Formation Following the
independence of Montenegro from
Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia was set to represent both Serbia and Montenegro in the
Euro 2008 qualifying stage. However,
UEFA would include Montenegro as a late entry if
FIFA ratified a separate
Montenegrin Football Association before September 2006. Moreover, this did not occur before the competition began. In October 2006, Montenegro was granted provisional membership of UEFA, with a debate regarding full membership scheduled at a full
UEFA Congress in January 2007. Montenegro's first
FIFA World Ranking was joint 199th place, the last place on the list by default.
First matches On 26 January 2007, the Montenegro FA was granted full membership of UEFA. The team played its first FIFA-recognized friendly match against
Hungary on 24 March 2007 at
Stadion Pod Goricom in
Podgorica. Montenegro won 2–1 in front of 12,000 spectators. Striker
Mirko Vučinić scored the country's first goal in the 62nd minute. On 31 May 2007, Montenegro was admitted as FIFA's 208th member.
'Golden' era On 11 September 2012, Montenegro played against San Marino in
Seravalle. In a one-sided match, Montenegro won 6–0, the biggest win in the team's history. Montenegro then beat Ukraine 1–0 in
Kyiv, with the only goal scored by
Dejan Damjanović.
Ups and downs On 23 February 2014 in
Nice, Montenegro were drawn for qualification in
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group G alongside
Russia,
Sweden,
Austria, Moldova and
Liechtenstein. Although Montenegro, opened their campaign with a 2–0 victory against Moldova, they failed to qualify with goalless draw against Liechtenstein, a 1–0 loss against Austria and a 1–1 home draw against Sweden. On 27 March 2015, Montenegro's home match against Russia was abandoned after 67 minutes due to crowd violence, after the Russian
left-back Dmitri Kombarov was hit by a projectile. The score was goalless and Russia had missed a penalty moments before the match was abandoned. The Russian goalkeeper
Igor Akinfeev was hit by a flare, causing a second 33-minute delay. The abandoned match was ruled a 3–0 victory in Russia's favour. Montenegro finished fourth at the end of the campaign and placed 95th on the FIFA ranking list. ==Stadium and facilities==