2025–26 Russian First League

Russian First League
Season	2025–26
Dates	19 July 2025 - May 2026
Matches	222
Goals	509 (2.29 per match)
Top goalscorer	Belajdi Pusi; (14 goals)
Biggest home win	KAMAZ 5–0 Yenisey; 24 October 2025
Biggest away win	Chayka 0–6 Rotor; 3 September 2025
Highest scoring	Neftekhimik 1–5 Rodina; 3 September 2025; Chayka 0–6 Rotor; 3 September 2025; Chayka 2–4 Spartak; 20 September 2025; KAMAZ 5–1 Ural; 6 October 2025; Volga 2–4 Yenisey; 11 October 2025; Chelyabinsk 3–3 KAMAZ; 16 November 2025; Chayka 2–4 Neftekhimik; 22 November 2025; Chelyabinsk 3–3 Spartak; 7 March 2026; Ural 2–4 Yenisey; 22 March 2026
Longest winning run	6 matches; Fakel (twice)
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches; Rodina; Spartak
Longest winless run	12 matches; Chayka
Longest losing run	7 matches; Chayka
Highest attendance	21,118; Rotor 3–0 KAMAZ; 14 September 2025
Lowest attendance	261; Spartak 1–1 Chayka; 14 March 2026, played in Khimki
Total attendance	871,011
Average attendance	3,959; Two games played behind close doors are not included in the lowest and average attendance statistics
	← 2024–25 2026–27 → All statistics correct as of 22 March 2026.

The 2025–26 Russian First League (First League Pari for sponsorship reasons) is the 34th season of Russia's second-tier football league since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The season began on 19 July 2025, and had a 3-month winter break between December 2025 and March 2026.

Team changes

To First League

Promoted from Second League Division A

Relegated from Premier League

Fakel Voronezh

Khimki, which was administratively relegated from the Premier League, was then dissolved and did not enter the First League.^[1]

Pari Nizhny Novgorod, which lost in the relegation play-offs, was kept in the Premier League as a replacement for Khimki.

Orenburg, which was originally relegated from the Premier League, remained in it due to the attempted match-fixing by Torpedo Moscow in the previous season.^[2]^[3]

From First League

Relegated to Second League

Sokol Saratov, which finished the previous season in the relegation zone, was kept in the league as a replacement for Khimki

Promoted to Premier League

Torpedo Moscow, which was initially promoted to the Premier League, was kept in the First League due to attempted match-fixing in the previous season.^[2]^[3]

Stadiums by locations

Location of teams in 2025–26 First League.^[4]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Fakel Voronezh	24	16	4	4	30	12	+18	52	Promotion to 2026–27 Premier League
2	Ural Yekaterinburg	25	13	6	6	35	24	+11	45	Promotion to 2026–27 Premier League
3	Rodina Moscow	24	11	10	3	34	19	+15	43	Qualification to Premier League play-offs
4	Spartak Kostroma	25	9	11	5	36	30	+6	38	Qualification to Premier League play-offs
5	KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny	25	9	10	6	41	28	+13	37^[a]
6	Chelyabinsk	24	9	10	5	33	25	+8	37^[a]
7	Rotor Volgograd	25	9	9	7	28	20	+8	36
8	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	24	8	10	6	30	27	+3	34
9	SKA-Khabarovsk	25	8	9	8	27	30	−3	33
10	Arsenal Tula	25	7	11	7	33	30	+3	32
11	Shinnik Yaroslavl	25	7	10	8	22	23	−1	31^[b]
12	Yenisey Krasnoyarsk	25	7	10	8	21	29	−8	31^[b]
13	Chernomorets Novorossiysk	25	7	7	11	29	32	−3	28
14	Volga Ulyanovsk	25	7	6	12	29	39	−10	27^[c]
15	Torpedo Moscow	24	7	6	11	22	31	−9	27^[c]
16	Ufa	25	6	8	11	28	33	−5	26	Relegation to 2026–27 Second League
17	Chayka Peschanokopskoye	24	3	7	14	21	48	−27	16^[d]
18	Sokol Saratov	25	2	10	13	10	29	−19	16^[d]

Updated to match(es) played on 22 March 2026. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head matches won; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Head-to-head goals scored; 6) Matches won; 7) Goal difference; 8) Goals scored; 9) Away matches won; 10) Away goals scored; 11) Disciplinary record in ascending order (3 points for direct red card, 1 point for yellow card, 2.5 points for red card after two yellows); 12) 2024–25 position (does not apply to final standings); 13) Play-offs. If the teams tied on points did not all play equal number of head-to-head matches, head-to-head criteria are not used to determine the standings.^[5]
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head points: KAMAZ 4, Chelyabinsk 1.
^ ^a ^b Head-to-head points: Shinnik 2, Yenisey 2. Ranked on goal difference.
^ ^a ^b Head-to-head points: Volga 6, Torpedo 0.
^ ^a ^b Head-to-head points: Chayka 4, Sokol 1.

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	CHA	CHL	CHE	FAK	KAM	NEF	ROD	ROT	SHI	SKA	SOK	SPA	TOR	UFA	URA	VOL	YEN
Arsenal Tula		1–0		1–1		1–1	0–0			1–1	3–1		1–2	2–2	2–2	1–2	0–1	2–2
Chayka Peschanokopskoye	0–3					0–2	2–4	0–0	0–6	1–2	1–3	1–0	2–4		1–1	0–1	1–1
Chelyabinsk	2–2	1–0			1–1	3–3		4–0	1–0			3–1	3–3		2–1		1–0	0–0
Chernomorets Novorossiysk	1–2	4–1	0–0		0–1	1–0	1–1			2–1	3–0			0–2	3–2		2–1	0–2
Fakel Voronezh	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–0			1–0		4–0			1–0	3–2	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–1
KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny	1–1		2–1	3–1	1–2			1–2	1–1	0–0	1–1			1–1	3–1	5–1	2–3	5–0
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	1–0	2–3	1–1			1–3		1–5	0–0		1–1	0–0		0–0	2–0	1–0		1–0
Rodina Moscow	1–1			1–1	2–0	0–0	1–1		0–0	2–1	2–0	2–0	1–3	3–0				2–0
Rotor Volgograd	1–2		0–2	2–0	1–0	3–0				3–0	1–0		1–2	3–0	1–0	1–1		0–0
Shinnik Yaroslavl		4–1	1–0	1–0	0–1		0–2	1–1	2–0			0–0	2–2		1–0	0–1	2–0	1–1
SKA-Khabarovsk	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1		2–2		3–1		0–0	1–2	1–0		0–2		1–1
Sokol Saratov	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–2	0–3		1–1	0–0	0–2			1–0	2–2		1–0
Spartak Kostroma		1–1	2–1	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1		2–1		0–1		1–1	1–1
Torpedo Moscow		3–2	2–3	1–4			3–0	0–2	2–0	0–0		1–1	0–1		0–0	1–0	2–3
Ufa	1–2	4–0	0–0		0–4		3–2	0–0		1–0	1–1	2–0	0–0			2–3	2–1	3–0
Ural Yekaterinburg	2–0		1–0	3–2	2–0		1–1	2–1	0–0		1–2	2–0	1–1				4–0	2–4
Volga Ulyanovsk	2–1		2–2	1–1		1–2	1–4	1–2	1–2		1–0			2–0	2–0	0–0		2–4
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk		0–3		1–0	1–1	1–0		0–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	1–0	0–1		0–2	1–1

Updated to match(es) played on 22 March 2026. Source: First League (in Russian), Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Team ╲ Round
Fakel Voronezh	4	3	2	2	1	1	2	2	1	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1
Ural Yekaterinburg	5	2	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	1	2	2	3	4	3	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2
Rodina Moscow	11	16	17	14	16	16	13	8	7	7	7	6	7	5	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3
Spartak Kostroma	17	7	8	5	4	4	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4
Chelyabinsk	2	1	5	3	5	5	5	5	5	6	4	4	4	6	6	7	7	7	6	5	6	5	5	5
KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny	8	6	3	6	3	3	4	4	4	5	6	7	6	7	7	6	5	6	5	6	5	6	6	6
Rotor Volgograd	3	8	9	7	7	6	6	6	6	4	5	5	5	3	5	5	6	5	7	7	7	8	7	7
SKA-Khabarovsk	7	5	4	4	6	8	8	9	11	12	11	10	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	10	8	7	8	8
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	12	10	11	9	10	10	14	14	14	11	10	8	9	9	9	9	10	11	11	8	9	9	9	9
Shinnik Yaroslavl	16	14	16	17	14	11	10	12	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	11	11	11	10	10
Arsenal Tula	9	9	7	10	8	7	7	7	8	8	8	11	11	11	12	12	11	9	8	9	10	10	11	11
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk	18	18	18	18	18	13	11	11	12	15	14	15	15	13	11	11	13	12	12	12	13	14	12	12
Chernomorets Novorossiysk	6	12	13	13	17	18	18	18	15	14	15	12	12	12	13	13	14	15	13	13	12	12	13	13
Volga Ulyanovsk	15	17	14	15	12	15	12	13	13	10	12	13	13	15	14	15	15	14	15	14	14	15	14	14
Torpedo Moscow	14	13	15	16	13	14	16	16	16	16	17	16	17	18	16	17	17	17	16	16	15	13	15	15
Ufa	10	15	10	11	11	12	9	10	10	13	13	14	14	14	15	14	12	13	14	15	16	16	16	16
Chayka Peschanokopskoye	1	4	6	8	9	9	15	15	17	17	18	18	18	16	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17
Sokol Saratov	13	11	12	12	15	17	17	17	18	18	16	17	16	17	18	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	18

