[2] Although the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed on 28 April 1992, its teams were banned from all international sporting events, including association football, due to FIFA sanctions resulting from the Yugoslav Wars.

[citation needed] Due to the United Nations international sanctions, the team could not take part in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification, nor the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying process.

[6] The justification for such estimation was partially found in the names of the Yugoslav players, members of great European teams and proven footballers.

Yugoslavia entered the match with a sole attacker, but its defensive tactics proved unsuccessful as Dennis Bergkamp put the Netherlands in front in the 38th minute.

In the late seconds of the match, Edgar Davids took a shot from 20 meters out which beat goalkeeper Ivica Kralj to the disbelief of the Yugoslav players and fans.

The first, highly anticipated match against Croatia took place in Belgrade shortly after the bombing ended, and was interrupted due to a power outage at the beginning of the second half, resuming after 43 minutes[7] and eventually finishing 0–0.

The draw for the Euro 2000 final stages placed Yugoslavia in Group C alongside Spain, Norway and another former Yugoslav republic, Slovenia.

The Slovenians took a surprise 3–0 lead in the first match at the Stade du Pays de Charleroi, but three goals in six second-half minutes enabled Yugoslavia to secure a 3–3 draw.

Yugoslavia nonetheless finished second, level on points with Norway but ranked ahead due to their head-to-head victory in Liège.

However, unlike the last encounter, the co-hosts made easy work of Yugoslavia, winning 6–1 in Rotterdam, with Patrick Kluivert scoring a hat-trick.

The problems began with the major political turmoil in the country as well in the Yugoslav FA, which prompted new head coach Ilija Petković to resign after only one match, a 2–0 away victory against Luxembourg.

The team managed to bounce back with a draw in Russia and a win in Switzerland, but failed to defeat Slovenia in the penultimate game, thus finishing their qualifying group in third position.

Initially, the team under his lead experienced dragging failure in the Euro 2004 qualifiers while competing for the first time as Serbia and Montenegro.

Serbia and Montenegro began their 2006 World Cup campaign by finishing first with an undefeated record in their qualification group ahead of favourites Spain.

Led once again by Ilija Petković, Serbia and Montenegro played some impressive defensive football: the "Famous Four" defence consisting of Nemanja Vidić, Mladen Krstajić, Goran Gavrančić and Ivica Dragutinović, with Dragoslav Jevrić as goalkeeper allowed only one goal in ten matches, finishing first in their group with a 6–4–0 record.

Despite having a 2–0 lead for much of the first half, the Elephants managed to come back and win 3–2, leaving Serbia and Montenegro with a disappointing 0–0–3 World Cup run to conclude its existence.