2018 FIFA World Cup

Чемпионат мира по футболу FIFA 2018

Chempionat mira po futbolu FIFA 2018

2018 FIFA World Cup.svg

The official emblem

Tournament details

Host country Russia

Dates 14 June – 15 July

Teams 32 (from 5 confederations)

Venue(s) 12 (in 11 host cities)

Final positions

Champions France (2nd title)

Runners-up Croatia

Third place Belgium

Fourth place England

Tournament statistics

Matches played 64

Goals scored 169 (2.64 per match)

Attendance 3,031,768 (47,371 per match)

Top scorer(s) England Harry Kane (6 goals)

Best player(s) Croatia Luka Modrić

Best young player France Kylian Mbappé

Best goalkeeper Belgium Thibaut Courtois

Fair play award Spain

← 20142022 →

The 2018 FIFA World Cup was an international football tournament contested by men's national teams that took place between 14 June and 15 July 2018 in Russia. It was the 21st FIFA World Cup, a worldwide football tournament held once every four years. It was the eleventh time the championships had been held in Europe, and the first time they were held in Eastern Europe. At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it was the most expensive World Cup to date.[1][2]

The tournament phase involved 32 teams, of which 31 came through qualifying competitions, while as the host nation Russia qualified automatically. Of the 32, 20 had also appeared in the 2014 event, while Iceland and Panama each made their first appearance at the World Cup. 64 matches were played in 12 venues across 11 cities. Germany, the defending champions, were eliminated in the group stage. Host nation Russia was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In the final, France played Croatia on 15 July at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. France won the match 4–2, claiming their second World Cup.

Croatian player Luka Modrić was voted the tournament's best player, winning the Golden Ball. England's Harry Kane won the Golden Boot as he scored the most goals during the tournament with six. Belgium's Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove, awarded to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets. It has been estimated that more than three million people attended games during the tournament.

Host selection

Main article: Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup bid

Russian bid personnel celebrate the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia on 2 December 2010.

President Vladimir Putin holding the FIFA World Cup Trophy at a pre-tournament ceremony in Moscow on 9 September 2017

The 100-ruble commemorative banknote celebrates the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It features an image of Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin.

The bidding procedure to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup tournaments began in January 2009, and national associations had until 2 February 2009 to register their interest.[3] Initially, nine countries placed bids for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but Mexico later withdrew from the proceedings,[4] and Indonesia's bid was rejected by FIFA in February 2010 after the Indonesian government failed to submit a letter to support the bid.[5] During the bidding process, the three remaining non-UEFA nations (Australia, Japan, and the United States) gradually withdrew from the 2018 bids, and thus were ruled out of the 2022 bid. As such, there were eventually four bids for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, two of which were joint bids: England, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium, and Portugal/Spain.[6]

The 22-member FIFA Executive Committee convened in Zürich on 2 December 2010 to vote to select the hosts of both tournaments.[7] Russia won the right to be the 2018 host in the second round of voting. The Portugal/Spain bid came second, and that from Belgium/Netherlands third. England, which was bidding to host its second tournament, was eliminated in the first round.[8]

The voting results were:[6]

2018 FIFA bidding (majority 12 votes)

Bidders Votes

Round 1 Round 2

Russia 9 13

Portugal / Spain 7 7

Belgium / Netherlands 4 2

England 2 Eliminated

Host selection criticism

The choice of Russia as host was controversial. Issues included the level of racism in Russian football,[9][10][11] human rights abuses by the Russian government,[12] and discrimination against LGBT people in wider Russian society.[13][14] Russia's involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine had also prompted calls for the tournament to be moved, particularly following the annexation of Crimea.[15][16] In 2014, FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated that "the World Cup has been given and voted to Russia and we are going forward with our work".[17]

Allegations of corruption in the bidding processes and concerns over bribery on the part of the Russian team and corruption by FIFA members for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups led to threats from England's FA to boycott the tournament.[18] They claimed that four members of the executive committee had requested bribes to vote for England, and Sepp Blatter had said it had already been arranged before the vote that Russia would win.[19] FIFA appointed Michael J. Garcia, a US attorney, to investigate and produce a report on the corruption allegations. Although the report was never published, FIFA released a 42-page summary of its findings as determined by German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert. Eckert's summary cleared Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing, but was denounced by critics as a whitewash.[20] Because of the controversy, the FA refused to accept Eckert's absolving Russia from blame. Greg Dyke called for a re-examination of the affair and David Bernstein called for a boycott of the World Cup.[21][22] Garcia criticised the summary as being "materially incomplete" with "erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions", and appealed to FIFA's Appeal Committee.[23][24] The committee declined to hear his appeal, so Garcia resigned to protest of FIFA's conduct, citing a "lack of leadership" and lack of confidence in Eckert's independence of Eckert.[25]

On 3 June 2015, the FBI confirmed that federal authorities were investigating the bidding and awarding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.[26][27] In an interview published on 7 June 2015, Domenico Scala, the head of FIFA's Audit And Compliance Committee, stated that "should there be evidence that the awards to Qatar and Russia came only because of bought votes, then the awards could be cancelled".[28][29] Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and former British Prime Minister David Cameron attended a meeting with FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon in which a vote-trading deal for the right to host the 2018 World Cup in England was discussed.[30][31]

Teams

Qualification

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

For the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, all eligible nations—the 209 FIFA member associations except automatically qualified hosts Russia—applied to enter the qualifying process.[32] Zimbabwe and Indonesia were later disqualified before playing their first matches,[33][34] while Gibraltar and Kosovo, who joined FIFA on 13 May 2016 after the qualifying draw but before European qualifying had begun, also entered the competition.[citation needed] Places in the tournament were allocated to continental confederations, with the allocation unchanged from the 2014 World Cup.[35][36] The first qualification game, between Timor-Leste and Mongolia, began in Dili on 12 March 2015 as part of the AFC's qualification,[37][38][39] and the main qualifying draw took place at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, on 25 July 2015.[40][41]

Of the 32 nations qualified to play at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 20 countries competed at the previous tournament in 2014. Both Iceland and Panama qualified for the first time, with the former becoming the smallest country in terms of population to reach the World Cup.[42] Other teams returning after absences of at least three tournaments included: Egypt, returning to the finals after their last appearance in 1990; Morocco, who last competed in 1998; Peru, who last appeared in 1982; and Senegal, competing for the second time after reaching the quarter-finals in 2002. It was the first time three Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland and Sweden) and four Arab nations (Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia) qualified for the World Cup.[43]

Notable teams that failed to qualify included: four-time champions Italy (for the first time since 1958), who were knocked out in a qualification play-off by quarter-finalists Sweden and were the highest-ranked team to not qualify; and the Netherlands, who were three-time runners-up and had finished in third place in 2014, and had qualified for the last three World Cups. Four reigning continental champions: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations winners Cameroon; two-time Copa América champions and 2017 Confederations Cup runners-up Chile; 2016 OFC Nations Cup winners New Zealand; and 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup champions the United States (for the first time since 1986) also failed to qualify. The other notable qualifying streaks broken were for Ghana and Ivory Coast, both of which had qualified for the three previous tournaments.[44] The lowest-ranked team to qualify was the host nation, Russia.

Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the FIFA World Rankings at the time of the tournament.[45]

AFC (5)

 Australia (36)

 Iran (37)

 Japan (61)

 Saudi Arabia (67)

 South Korea (57)

CAF (5)

 Egypt (45)

 Morocco (41)

 Nigeria (48)

 Senegal (27)

 Tunisia (21)

CONCACAF (3)

 Costa Rica (23)

 Mexico (15)

 Panama (55)

CONMEBOL (5)

 Argentina (5)

 Brazil (2)

 Colombia (16)

 Peru (11)

 Uruguay (14)

OFC (0)

None qualified

UEFA (14)

 Belgium (3)

 Croatia (20)

 Denmark (12)

 England (12)

 France (7)

 Germany (1)

 Iceland (22)

 Poland (8)

 Portugal (4)

 Russia (70) (hosts)

 Serbia (34)

 Spain (10)

 Sweden (24)

  Switzerland (6)

  Qualified

  Did not qualify

  Disqualified

  Not a FIFA member

Draw

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup seeding

Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro in Moscow at the 2018 World Cup draw

The draw was held on 1 December 2017 at 18:00 MSK at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow.[46][47] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, by selecting one team from each of the four ranked pots.

For the draw, the teams were allocated to four pots based on the FIFA World Rankings of October 2017. Pot one contained the hosts Russia (who were automatically assigned to position A1) and the best seven teams. Pot two contained the next best eight teams, and so on for pots three and four.[48] This was different from previous draws, when only pot one was based on FIFA rankings while the remaining pots were based on geographical considerations. However, teams from the same confederation still were not drawn against each other for the group stage, except that two UEFA teams could be in each group. The pots for the draw are shown below.[49]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

 Russia (65) (hosts)

 Germany (1)

 Brazil (2)

 Portugal (3)

 Argentina (4)

 Belgium (5)

 Poland (6)

 France (7)

 Spain (8)

 Peru (10)

  Switzerland (11)

 England (12)

 Colombia (13)

 Mexico (16)

 Uruguay (17)

 Croatia (18)

 Denmark (19)

 Iceland (21)

 Costa Rica (22)

 Sweden (25)

 Tunisia (28)

 Egypt (30)

 Senegal (32)

 Iran (34)

 Serbia (38)

 Nigeria (41)

 Australia (43)

 Japan (44)

 Morocco (48)

 Panama (49)

 South Korea (62)

 Saudi Arabia (63)

Squads

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup squads

Initially, each team had to name a preliminary squad of 30 players, but in February 2018 this was increased to 35.[50] From the preliminary squad, the team had to name a final squad of 23 players (three of whom had to be goalkeepers) by 4 June. Players in the final squad could be replaced for serious injury up to 24 hours prior to kickoff of the team's first match. These replacements did not need to have been named in the preliminary squad.[51]

For players named in the 35-player preliminary squad, there was a mandatory rest period between 21 and 27 May 2018, except for those involved in the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final played on 26 May.[52]

Officiating

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup officials

On 29 March 2018, FIFA released the list of 36 referees and 63 assistant referees selected to oversee matches.[53] On 30 April 2018, FIFA released the list of 13 video assistant referees, who acted solely in this capacity in the tournament.[54]

Referee Fahad Al-Mirdasi of Saudi Arabia was removed on 30 May 2018 over a match-fixing attempt,[55] along with his two assistant referees, compatriots Mohammed Al-Abakry and Abdulah Al-Shalwai. A new referee was not appointed, but two assistant referees, Hasan Al Mahri of the United Arab Emirates and Hiroshi Yamauchi of Japan, were added to the list.[56][57] Assistant referee Marwa Range of Kenya also withdrew after the BBC released an investigation conducted by a Ghanaian journalist which implicated him in a bribery scandal.[58]

List of officials

Video assistant referees

Shortly after the International Football Association Board's decision to incorporate video assistant referees (VARs) into the Laws of the game (LOTG) on 16 March 2018, the FIFA Council took the much-anticipated step of approving the use of VAR for the first time in a FIFA World Cup tournament.[59][60]

VAR operations for all games were operated from a single headquarters in Moscow, which received live video of the games and were in radio contact with the on-field referees.[61] Systems were in place for communicating VAR-related information to broadcasters and visuals on stadiums' large screens were used for the fans in attendance.[61]

VAR had a significant impact on several games.[62] On 15 June 2018, Diego Costa's first goal against Portugal became the first World Cup goal based on a VAR decision;[63] the first penalty as a result of a VAR decision was awarded to France in their match against Australia on 16 June and resulted in a goal by Antoine Griezmann.[64] A record number of penalties were awarded in the tournament, a phenomenon partially attributed to VAR.[65] Overall, the new technology was both praised and criticised by commentators.[66] FIFA declared the implementation of VAR a success after the first week of competition.[67]

Venues

Russia proposed the following host cities: Kaliningrad, Kazan, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, and Yekaterinburg.[68] Each chosen city was located in European Russia (except Yekaterinburg,[69] which lies very close to the Europe-Asia border) in order to reduce travel time for the teams in the huge country. The bid evaluation report stated: "The Russian bid proposes 13 host cities and 16 stadiums, thus exceeding FIFA's minimum requirement. Three of the 16 stadiums would be renovated, and 13 would be newly constructed."[70]

In October 2011, Russia reduced the number of stadiums from 16 to 14. Construction of the proposed Podolsk stadium in the Moscow region was cancelled by the regional government. Also, in the capital, Otkritie Arena was competing with Dynamo Stadium over which would be constructed first.[71][dead link]

The final choice of host cities was announced on 29 September 2012. The number of cities was reduced further to 11 and the number of stadiums to 12 as Krasnodar and Yaroslavl were dropped from the final list. Of the 12 stadiums used for the tournament, three (Luzhniki, Yekaterinburg and Sochi) had been extensively renovated and the other nine were brand new; $11.8 billion was spent on hosting the tournament.[72]

Sepp Blatter had said in July 2014 that, given the concerns over the completion of venues in Russia, the number of venues for the tournament may be reduced from 12 to 10.[73] He also said, "We are not going to be in a situation, as is the case of one, two or even three stadiums in South Africa, where it is a problem of what you do with these stadiums".[74]

Reconstruction of the Yekaterinburg Central Stadium in January 2017

In October 2014, on their first official visit to Russia, FIFA's inspection committee and its head, Chris Unger, visited St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan and both Moscow venues. They were satisfied with the progress.[75] On 8 October 2015, FIFA and the local organising committee agreed on the official names of the stadiums to be used during the tournament.[76] Of the twelve venues, the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and the Saint Petersburg Stadium—the two largest stadiums in Russia—were used most; both hosted seven matches. Sochi, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara each hosted six matches, including one quarter-final match each, while the Spartak Stadium in Moscow and Rostov-on-Don hosted five matches, including one round-of-16 match each. Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Saransk each hosted four matches, but did not host any knockout stage games.

Stadiums

Exterior of Otkrytie Arena

in Moscow

Twelve stadiums in eleven Russian cities were built or renovated for the FIFA World Cup. Between 2010 (when Russia were announced as hosts) and 2018, nine of the 12 stadiums were built (some in place of older, outdated venues) and the other three were renovated for the tournament.[77]

Kaliningrad: Kaliningrad Stadium (new). The first piles were driven into the ground in September 2015. On 11 April 2018 it hosted its first match.

Kazan: Kazan Arena (new). The stadium was built for the 2013 Summer Universiade. It has since hosted the 2015 World Aquatics Championships and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. It serves as a home arena for FC Rubin Kazan.

