Andrey Arshavin

Arshavin debuted for the Russian national team on 17 May 2002, but was overlooked for the Russia squads at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004. His first goal with the squad came in a friendly match versus Romania on 13 February 2003. Since then, he has managed to score or assist in every competition which Russia has participated in. He was Russia's captain in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia. On 11 June 2009, Arshavin was made first-choice captain for Russia by manager Guus Hiddink.

UEFA Euro 2008

Arshavin scoring against Sweden in Euro 2008. He scored twice during the tournament.

Arshavin was included in Russia's Euro 2008 squad by Guus Hiddink, despite being unable to play in the first two group matches due to suspension. He announced his return by setting up the first goal and scoring the second in Russia's final group game against Sweden at Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, which helped his team qualify for the next round.

In the next match, the quarter-final against the Netherlands, Arshavin repeated the feat with his part in Russia's two goals in the second half of extra time, providing the cross for Dmitri Torbinski's goal and scoring his own four minutes later. Russia consequently reached the semi-finals with a 3–1 victory. For both of these games, UEFA awarded him Man of the Match. However, Arshavin could not repeat the heroics in the semi-final against eventual winners Spain, which Russia lost 3–0. Despite this, Arshavin was named in UEFA's squad for Euro 2008. He, along with the rest of the Russian team, received a bronze medal.

2010 World Cup qualifying

Arshavin captained the team to a second-place finish in their group, scoring three goals in ten games. He provided the assist for Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's second goal to seal a 2–1 win over Slovenia in the first leg of the qualification play-offs. Despite this, Russia lost the second leg 1–0, knocking them out of the World Cup finals on away goals.

Arshavin captaining Russia in 2011.

UEFA Euro 2012

Arshavin was confirmed for the finalized UEFA Euro 2012 squad on 25 May 2012.[75] He started all three of their games in the group stage of Group A, as Russia were eliminated in the group stage, finishing third place behind on the head-to-head ruling. Nonetheless, Arshavin was statistically named the best midfielder of the tournament by UEFA, having earned the most assists in the fewest minutes on the pitch (270 minutes). After the tournament, Russian fans were left disappointed by comments from Arshavin, who said: "the fact that we [Russian national team] hadn't exceed your [fans] expectations is not our [the players'] problem, it is your [fans'] problems." Arshavin later apologized for his comment as well as Russia's early exit from the tournament.

After playing in new manager Fabio Capello's first match in charge, a friendly match with Ivory Coast, Arshavin was omitted from Russia's squad for the entirety of its 2014 World Cup qualification campaign.