Football at the 1956 Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR

The football tournament at the 1956 Spartakiad of Peoples of the USSR was a preparatory competition for the Soviet Union national football team for the upcoming 1956 Summer Olympics. The competition took place on August 2 – 16, 1956 as part of the Spartakiad of Peoples of the USSR. The Soviet team has already qualified for the Olympic tournament by winning a play-off match up against Israel national football team earlier in July 1956 (Association football at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification). The Soviet team competed under the name of the Moscow city team.

Before the tournament, on 16 July 1956 Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was annexed by the Russian SFSR by changing its status from a union republic to an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR. Nonetheless, the team of the Karelo-Finnish SSR was still participating at the tournament.

Qualification round

 * Latvia - Azerbaijan 1:5
 * Estonia - Lithuania 0:1

Round of 16

 * Armenia - Tajikistan 3:0
 * Belarus - Kyrgyzstan 1:0
 * Azerbaijan - Karelia 5:1
 * Georgia - Moldova 4:0
 * Russia - Uzbekistan 3:1
 * Leningrad - Turkmenistan 2:0
 * Ukraine - Kazakhstan 2:1
 * Moscow - Lithuania 2:0

Quarterfinals

 * Russia - Leningrad 0:2
 * Georgia - Armenia 4:2
 * Ukraine - Azerbaijan 4:1
 * Moscow - Belarus 5:1

Semifinals

 * Georgia - Ukraine 3:1
 * Moscow - Leningrad 3:2

Semifinals

 * Azerbaijan - Armenia 0:3
 * Russia - Belarus 4:2

For 7th place

 * Azerbaijan - Belarus 0:2

For 5th place

 * Armenia - Russia 2:1

Quarterfinals

 * Latvia - Kazakhstan 2:1
 * Moldova - Tajikistan 6:0
 * Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan 3:0
 * Estonia - Kyrgyzstan 2:1
 * Karelia - bye
 * Lithuania - bye

Semifinals

 * Karelia - Latvia 0:5
 * Moldova - Uzbekistan 4:3
 * Estonia - Lithuania 0:2

For 10th place

 * Moldova - Lithuania 4:1

For 9th place

 * Latvia - Moldova 2:1

For 12th place

 * Uzbekistan - Karelia 2:1
 * Uzbekistan - Estonia 2:0

Semifinals

 * Kazakhstan - Tajikistan 3:0
 * Turkmenistan - Kyrgyzstan 0:1

For 15th place

 * Kazakhstan - Kyrgyzstan 2:1

For 17th place

 * Tajikistan - Turkmenistan 2:3

Moscow
Head coach: Gavriil Kachalin, assistant: Nikolay Gulyayev (Spartak Moscow)

Georgian SSR
Head coach: Gaioz Jejelava (Dinamo Tbilisi), assistant: Archil Kiknadze (Dinamo Tbilisi)

Ukrainian SSR
Head coach: Oleg Oshenkov (Dynamo Kyiv), assistant: Anton Idzkovsky (FShM Kyiv)

Leningrad
Head coach: Arkadi Alov (Zenit Leningrad)

Armenian SSR
Head coach: Abram Dangulov (Spartak Yerevan)

RSFSR
Head coach: Aleksandr Starostin (President of the RSFSR Football Federation)

Belarusian SSR
Head coach: Mikhail Bozenenkov (Spartak Minsk)

Azerbaijan SSR
Head coach: Victor Panyukov (FShM Tbilisi)