Moscow: Luzhniki Stadium (heavily renovated). The largest stadium in the country, it was closed for renovation in 2013. It was commissioned in November 2017.

Moscow: Spartak Stadium (new). This stadium is the home arena to its namesake FC Spartak Moscow. In accordance with FIFA requirements, during the 2018 World Cup, it was called Spartak Stadium instead of its usual name Otkritie Arena. It hosted its first match on 5 September 2014.

Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod Stadium (new). Construction of this stadium commenced in 2015 and was completed in December 2017.[78]

Rostov-on-Don: Rostov Arena (new). The stadium is located on the left bank of the Don. Construction was completed on 22 December 2017.

Saint Petersburg: Saint Petersburg Stadium (new). Construction commenced in 2007 after the site, formerly occupied by Kirov Stadium, was cleared. The project was officially completed on 29 December 2016.[79] It has hosted 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup games and served as a venue for UEFA Euro 2020.

Samara: Samara Arena (new). Construction officially started on 21 July 2014 and was completed on 21 April 2018.

Saransk: Mordovia Arena (new). The stadium in Saransk was scheduled to be commissioned in 2012 in time for the opening of the all-Russian Spartakiad, but the plan was revised. The opening was rescheduled to 2017. The arena hosted its first match on 21 April 2018.

Sochi: Fisht Stadium (slightly renovated). This stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Afterwards, it was renovated in preparation for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 World Cup.

Volgograd: Volgograd Arena (new). The main Volgograd arena was built on the demolished Central Stadium site, at the foot of the Mamayev Kurgan memorial complex. It was commissioned on 3 April 2018.[80]

Yekaterinburg: Ekaterinburg Arena (heavily renovated). The Central Stadium of Yekaterinburg had been renovated for the FIFA World Cup. Its stands have a capacity of 35,000 spectators. The renovation project was completed in December 2017.

Moscow Saint Petersburg Sochi, Krasnodar Krai

Luzhniki Stadium Otkritie Arena

(Spartak Stadium) Krestovsky Stadium

(Saint Petersburg Stadium) Fisht Olympic Stadium

(Fisht Stadium)

Capacity: 78,011[81] Capacity: 44,190[82] Capacity: 64,468[83] Capacity: 44,287[84]

Стадион Лужники (29 марта 2017) · 23.jpg Stadium Spartak in Moscow (cropped).jpg Spb 06-2017 img42 Krestovsky Stadium.jpg Sochi adler aerial view 2018 23.jpg

Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast

2018 FIFA World Cup is located in European RussiaMoscowMoscowSaint PetersburgSaint PetersburgKaliningradKaliningradNizhny NovgorodNizhny NovgorodKazanKazanSamaraSamaraVolgogradVolgogradSaranskSaranskSochiSochiRostov-on-DonRostov-on-DonYekaterinburgYekaterinburg

Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast

Volgograd Arena Rostov Arena

Capacity: 43,713[85] Capacity: 43,472[86]

Volgograd arena aerial view 1.jpg Rostov Arena2018 (cropped).jpg

Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Kazan, Tatarstan

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium Kazan Arena

Capacity: 43,319[87] Capacity: 42,873[88]

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium asv2019-05.jpg Казань арена.jpg

Samara, Samara Oblast Saransk, Mordovia Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast

Samara Arena Mordovia Arena Kaliningrad Stadium Central Stadium

(Ekaterinburg Arena)

Capacity: 41,970[89] Capacity: 41,685[90] Capacity: 33,973[91] Capacity: 33,061[92]

Samara arena.png MordoviaArenaStadium.jpg E-burg asv2019-05 img22 Central Stadium.jpg

Team base camps

Base camps were used by the 32 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament. On 9 February 2018, FIFA announced the base camps for each participating team.[93]

Argentina: Bronnitsy, Moscow Oblast

Australia: Kazan, Tatarstan

Belgium: Krasnogorsky, Moscow Oblast

Brazil: Sochi, Krasnodar Krai

Colombia: Verkhneuslonsky, Tatarstan

Costa Rica: Saint Petersburg

Croatia: Roshchino, Leningrad Oblast[94]

Denmark: Anapa, Krasnodar Krai

Egypt: Grozny, Chechnya

England: Repino, Saint Petersburg[95]

France: Istra, Moscow Oblast

Germany: Vatutinki, Moscow[96]

Iceland: Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai

Iran: Bakovka, Moscow Oblast

Japan: Kazan, Tatarstan

Mexico: Khimki, Moscow Oblast

Morocco: Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast

Nigeria: Yessentuki, Stavropol Krai

Panama: Saransk, Mordovia

Peru: Moscow

Poland: Sochi, Krasnodar Krai

Portugal: Ramenskoye, Moscow Oblast

Russia: Khimki, Moscow Oblast

Saudi Arabia: Saint Petersburg

Senegal: Kaluga, Kaluga Oblast

Serbia: Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast

South Korea: Saint Petersburg

Spain: Krasnodar, Krasnodar Krai

Sweden: Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai

Switzerland: Togliatti, Samara Oblast

Tunisia: Pervomayskoye, Moscow Oblast

Uruguay: Bor, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

Preparation and costs

Budget

Scale model of the Volgograd Arena whose construction began in 2015.

At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion as of June 2018,[97] the 2018 FIFA event was the most expensive World Cup in history, surpassing the $11.6 billion cost of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[97][98]

The Russian government had originally earmarked a budget of around $20 billion,[99] which was later slashed to $10 billion, for World Cup preparations. Half was spent on transportation infrastructure.[100] As part of the program to prepare for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a federal sub-program—"Construction and Renovation of Transport Infrastructure"—was implemented with a total budget of ₽352.5 billion (rubles), with ₽170.3 billion coming from the federal budget, ₽35.1 billion from regional budgets, and ₽147.1 billion from investors.[101] The biggest item of federal spending was the aviation infrastructure costing ₽117.8 billion.[102] Construction of new hotels was a crucial area of infrastructure development in World Cup host cities. Costs continued to mount as preparations were underway.[98]

Infrastructure spending

Platov International Airport in Rostov-on-Don was upgraded with automated air traffic control systems. Modern surveillance, navigation, communication, control, and meteorological support systems were also installed.[103] Koltsovo Airport in Yekaterinburg was upgraded with radio-engineering tools for flight operation and received a second runway. Saransk Airport received a new navigation system; two new hotels were constructed in the city—the Mercure Saransk Centre (Accor Hotels) and Four Points by Sheraton Saransk as well as few other smaller accommodation facilities.[104] In Samara, new tram lines were laid.[105] Khrabrovo Airport in Kaliningrad was upgraded with radio navigation and weather equipment.[106] Renovation and upgraded radio-engineering tools for flight operations was completed in the Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Volgograd, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Kazan and Sochi airports.[103] On 27 March, the Russian Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector of reported that all communications within its area of responsibility had been commissioned. The last facility commissioned was a waste treatment station in Volgograd. In Yekaterinburg, where four matches were hosted, hosting costs increased to over ₽7.4 billion, exceeding the ₽5.6 billion rubles originally allocated from the state and regional budget.[107]

Volunteers

Volunteer flag bearers on the field prior to Belgium's (flag depicted) group stage match against Tunisia

Volunteer applications to the 2018 Russia Local Organising Committee opened on 1 June 2016. The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Volunteer Program received about 177,000 applications,[108] and engaged a total of 35,000 volunteers.[109] They received training at 15 Volunteer Centres of the local organising committee based in 15 universities, and in volunteer centres in the host cities. Preference, especially in key areas, was given to those with knowledge of a foreign language and volunteering experience, but not necessarily to Russian nationals.[110]

Transport

Free public transport services were offered for ticketholders during the World Cup, including additional trains linking host cities, as well as services such as bus services within them.[111][112][113]

Schedule

Launching of a 1,000 days countdown in Moscow

The full schedule was announced by FIFA on 24 July 2015 without kick-off times, which were confirmed later.[114][115] On 1 December 2017, following the final draw, FIFA adjusted six kick-off times.[116][117]

Russia was placed in position A1 in the group stage and played in the opening match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 14 June against Saudi Arabia, the two lowest-ranked teams of the tournament at the time of the final draw.[118] The Luzhniki Stadium also hosted the second semi-final on 11 July and the final on 15 July. The Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg hosted the first semi-final on 10 July and the third place play-off on 14 July.[119][35]

Opening ceremony

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony

Soprano Aida Garifullina and pop singer Robbie Williams singing "Angels" at the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony took place on Thursday, 14 June 2018, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, preceding the opening match of the tournament between hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia.[120][121]

At the start of the ceremony, Russian president Vladimir Putin gave a speech, welcoming the countries of the world to Russia and calling football a uniting force.[122] Brazilian World Cup-winning striker Ronaldo entered the stadium with a child in a Russia jersey.[122] Pop singer Robbie Williams then sang two of his songs solo before he and Russian soprano Aida Garifullina performed a duet.[122] Dancers dressed in the flags of the 32 competing teams appeared carrying a sign with the name of each nation.[122] At the end of the ceremony Ronaldo reappeared with the official match ball which had returned from the International Space Station in early June.[122]

Young participants of the international children's social programme Football for Friendship from 211 countries and regions took part in the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup at the Luzhniki stadium.[123]

Group stage

Competing countries were divided into eight groups of four teams (groups A to H). Teams in each group played one another in a round-robin, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage. Ten European teams and four South American teams progressed to the knockout stage, together with Japan and Mexico.

For the first time since 1938, Germany, the reigning champions, did not advance past the first round. No African team progressed to the second round for the first time since 1982. The fair play criteria came into use for the first time when Japan qualified over Senegal because the team had received fewer yellow cards. Only one match, France versus Denmark, was goalless. Until then there were a record 36 straight games in which at least one goal was scored.[124] All times listed below are local time.[116]

Tie-breaking criteria for group play

Group A

Pre-match ceremony prior to the opening game, Russia v Saudi Arabia

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group A

Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

1 Uruguay 3 3 0 0 5 0 +5 9 Advance to knockout stage

2 Russia (H) 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6

3 Saudi Arabia 3 1 0 2 2 7 −5 3

4 Egypt 3 0 0 3 2 6 −4 0

Source: FIFA

(H) Host

14 June 2018

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Russia 5–0 Saudi Arabia

Gazinsky  12'

Cheryshev  43', 90+1'

Dzyuba  71'

Golovin  90+4'

Report

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 78,011[126]

Referee: Néstor Pitana (Argentina)

15 June 2018

17:00 YEKT (UTC+5)

Egypt 0–1 Uruguay

Report

Giménez  89'

Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg

Attendance: 27,015[127]

Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

19 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Russia 3–1 Egypt

Fathy  47' (o.g.)

Cheryshev  59'

Dzyuba  62'

Report

Salah  73' (pen.)

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 64,468[128]

Referee: Enrique Cáceres (Paraguay)

20 June 2018

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Uruguay 1–0 Saudi Arabia

Suárez  23'

Report

Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don

Attendance: 42,678[129]

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

25 June 2018

18:00 SAMT (UTC+4)

Uruguay 3–0 Russia

Suárez  10'

Cheryshev  23' (o.g.)

Cavani  90'

Report

Cosmos Arena, Samara

Attendance: 41,970[130]

Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal)

25 June 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Saudi Arabia 2–1 Egypt

Al-Faraj  45+6' (pen.)

Al-Dawsari  90+5'

Report

Salah  22'

Volgograd Arena, Volgograd

Attendance: 36,823[131]

Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)

Group B

Iran v Portugal

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group B

Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

1 Spain 3 1 2 0 6 5 +1 5 Advance to knockout stage

2 Portugal 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1 5

3 Iran 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4

4 Morocco 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1

Source: FIFA

15 June 2018

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Morocco 0–1 Iran

Report

Bouhaddouz  90+5' (o.g.)

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 62,548[132]

Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

15 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Portugal 3–3 Spain

Ronaldo  4' (pen.), 44', 88'

Report

Costa  24', 55'

Nacho  58'

Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi

Attendance: 43,866[133]

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

20 June 2018

15:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Portugal 1–0 Morocco

Ronaldo  4'

Report

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 78,011[134]

Referee: Mark Geiger (United States)

20 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Iran 0–1 Spain

Report

Costa  54'

Kazan Arena, Kazan

Attendance: 42,718[135]

Referee: Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)

25 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Iran 1–1 Portugal

Ansarifard  90+3' (pen.)

Report

Quaresma  45'

Mordovia Arena, Saransk

Attendance: 41,685[136]

Referee: Enrique Cáceres (Paraguay)

25 June 2018

20:00 KALT (UTC+2)

Spain 2–2 Morocco

Isco  19'

Aspas  90+1'

Report

Boutaïb  14'

En-Nesyri  81'

Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad

Attendance: 33,973[137]

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Group C

Australia v Peru

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group C

Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

1 France 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7 Advance to knockout stage

2 Denmark 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 5

3 Peru 3 1 0 2 2 2 0 3

4 Australia 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1

Source: FIFA

16 June 2018

13:00 MSK (UTC+3)

France 2–1 Australia

Griezmann  58' (pen.)

Behich  81' (o.g.)

Report

Jedinak  62' (pen.)

Kazan Arena, Kazan

Attendance: 41,279[138]

Referee: Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)

16 June 2018

19:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Peru 0–1 Denmark

Report

Poulsen  59'

Mordovia Arena, Saransk

Attendance: 40,502[139]

Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

21 June 2018

16:00 SAMT (UTC+4)

Denmark 1–1 Australia

Eriksen  7'

Report

Jedinak  38' (pen.)

Cosmos Arena, Samara

Attendance: 40,727[140]

Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

21 June 2018

20:00 YEKT (UTC+5)

France 1–0 Peru

Mbappé  34'

Report

Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg

Attendance: 32,789[141]

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

26 June 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Denmark 0–0 France

Report

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 78,011[142]

Referee: Sandro Ricci (Brazil)

26 June 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Australia 0–2 Peru

Report

Carrillo  18'

Guerrero  50'

Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi

Attendance: 44,073[143]

Referee: Sergei Karasev (Russia)

Group D

Iceland v Croatia

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group D

Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

1 Croatia 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9 Advance to knockout stage

2 Argentina 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4

3 Nigeria 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1 3

4 Iceland 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1

Source: FIFA

16 June 2018

16:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Argentina 1–1 Iceland

Agüero  19'

Report

Finnbogason  23'

Otkritie Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 44,190[144]

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

16 June 2018

21:00 KALT (UTC+2)

Croatia 2–0 Nigeria

Etebo  32' (o.g.)

