Euro 2016: 9 things you probably didn't know about the history of the tournament

#4 The curious case of C.I.S.

Rudi Voller with broken arm during the game against Commonwealth of Independent States in 1992

Politics has far-reaching effects in every aspect of our lives. And sometimes these effects give rise to bizarre, unprecedented circumstances, like this one.

USSR had secured a finals berth in the 1992 UEFA Euro that was to be held in Sweden. The qualifiers ended sometime in 1991, however, from January 1st, 1992, USSR formally ceased to exist and was broken up into 15 federal nations.

In order to preserve the spot secured by USSR, the Association of Football Federations of C.I.S. was formed on January 11th, 1992, under which players of all 15 federal nations were offered a chance to play for a unified team that was to last only until the end of UEFA Euro 1992.

The CIS football team played its first match against USA in Miami and won 1-0. CIS was disbanded with their exit from UEFA Euro 1992 after a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Scotland.