	Promotion
	Play-offs
	Relegation to 2026–27 Russian Second League

Updated to match(es) played on 16 March 2026. Source: everysport.com

Results by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Arsenal Tula	D	D	W	D	D	W	L	W	L	L	D	L	D	D	D	L	W	W	W	D	D	D	L	L	W
Chayka Peschanokopskoye	W	D	D	D	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	D	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	W	D
Chernomorets Novorossiysk	D	L	L	D	L	L	L	D	W	W	L	W	W	L	D	D	L	L	W	D	W	L	W	D	L
Chelyabinsk	W	W	L	W	L	W	D	D	W	D	W	D	D	D	D	L	L	W	D	W	L	W	D	D
Fakel Voronezh	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	D	W	L	D	D	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	L
KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny	D	W	W	L	W	W	D	W	D	L	D	L	W	D	L	W	W	L	D	D	D	D	L	D	W
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	D	D	D	W	L	L	D	L	D	W	W	W	D	L	D	L	D	D	W	W	D	W	L	W
Rodina Moscow	D	L	L	D	D	D	W	W	W	W	L	W	D	W	W	D	W	D	W	D	D	W	W	D
Rotor Volgograd	W	L	D	W	D	W	L	W	W	W	D	L	D	W	L	D	L	W	L	L	D	D	D	D	W
Shinnik Yaroslavl	L	D	L	L	W	D	W	D	W	D	D	W	L	L	D	D	W	L	W	D	L	L	W	D	D
SKA-Khabarovsk	D	W	W	D	L	L	D	L	L	D	W	W	W	L	D	W	D	L	D	D	W	W	L	D	L
Sokol Saratov	D	D	L	D	D	L	L	L	L	D	W	L	D	D	D	W	L	D	L	D	L	L	L	L	L
Spartak Kostroma	L	W	D	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	D	D	D	L	D	W	L	L	D	L	D	D	D	D
Torpedo Moscow	L	D	L	L	W	L	L	D	D	L	L	W	L	D	D	W	L	D	W	L	W	W	L	W
Ufa	D	L	W	L	D	L	W	D	L	L	D	D	D	D	L	W	W	L	L	L	D	L	L	W	W
Ural Yekaterinburg	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	D	D	W	D	L	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	D	D	L	D	W	L
Volga Ulyanovsk	L	L	D	L	W	L	W	D	L	W	L	D	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	W	D	D	W	D	L
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk	L	L	D	L	D	W	W	D	L	L	D	L	D	W	W	L	L	W	D	D	D	D	W	D	W

Updated to match(es) played on 22 March 2026. Source: Soccerstats.com (in English)
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals^[6]
1	Belajdi Pusi	Fakel	14
2	Amur Kalmykov	Arsenal	11
2	David Karaev	KAMAZ	11
4	Artyom Maksimenko	Rodina	10
5	Ruslan Apekov	Torpedo	9
6	Said Aliyev	Chernomorets	8
6	Ramazan Gadzhimuradov	Chelyabinsk	8
8	Ilya Safronov	Rotor	7
8	Dilan Ortiz	Ufa	7
10	Denis Zhilmostnykh	Spartak	6
	Daniil Kornyushin	Shinnik
	Rashid Magomedov	Neftekhimik
	Martin Sekulić	Ural
	Aleksandr Yushin	Torpedo
	Garrik Levin	Chelyabinsk
	Dmitri Tsypchenko	Torpedo
	Artyom Sokolov	Chayka
	Jacobo Alcalde	SKA-Khabarovsk

Managerial changes

Club	Outgoing head coach	Reason for leaving	Time of leaving	New head coach	Date of appointment	Previous club / role
Arsenal Tula	Aleksandr Storozhuk	Contract terminated	Pre-season period	Dmitri Gunko	18 June 2025	Urartu
Ural	Sergei Tomarov			Miroslav Romashchenko	23 June 2025	Ural, senior coach
Chernomorets Novorossiysk	Oleg Vasilenko			Sergei Pervushin	27 June 2025	Chayka
Chayka	Sergei Pervushin			Dmitri Kombarov	17 July 2025	Spartak-2 Moscow
Rodina	Zoran Zeljković		After Matchday 3	Barseg Kirakosyan (caretaker)	5 August 2025	FC Rodina-M
Torpedo Moscow	Oleg Kononov		After Matchday 4	Pavel Kirilchik (caretaker)	15 August 2025	Torpedo Moscow, assistant coach
Chernomorets Novorossiysk	Sergei Pervushin		After Matchday 6	Eduard Sarkisov (caretaker)	24 August 2025	Chernomorets Novorossiysk, senior coach
Torpedo Moscow	Pavel Kirilchik (caretaker)	End of caretaker period	After Matchday 7	Sergei Zhukov (caretaker)	1 September 2025	Torpedo Moscow youth team
Rodina	Barseg Kirakosyan (caretaker)		After Matchday 8	Juan Díaz	4 September 2025	Sevilla Atlético, sporting director
Chernomorets Novorossiysk	Eduard Sarkisov (caretaker)		After Matchday 8	Vadim Yevseyev	5 September 2025	Leningradets
Torpedo Moscow	Sergei Zhukov (caretaker)		After Matchday 9	Dmitri Parfenov	13 September 2025	Aktobe
Fakel Voronezh	Igor Shalimov	Contract terminated	After Matchday 12	Oleg Vasilenko	1 October 2025	Chernomorets Novorossiysk
KAMAZ	Ildar Akhmetzyanov		After Matchday 13	Anton Khazov	10 October 2025	Pari Nizhny Novgorod youth team, assistant coach
Torpedo Moscow	Dmitri Parfenov		After Matchday 14	Oleg Kononov	15 October 2025	Torpedo Moscow
Rotor Volgograd	Denis Boyarintsev		After Matchday 20	Valery Burlachenko (caretaker)	25 November 2025	Serikspor, assistant coach
Rotor Volgograd	Valery Burlachenko (caretaker)	End of caretaker period	After Matchday 21	Dmitri Parfenov	1 December 2025	Torpedo Moscow
Ural	Miroslav Romashchenko	Contract terminated	After Matchday 21	Vasili Berezutsky	11 December 2025	Sabah Baku
Yenisey Krasnoyarsk	Andrei Tikhonov		After Matchday 21	Sergei Tashuyev	24 December 2025	Akhmat Grozny
Chernomorets Novorossiysk	Vadim Yevseyev		After Matchday 21	—	—	—

References

^ ""Химки" приостанавливают свою деятельность" (in Russian). FC Khimki. 18 June 2025.
^ ^a ^b "КДК РФС принял решение об исключении «Торпедо» из состава участников Мир РПЛ" [RFU CDC decided to exclude Torpedo from Mir RPL] (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 10 July 2025. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
^ ^a ^b "Бюро исполкома РФС включило «Оренбург» в состав участников МИР РПЛ" (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 11 July 2025.
^ "TEAMS". Russian Football National League. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
^ "First League 2025-26 regulations - paragraph 3.5" (PDF) (in Russian). Russian First League. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
^ "Top Scorers" (in Russian). Russian First League. Retrieved 22 March 2026.

[table_hth_KAM0.53205491394366-5] Head-to-head points: KAMAZ 4, Chelyabinsk 1.

[table_hth_SHI0.53205491394366-6] Head-to-head points: Shinnik 2, Yenisey 2. Ranked on goal difference.

[table_hth_VOL0.53205491394366-7] Head-to-head points: Volga 6, Torpedo 0.

[table_hth_CHA0.53205491394366-8] Head-to-head points: Chayka 4, Sokol 1.

[1] ""Химки" приостанавливают свою деятельность" (in Russian). FC Khimki. 18 June 2025.

[TorpedoMF-2] "КДК РФС принял решение об исключении «Торпедо» из состава участников Мир РПЛ" [RFU CDC decided to exclude Torpedo from Mir RPL] (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 10 July 2025. Retrieved 10 July 2025.

[TorpedoMF2-3] "Бюро исполкома РФС включило «Оренбург» в состав участников МИР РПЛ" (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 11 July 2025.

[4] "TEAMS". Russian Football National League. Retrieved 14 July 2025.

[9] "First League 2025-26 regulations - paragraph 3.5" (PDF) (in Russian). Russian First League. Retrieved 14 July 2025.

[10] "Top Scorers" (in Russian). Russian First League. Retrieved 22 March 2026.

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Russian First League seasons
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