Modrić  71' (pen.)

Report

Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad

Attendance: 31,136[145]

Referee: Sandro Ricci (Brazil)

21 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Argentina 0–3 Croatia

Report

Rebić  53'

Modrić  80'

Rakitić  90+1'

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod

Attendance: 43,319[146]

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

22 June 2018

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Nigeria 2–0 Iceland

Musa  49', 75'

Report

Volgograd Arena, Volgograd

Attendance: 40,904[147]

Referee: Matthew Conger (New Zealand)

26 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Nigeria 1–2 Argentina

Moses  51' (pen.)

Report

Messi  14'

Rojo  86'

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 64,468[148]

Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

26 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Iceland 1–2 Croatia

Sigurðsson  76' (pen.)

Report

Badelj  53'

Perišić  90'

Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don

Attendance: 43,472[149]

Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Group E

Brazil v Costa Rica

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group E

Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

1 Brazil 3 2 1 0 5 1 +4 7 Advance to knockout stage

2   Switzerland 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1 5

3 Serbia 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3

4 Costa Rica 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1

Source: FIFA

17 June 2018

16:00 SAMT (UTC+4)

Costa Rica 0–1 Serbia

Report

Kolarov  56'

Cosmos Arena, Samara

Attendance: 41,432[150]

Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal)

17 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Brazil 1–1   Switzerland

Coutinho  20'

Report

Zuber  50'

Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don

Attendance: 43,109[151]

Referee: César Arturo Ramos (Mexico)

22 June 2018

15:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Brazil 2–0 Costa Rica

Coutinho  90+1'

Neymar  90+7'

Report

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 64,468[152]

Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

22 June 2018

20:00 KALT (UTC+2)

Serbia 1–2   Switzerland

Mitrović  5'

Report

Xhaka  52'

Shaqiri  90'

Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad

Attendance: 33,167[153]

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

27 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Serbia 0–2 Brazil

Report

Paulinho  36'

Thiago Silva  68'

Otkritie Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 44,190[154]

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

27 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Switzerland  2–2 Costa Rica

Džemaili  31'

Drmić  88'

Report

Waston  56'

Sommer  90+3' (o.g.)

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod

Attendance: 43,319[155]

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

Group F

Germany v Mexico

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group F

Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

1 Sweden 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6 Advance to knockout stage

2 Mexico 3 2 0 1 3 4 −1 6

3 South Korea 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3

4 Germany 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3

Source: FIFA

17 June 2018

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Germany 0–1 Mexico

Report

Lozano  35'

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 78,011[156]

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

18 June 2018

15:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Sweden 1–0 South Korea

Granqvist  65' (pen.)

Report

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod

Attendance: 42,300[157]

Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)

23 June 2018

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

South Korea 1–2 Mexico

Son Heung-min  90+3'

Report

Vela  26' (pen.)

Hernández  66'

Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don

Attendance: 43,472[158]

Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)

23 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Germany 2–1 Sweden

Reus  48'

Kroos  90+5'

Report

Toivonen  32'

Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi

Attendance: 44,287[159]

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

27 June 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

South Korea 2–0 Germany

Kim Young-gwon  90+2'

Son Heung-min  90+6'

Report

Kazan Arena, Kazan

Attendance: 41,835[160]

Referee: Mark Geiger (United States)

27 June 2018

19:00 YEKT (UTC+5)

Mexico 0–3 Sweden

Report

Augustinsson  50'

Granqvist  62' (pen.)

Álvarez  74' (o.g.)

Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg

Attendance: 33,061[161]

Referee: Néstor Pitana (Argentina)

Group G

Belgium v Tunisia

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group G

Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

1 Belgium 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 9 Advance to knockout stage

2 England 3 2 0 1 8 3 +5 6

3 Tunisia 3 1 0 2 5 8 −3 3

4 Panama 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9 0

Source: FIFA

18 June 2018

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Belgium 3–0 Panama

Mertens  47'

Lukaku  69', 75'

Report

Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi

Attendance: 43,257[162]

Referee: Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)

18 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Tunisia 1–2 England

Sassi  35' (pen.)

Report

Kane  11', 90+1'

Volgograd Arena, Volgograd

Attendance: 41,064[163]

Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)

23 June 2018

15:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Belgium 5–2 Tunisia

E. Hazard  6' (pen.), 51'

Lukaku  16', 45+3'

Batshuayi  90'

Report

Bronn  18'

Khazri  90+3'

Otkritie Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 44,190[164]

Referee: Jair Marrufo (United States)

24 June 2018

15:00 MSK (UTC+3)

England 6–1 Panama

Stones  8', 40'

Kane  22' (pen.), 45+1' (pen.), 62'

Lingard  36'

Report

Baloy  78'

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod

Attendance: 43,319[165]

Referee: Gehad Grisha (Egypt)

28 June 2018

20:00 KALT (UTC+2)

England 0–1 Belgium

Report

Januzaj  51'

Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad

Attendance: 33,973[166]

Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

28 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Panama 1–2 Tunisia

Meriah  33' (o.g.)

Report

F. Ben Youssef  51'

Khazri  66'

Mordovia Arena, Saransk

Attendance: 37,168[167]

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Group H

Japan v Poland

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group H

Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

1 Colombia 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6 Advance to knockout stage

2 Japan 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4[a]

3 Senegal 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4[a]

4 Poland 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 3

Source: FIFA

Notes:

 Fair play points: Japan −4, Senegal −6.

19 June 2018

15:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Colombia 1–2 Japan

Quintero  39'

Report

Kagawa  6' (pen.)

Osako  73'

Mordovia Arena, Saransk

Attendance: 40,842[168]

Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

19 June 2018

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Poland 1–2 Senegal

Krychowiak  86'

Report

Cionek  37' (o.g.)

Niang  60'

Otkritie Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 44,190[169]

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

24 June 2018

20:00 YEKT (UTC+5)

Japan 2–2 Senegal

Inui  34'

Honda  78'

Report

Mané  11'

Wagué  71'

Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg

Attendance: 32,572[170]

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

24 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Poland 0–3 Colombia

Report

Mina  40'

Falcao  70'

Ju. Cuadrado  75'

Kazan Arena, Kazan

Attendance: 42,873[171]

Referee: César Arturo Ramos (Mexico)

28 June 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Japan 0–1 Poland

Report

Bednarek  59'

Volgograd Arena, Volgograd

Attendance: 42,189[172]

Referee: Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)

28 June 2018

18:00 SAMT (UTC+4)

Senegal 0–1 Colombia

Report

Mina  74'

Cosmos Arena, Samara

Attendance: 41,970[173]

Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)

Knockout stage

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

Russia v Croatia

In the knockout stages, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.[51] If a match went into extra time, each team was allowed to make a fourth substitution, the first time this had been allowed in a FIFA World Cup tournament.[59] Below is the bracket for the knockout round of the tournament, teams in bold denote match winners.[59]

Bracket

 

Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

 

   

 

30 June – Sochi

 

 

 Uruguay 2

 

6 July – Nizhny Novgorod

 

 Portugal 1

 

 Uruguay 0

 

30 June – Kazan

 

 France 2

 

 France 4

 

10 July – Saint Petersburg

 

 Argentina 3

 

 France 1

 

2 July – Samara

 

 Belgium 0

 

 Brazil 2

 

6 July – Kazan

 

