exotic national teams as the Philippines, Gambia, Malta, Trinidad, Bangladesh and Togo.

The national team of Mali has many bright representatives of clubs from the European top championships. The most high—profile representative is the 29-year-old defensive midfielder of the English "Tottenham" Yves Bissouma. Other equally famous players include 23—year-old Fenerbahce Turkish winger Dorjele Nene (€18 million according to Transfermarkt), 24-year-old Nene's colleague El Bilal Toure from Besiktas (€15 million), as well as 23-year-old French midfielder Mamadou Sangare (€15 million).

The central defender of Baltika, 25-year-old Nathan Gassama, who is well known to us from his performances in the Russian Premier League, is also present in the Mali national team. For sure, he will tell his teammates something interesting about the players of our team.

The Russian national team for the March Games

Goalkeepers:

Matvey Safonov (Paris Saint-Germain), Denis Adamov (Zenit), Anton Mitryushkin (Lokomotiv), Stanislav Agkatsev (Krasnodar), Maxim Borisko (Baltika).

Defenders:

Alexander Silyanov, Evgeny Morozov (both from Lokomotiv), Ilya Vakhania, Viktor Melekhin (both from Rostov), Ruslan Litvinov (Spartak), Valentin Paltingov (Krasnodar), Danil Krugovoy (CSKA), Mingiyan Beveev (Baltika).

Midfielders:

Danil Prutsev (Lokomotiv), Matvey Kislyak, Ivan Oblyakov, Dmitry Barinov, Kirill Glebov (all from CSKA), Nail Umyarov (Spartak), Daniil Fomin, Yaroslav Gladyshev (both from Dynamo), Maxim Glushenkov (Zenit), Maxim Petrov (Baltika), Lechi Sadulaev (Akhmat), Alexander Golovin (Monaco).

The attackers:

Konstantin Tyukavin (Dynamo), Dmitry Vorobyov, Nikolay Komlichenko (both from Lokomotiv), Georgy Melkadze (Akhmat).