 He was on the USSR team that won the football event at the 1956 Summer Olympics, where he scored two goals in the quarterfinal match against Indonesia, and also played at the 1958 World Cup, where his team reached the quarter-finals.He made 20 appearances in all for his country, scoring 11 goals.Salnikov is the father of Soviet Fed Cup player Julia Salnikova and the grandfather of the Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas.