Russia axe under-fire Stanislav Cherchesov as national football team boss after poor showing at Euro 2020

Stanislav Cherchesov's reign of almost five years as Russia national team boss has come to an end on Thursday after he was axed by Russian football chiefs in the aftermath of his side finishing bottom of their group at Euro 2020.

A statement released on Thursday afternoon by Alexander Dyukov, the president of the Russian Football Union, confirmed that they have parted ways with Cherchesov just weeks after his side could only manage a single win and two goals in Group B at the finals. 

"Together with Stanislav Salamovich, we decided to terminate his contract," said Dyukov, via translation.

"The Russian Football Union will begin searching for candidates for the position of head coach, who will prepare the team for the qualifying matches of the 2022 World Cup."

The move to make a change at top of Russian football comes amid accusations of underperformance throughout the European Championships. 

Cherchesov's side shipped four goals against Denmark and three against Belgium in heavy defeats against both nations, claiming their solitary win with a 1-0 victory over Finland – results which left Russia rooted to the bottom of their group and ensured an early exit from the tournament. 

57-year-old Cherchesov, who was appointed as boss in 2016, oversaw Russia's hosting of the 2018 World Cup and won 24 of his 57 games in charge of the national team, helping his side to a second-placed finish in their group at the World Cup, proceeding to eliminate former world champions Spain on penalties in the round of 16. 

His team were eventually ousted by Croatia – again on penalties – in the quarterfinals. 

However, speculation has been rampant in recent days that the RFU were likely to make a change in the manager's dugout – with former Germany boss Jogi Low being touted in the media as being a potential candidate for his replacement. 

Zenit St. Petersburg boss Sergei Semak, Rostov manager Valeri Karpin and Rubin Kazan coach Leonid Slutsky have also been linked with taking over from Cherchesov but are thought to have indicated that they have no interest in the job.

Another name speculated as a potential replacement is Portuguese coach Andre Villas Boas, who previously had a two-year spell with Zenit St. Petersburg.