Igor Ivanovich Belanov (Russian: И́горь Ива́нович Бела́нов) or Ihor Ivanovych Bielanov (Ukrainian: Ігор Іванович Бєланов; born 25 September 1960) is a Soviet and Ukrainian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Igor Belanov

Belanov in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Igor Ivanovich Belanov
Date of birth	(1960-09-25) 25 September 1960 (age 63)
Place of birth	Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1973–1978	Chornomorets Odesa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1979–1981	SKA Odesa	68	(16)
1981–1985	Chornomorets Odesa	116	(26)
1985–1989	Dynamo Kyiv	121	(40)
1989–1991	Borussia Mönchengladbach	24	(4)
1991–1995	Eintracht Braunschweig	64	(21)
1995–1996	Chornomorets Odesa	3	(1)
1996–1997	Metalurh Mariupol	5	(4)
Total		401	(112)
International career
1985–1990	Soviet Union	33	(8)
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union UEFA European Championship Runner-up 1988 West Germany
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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He made a name for himself at Dynamo Kyiv, winning five major titles as well as the Ballon d'Or in 1986 and became the second Ukrainian national to win the award after Oleh Blokhin (1975). He then spent six years in Germany with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga and Eintracht Braunschweig in the 2. Bundesliga, with little success.

Belanov represented the Soviet Union at one World Cup and one European Championship.He was included in the list of the top 100 World Cup footballers of all time by The Guardian in 2014.^[1] In 2011, he, Oleh Blokhin and Vitaliy Starukhin were named as the "legends of Ukrainian football" at the Victory of Football awards.^[2]

Belanov played 33 matches for the Soviet Union, scoring eight goals. His best performance came at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, where he netted four and assisted for six others as the team (which comprised 13 Dynamo Kyiv players) reached the round-of-16; he scored a hat-trick in the game against Belgium, in a losing extra time effort (4–3).^[9]

This performance at the World Cup, along with Dynamo's Cup Winners' Cup success, helped Belanov win the European Footballer of the Year award. He was also part of the squad that reached the final of UEFA Euro 1988, where the national side faced the Netherlands. With the score at 2–0 for the Netherlands, USSR were awarded a penalty: he took it, but saw goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen save his effort as the score remained 2–0 until full time, giving the Netherlands the European title.^[10][11] He won 33 caps between 1985 and 1990.^[12]

Belanov was noted for his athleticism, in particular for his running speed and powerful goal strikes. He was one of the fastest sprinters among Soviet footballers of all times, together with Oleh Blokhin. However, while Blokhin was trained by his parents, who were both competitive sprinters, Belanov never received a formal sprint training; yet he ran the 50 metres in a hand-timed 5.7 seconds, corresponding to a mere 0.3 seconds slower than the world record at the time.^[13]

Belanov turned to business after finishing his playing career. He returned to prominence when he became the majority shareholder at Switzerland's FC Wil, in August 2003. His predecessor, banker Andreas Hafen, had been given a five-year prison sentence after embezzling 51 million Swiss francs ($40 million) from the UBS Bank.

Belanov's first move at Wil was replacing first-team manager Martin Andermatt with his former Dynamo Kyiv teammate Oleksandr Zavarov, not taking note of the fact that he lacked the necessary UEFA licence to manage a European top-division outfit. That circumstance forced Belanov to sign former FC Karl-Marx-Stadt manager Joachim Müller. Due to the appointment of Müller, Zavarov's job was officially described as director of football; Müller did not last long as coach however, as Belanov sacked him just after three months, replacing him with Tomáš Matějček.

Matejcek's strict training regiment caused a quick revolt amongst Wil players. This forced Belanov to make amends for his decisions and to re-appoint Müller as manager, and hand the assistant-manager role to former Swiss international goalkeeper Stephan Lehmann. Those turned out to be Belanov's last series of actions as Wil's major shareholder as, in a quick sequence, he pulled out of his chairman and shareholder role of the club.^[14]

Additionally, Belanov also owned a football school in Odesa, Ukraine, which carried his name.

In 2018 joined the board of strategic development Ukrainian Association of Football.^[15]

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine 2022, Belanov joined the Territorial Defence Battalion (of the Ukrainian Armed Forces) of his hometown Odesa.^[16]

Dynamo Kyiv

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1985–86
• Soviet League: 1985, 1986
• Soviet Cup: 1985, 1987, 1990
• Soviet Super Cup: 1986, 1987

Soviet Union

• UEFA European Championship runner-up: 1988

Individual

• Ballon d'Or: 1986^[17]
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup top scorer: 1985–86^[18]
• World Soccer magazine's Player of the Year: runner-up 1986
• FIFA World Cup Bronze Boot: 1986
• UEFA European Championship top assist provider: 1988^[19]
• The World Cup's top 100 footballers of all time, by The Times
• FourFourTwo The best strikers of the 80s 19th: 2023^[20]
• Merited Master of Sports: 1986
• The best 33 football players of the Soviet Union (4): 1985 — No. 3, 1986 — No. 1, 1987 — No. 3, 1988 — No. 3
• FIFA XI: 1991, 1998^[21]
• Golden Foot: 2008, as a legend^[22]