 Mexico 0

 

 Brazil 1

 

2 July – Rostov-on-Don

 

 Belgium 2

 

 Belgium 3

 

15 July – Moscow (Luzhniki)

 

 Japan 2

 

 France 4

 

1 July – Moscow (Luzhniki)

 

 Croatia 2

 

 Spain 1 (3)

 

7 July – Sochi

 

 Russia (p) 1 (4)

 

 Russia 2 (3)

 

1 July – Nizhny Novgorod

 

 Croatia (p) 2 (4)

 

 Croatia (p) 1 (3)

 

11 July – Moscow (Luzhniki)

 

 Denmark 1 (2)

 

 Croatia (a.e.t.) 2

 

3 July – Saint Petersburg

 

 England 1 Third place play-off

 

 Sweden 1

 

7 July – Samara 14 July – Saint Petersburg

 

  Switzerland 0

 

 Sweden 0 Belgium 2

 

3 July – Moscow (Otkritie)

 

 England 2 England 0

 

 Colombia 1 (3)

 

 

 England (p) 1 (4)

 

Round of 16

30 June 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

France 4–3 Argentina

Griezmann  13' (pen.)

Pavard  57'

Mbappé  64', 68'

Report

Di María  41'

Mercado  48'

Agüero  90+3'

Kazan Arena, Kazan

Attendance: 42,873[174]

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

30 June 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Uruguay 2–1 Portugal

Cavani  7', 62'

Report

Pepe  55'

Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi

Attendance: 44,287[175]

Referee: César Arturo Ramos (Mexico)

1 July 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Spain 1–1 (a.e.t.) Russia

Ignashevich  12' (o.g.)

Report

Dzyuba  41' (pen.)

Penalties

Iniesta soccer ball with check mark

Piqué soccer ball with check mark

Koke soccer ball with red X

Ramos soccer ball with check mark

Aspas soccer ball with red X

3–4

soccer ball with check mark Smolov

soccer ball with check mark Ignashevich

soccer ball with check mark Golovin

soccer ball with check mark Cheryshev

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 78,011[176]

Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

1 July 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Croatia 1–1 (a.e.t.) Denmark

Mandžukić  4'

Report

M. Jørgensen  1'

Penalties

Badelj soccer ball with red X

Kramarić soccer ball with check mark

Modrić soccer ball with check mark

Pivarić soccer ball with red X

Rakitić soccer ball with check mark

3–2

soccer ball with red X Eriksen

soccer ball with check mark Kjær

soccer ball with check mark Krohn-Dehli

soccer ball with red X Schöne

soccer ball with red X N. Jørgensen

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod

Attendance: 40,851[177]

Referee: Néstor Pitana (Argentina)

2 July 2018

18:00 SAMT (UTC+4)

Brazil 2–0 Mexico

Neymar  51'

Firmino  88'

Report

Cosmos Arena, Samara

Attendance: 41,970[178]

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

2 July 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Belgium 3–2 Japan

Vertonghen  69'

Fellaini  74'

Chadli  90+4'

Report

Haraguchi  48'

Inui  52'

Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don

Attendance: 41,466[179]

Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal)

3 July 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Sweden 1–0   Switzerland

Forsberg  66'

Report

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 64,042[180]

Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

3 July 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Colombia 1–1 (a.e.t.) England

Mina  90+3'

Report

Kane  57' (pen.)

Penalties

Falcao soccer ball with check mark

Ju. Cuadrado soccer ball with check mark

Muriel soccer ball with check mark

Uribe soccer ball with red X

Bacca soccer ball with red X

3–4

soccer ball with check mark Kane

soccer ball with check mark Rashford

soccer ball with red X Henderson

soccer ball with check mark Trippier

soccer ball with check mark Dier

Otkritie Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 44,190[181]

Referee: Mark Geiger (United States)

Quarter-finals

6 July 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Uruguay 0–2 France

Report

Varane  40'

Griezmann  61'

Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod

Attendance: 43,319[182]

Referee: Néstor Pitana (Argentina)

6 July 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Brazil 1–2 Belgium

Renato Augusto  76'

Report

Fernandinho  13' (o.g.)

De Bruyne  31'

Kazan Arena, Kazan

Attendance: 42,873[183]

Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)

7 July 2018

18:00 SAMT (UTC+4)

Sweden 0–2 England

Report

Maguire  30'

Alli  59'

Cosmos Arena, Samara

Attendance: 39,991[184]

Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

7 July 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Russia 2–2 (a.e.t.) Croatia

Cheryshev  31'

Fernandes  115'

Report

Kramarić  39'

Vida  101'

Penalties

Smolov soccer ball with red X

Dzagoev soccer ball with check mark

Fernandes soccer ball with red X

Ignashevich soccer ball with check mark

Kuzyayev soccer ball with check mark

3–4

soccer ball with check mark Brozović

soccer ball with red X Kovačić

soccer ball with check mark Modrić

soccer ball with check mark Vida

soccer ball with check mark Rakitić

Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi

Attendance: 44,287[185]

Referee: Sandro Ricci (Brazil)

Semi-finals

10 July 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

France 1–0 Belgium

Umtiti  51'

Report

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 64,286[186]

Referee: Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)

11 July 2018

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Croatia 2–1 (a.e.t.) England

Perišić  68'

Mandžukić  109'

Report

Trippier  5'

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 78,011[187]

Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

Third place play-off

14 July 2018

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Belgium 2–0 England

Meunier  4'

E. Hazard  82'

Report

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 64,406[188]

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

Final

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Final

15 July 2018

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

France 4–2 Croatia

Mandžukić  18' (o.g.)

Griezmann  38' (pen.)

Pogba  59'

Mbappé  65'

Report

Perišić  28'

Mandžukić  69'

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 78,011

Referee: Néstor Pitana (Argentina)

Statistics

Further information: 2018 FIFA World Cup statistics

Goalscorers

There were 169 goals scored in 64 matches, for an average of 2.64 goals per match.

Twelve own goals were scored during the tournament, doubling the record of six set in 1998.[189] Goals scored from penalty shoot-outs are not counted towards an individual player's goal count.[190]

6 goals

England Harry Kane

4 goals

Belgium Romelu Lukaku

France Antoine Griezmann

France Kylian Mbappé

Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo

Russia Denis Cheryshev

3 goals

Belgium Eden Hazard

Colombia Yerry Mina

Croatia Mario Mandžukić

Croatia Ivan Perišić

Russia Artem Dzyuba

Spain Diego Costa

Uruguay Edinson Cavani

2 goals

Argentina Sergio Agüero

Australia Mile Jedinak

Brazil Philippe Coutinho

Brazil Neymar

Croatia Luka Modrić

Egypt Mohamed Salah

England John Stones

Japan Takashi Inui

Nigeria Ahmed Musa

South Korea Son Heung-min

Sweden Andreas Granqvist

Tunisia Wahbi Khazri

Uruguay Luis Suárez

1 goal

Argentina Ángel Di María

Argentina Gabriel Mercado

Argentina Lionel Messi

Argentina Marcos Rojo

Belgium Michy Batshuayi

Belgium Nacer Chadli

Belgium Kevin De Bruyne

Belgium Marouane Fellaini

Belgium Adnan Januzaj

Belgium Dries Mertens

Belgium Thomas Meunier

Belgium Jan Vertonghen

Brazil Roberto Firmino

Brazil Paulinho

Brazil Renato Augusto

Brazil Thiago Silva

Colombia Juan Cuadrado

Colombia Radamel Falcao

Colombia Juan Fernando Quintero

Costa Rica Kendall Waston

Croatia Milan Badelj

Croatia Andrej Kramarić

Croatia Ivan Rakitić

Croatia Ante Rebić

Croatia Domagoj Vida

Denmark Christian Eriksen

Denmark Mathias Jørgensen

Denmark Yussuf Poulsen

England Dele Alli

England Jesse Lingard

England Harry Maguire

England Kieran Trippier

France Benjamin Pavard

France Paul Pogba

France Samuel Umtiti

France Raphaël Varane

Germany Toni Kroos

Germany Marco Reus

Iceland Alfreð Finnbogason

Iceland Gylfi Sigurðsson

Iran Karim Ansarifard

Japan Genki Haraguchi

Japan Keisuke Honda

Japan Shinji Kagawa

Japan Yuya Osako

Mexico Javier Hernández

Mexico Hirving Lozano

Mexico Carlos Vela

Morocco Khalid Boutaïb

Morocco Youssef En-Nesyri

Nigeria Victor Moses

Panama Felipe Baloy

Peru André Carrillo

Peru Paolo Guerrero

Poland Jan Bednarek

Poland Grzegorz Krychowiak

Portugal Pepe

Portugal Ricardo Quaresma

Russia Mário Fernandes

Russia Yury Gazinsky

Russia Aleksandr Golovin

Saudi Arabia Salem Al-Dawsari

Saudi Arabia Salman Al-Faraj

Senegal Sadio Mané

Senegal M'Baye Niang

Senegal Moussa Wagué

Serbia Aleksandar Kolarov

Serbia Aleksandar Mitrović

South Korea Kim Young-gwon

Spain Iago Aspas

Spain Isco

Spain Nacho

Sweden Ludwig Augustinsson

Sweden Emil Forsberg

Sweden Ola Toivonen

Switzerland Josip Drmić

Switzerland Blerim Džemaili

Switzerland Xherdan Shaqiri

Switzerland Granit Xhaka

Switzerland Steven Zuber

Tunisia Dylan Bronn

Tunisia Ferjani Sassi

Tunisia Fakhreddine Ben Youssef

Uruguay José Giménez

1 own goal

Australia Aziz Behich (against France)

Brazil Fernandinho (against Belgium)

Croatia Mario Mandžukić (against France)

Egypt Ahmed Fathy (against Russia)

Mexico Edson Álvarez (against Sweden)

Morocco Aziz Bouhaddouz (against Iran)

Nigeria Peter Etebo (against Croatia)

Poland Thiago Cionek (against Senegal)

Russia Denis Cheryshev (against Uruguay)

Russia Sergei Ignashevich (against Spain)

Switzerland Yann Sommer (against Costa Rica)

Tunisia Yassine Meriah (against Panama)

Source: FIFA[191]

Discipline

In total, only four players were sent off in the entire tournament, the fewest since 1978.[192] International Football Association Board technical director David Elleray stated a belief that this was due to the introduction of VAR, since players would know that they would not be able to get away with anything under the new system.[193]

A player is automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[51]

Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious offences)

Receiving two yellow cards in two matches; yellow cards expire after the completion of the quarter-finals (yellow card suspensions are not carried forward to any other future international matches)

The following suspensions were served during the tournament:

Player Offence(s) Suspension(s)

Colombia Carlos Sánchez Red card in Group H vs Japan (matchday 1; 19 June) Group H vs Poland (matchday 2; 24 June)

Denmark Yussuf Poulsen Yellow card in Group C vs Peru (matchday 1; 16 June)

Yellow card in Group C vs Australia (matchday 2; 21 June) Group C vs France (matchday 3; 26 June)

Germany Jérôme Boateng Yellow card Yellow-red card in Group F vs Sweden (matchday 2; 23 June) Group F vs South Korea (matchday 3; 27 June)

Panama Armando Cooper Yellow card in Group G vs Belgium (matchday 1; 18 June)

Yellow card in Group G vs England (matchday 2; 24 June) Group G vs Tunisia (matchday 3; 28 June)

Panama Michael Amir Murillo Yellow card in Group G vs Belgium (matchday 1; 18 June)

Yellow card in Group G vs England (matchday 2; 24 June) Group G vs Tunisia (matchday 3; 28 June)

Russia Igor Smolnikov Yellow card Yellow-red card in Group A vs Uruguay (matchday 3; 25 June) Round of 16 vs Spain (1 July)

Sweden Sebastian Larsson Yellow card in Group F vs Germany (matchday 2; 23 June)

Yellow card in Group F vs Mexico (matchday 3; 27 June) Round of 16 vs Switzerland (3 July)

Mexico Héctor Moreno Yellow card in Group F vs Germany (matchday 1; 17 June)

Yellow card in Group F vs Sweden (matchday 3; 27 June) Round of 16 vs Brazil (2 July)

Switzerland Stephan Lichtsteiner Yellow card in Group E vs Brazil (matchday 1; 17 June)

Yellow card in Group E vs Costa Rica (matchday 3; 27 June) Round of 16 vs Sweden (3 July)

Switzerland Fabian Schär Yellow card in Group E vs Brazil (matchday 1; 17 June)

Yellow card in Group E vs Costa Rica (matchday 3; 27 June) Round of 16 vs Sweden (3 July)

France Blaise Matuidi Yellow card in Group C vs Peru (matchday 2; 21 June)

Yellow card in Round of 16 vs Argentina (30 June) Quarter-finals vs Uruguay (6 July)

Brazil Casemiro Yellow card in Group E vs Switzerland (matchday 1; 17 June)

Yellow card in Round of 16 vs Mexico (2 July) Quarter-finals vs Belgium (6 July)

Sweden Mikael Lustig Yellow card in Group F vs Mexico (matchday 3; 27 June)

Yellow card in Round of 16 vs Switzerland (3 July) Quarter-finals vs England (7 July)

Switzerland Michael Lang Red card in Round of 16 vs Sweden (3 July) Suspension served outside tournament

Belgium Thomas Meunier Yellow card in Group G vs Panama (matchday 1; 18 June)

Yellow card in Quarter-finals vs Brazil (6 July) Semi-finals vs France (10 July)

Awards

Luka Modrić accepting the Golden Ball award from Vladimir Putin

Kylian Mbappé receiving the World Cup best young player award from Emmanuel Macron

Croatia players after the 2018 World Cup Final against France, joined by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Vladimir Putin

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. The Golden Boot (top scorer), Golden Ball (best overall player) and Golden Glove (best goalkeeper) awards were all sponsored by Adidas.[194]

Golden Ball Silver Ball Bronze Ball

Croatia Luka Modrić Belgium Eden Hazard France Antoine Griezmann

Golden Boot Silver Boot Bronze Boot

England Harry Kane

(6 goals, 0 assists) France Antoine Griezmann

(4 goals, 2 assists) Belgium Romelu Lukaku

(4 goals, 1 assist)

Golden Glove

Belgium Thibaut Courtois

Best Young Player

France Kylian Mbappé

FIFA Fair Play Award

 Spain

Additionally, FIFA.com shortlisted 18 goals for users to vote on as the tournament's best.[195] The poll closed on 23 July. The award was sponsored by Hyundai.[196]

Goal of the Tournament

Goalscorer Opponent Score Round

France Benjamin Pavard Argentina 2–2 Round of 16

All-Star Team

FIFA published an All-Star Team, this year called the Fantasy Team, based on player performances evaluated through statistical data.[197]

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards

Belgium Thibaut Courtois Sweden Andreas Granqvist

Brazil Thiago Silva

France Raphaël Varane

Colombia Yerry Mina Russia Denis Cheryshev

Brazil Philippe Coutinho

Croatia Luka Modrić England Harry Kane

France Antoine Griezmann

Belgium Eden Hazard

Dream Team

The users of FIFA.com elected their Fan Dream Team.[198][199]

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards

Belgium Thibaut Courtois Brazil Marcelo

Brazil Thiago Silva

France Raphaël Varane

Uruguay Diego Godín Belgium Kevin De Bruyne

Brazil Philippe Coutinho

Croatia Luka Modrić England Harry Kane

France Kylian Mbappé

Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo

Prize money

Prize money amounts were announced in October 2017.[200]

Position Amount (million USD)

Per team Total

Champions 38 38

Runners-up 28 28

Third place 24 24

Fourth place 22 22

5th–8th place (quarter-finals) 16 64

9th–16th place (round of 16) 12 96

17th–32nd place (group stage) 8 128

Total 400

Final standings

Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.[201]

Pos. Team G Pld W D L Pts GF GA GD

1 France C 7 6 1 0 19 14 6 +8

2 Croatia D 7 4 2 1 14 14 9 +5

3 Belgium G 7 6 0 1 18 16 6 +10

4 England G 7 3 1 3 10 12 8 +4

Eliminated in the quarter-finals

5 Uruguay A 5 4 0 1 12 7 3 +4

6 Brazil E 5 3 1 1 10 8 3 +5

7 Sweden F 5 3 0 2 9 6 4 +2

8 Russia A 5 2 2 1 8 11 7 +4

Eliminated in the round of 16

9 Colombia H 4 2 1 1 7 6 3 +3

10 Spain B 4 1 3 0 6 7 6 +1

11 Denmark C 4 1 3 0 6 3 2 +1

12 Mexico F 4 2 0 2 6 3 6 −3

13 Portugal B 4 1 2 1 5 6 6 0

14   Switzerland E 4 1 2 1 5 5 5 0

15 Japan H 4 1 1 2 4 6 7 −1

16 Argentina D 4 1 1 2 4 6 9 −3

Eliminated in the group stage

17 Senegal H 3 1 1 1 4 4 4 0

18 Iran B 3 1 1 1 4 2 2 0

19 South Korea F 3 1 0 2 3 3 3 0

20 Peru C 3 1 0 2 3 2 2 0

21 Nigeria D 3 1 0 2 3 3 4 −1

22 Serbia E 3 1 0 2 3 2 4 −2

23 Germany F 3 1 0 2 3 2 4 −2

24 Tunisia G 3 1 0 2 3 5 8 −3

25 Poland H 3 1 0 2 3 2 5 −3

26 Saudi Arabia A 3 1 0 2 3 2 7 −5

27 Morocco B 3 0 1 2 1 2 4 −2

28 Australia C 3 0 1 2 1 2 5 −3

29 Iceland D 3 0 1 2 1 2 5 −3

30 Costa Rica E 3 0 1 2 1 2 5 −3

31 Egypt A 3 0 0 3 0 2 6 −4

32 Panama G 3 0 0 3 0 2 11 −9

Marketing

The typeface "Dusha" used for branding

Branding

The tournament logo was unveiled on 28 October 2014 by cosmonauts at the International Space Station and then projected onto Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre during an evening television programme. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said the logo was inspired by "Russia's rich artistic tradition and its history of bold achievement and innovation", and FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated that it reflected the "heart and soul" of the country.[citation needed] For branding, Portuguese design agency Brandia Central created materials in 2014, with a typeface called Dusha (from душа, Russian for 'soul') designed by Brandia Central and edited by Adotbelow of the DSType Foundry in Portugal.[202]

Mascot

Main article: Zabivaka

Tournament mascot, wolf Zabivaka

The tournament's official mascot was unveiled on 21 October 2016, and selected through a design competition among university students. A public vote was used to select the mascot from three finalists—a cat, a tiger, and a wolf. The winner, with 53% or approximately one million votes, was Zabivaka—an anthropomorphic wolf dressed in the colours of the Russian national team. Zabivaka's name is a portmanteau of the Russian words забияка ("hothead") and забивать ("to score"), and his official backstory states that he is an aspiring football player who is "charming, confident and social".[203]

Ticketing

The first phase of ticket sales started on 14 September 2017, 12:00 Moscow Time, and lasted until 12 October 2017.[204]

The general visa policy of Russia did not apply to participants and spectators, who were able to visit Russia without a visa right before and during the competition regardless of their citizenship.[205] Spectators were nonetheless required to register for a "Fan-ID", a special photo identification pass. A Fan-ID was required to enter the country visa-free, while a ticket, Fan-ID and a valid passport were required to enter stadiums for matches. Fan-IDs also granted World Cup attendees free access to public transport services, including buses, and train service between host cities. Fan-ID was administered by the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, which could revoke this accreditation at any time to "ensure the defence capability or security of the state or public order".[111][112][113]

Match ball

Main article: Adidas Telstar 18

Match ball "Telstar 18"

Match ball for the knockout stage, "Telstar Mechta"

The official match ball, the "Telstar 18", was unveiled on 9 November 2017. It was based on the name and design of the first Adidas World Cup ball from 1970.[206] A special red-coloured variation, "Telstar Mechta", was used for the knockout stage of the tournament. The word mechta (Russian: мечта) means "dream" or "ambition".[207]

Goalkeepers noted that the ball was slippery and prone to having unpredictable trajectory.[208][209] In addition, two Telstar 18 balls popped in the midst of a first-round match between France and Australia, leading to further discussions over the ball's performance.[210][211]

Merchandise

See also: FIFA World Cup video games

On 29 May 2018, Electronic Arts released a free update to their video game FIFA 18 that added content related to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The expansion included a World Cup tournament mode with all teams and stadiums from the event, official television presentation elements, and World Cup-related content for the Ultimate Team mode.[212][213]

Panini continued their partnership with FIFA by producing stickers for their World Cup sticker album.[214] Panini also developed an app for the 2018 World Cup where fans could collect and swap virtual stickers, with five million fans gathering digital stickers for the tournament.[215][216]

Official song

Main article: Live It Up (Nicky Jam song)

The official song of the tournament was "Live It Up", with vocals by Will Smith, Nicky Jam and Era Istrefi, released on 25 May 2018. Its music video was released on 8 June 2018.[217]

Other controversies

Main article: List of 2018 FIFA World Cup controversies

Thirty-three footballers who were alleged to be part of the Russian steroid programme are listed in the McLaren Report.[218] On 22 December 2017, it was reported that FIFA had fired a doctor who had been investigating doping in Russian football.[219] On 22 May 2018 FIFA confirmed that the investigations concerning all Russian players named for the provisional squad of the FIFA World Cup in Russia had been completed, with the result that insufficient evidence was found to support anti-doping rule violations.[220] FIFA's medical committee also decided that Russian personnel would not be involved in performing drug testing procedures at the tournament, an action taken to reassure teams that samples would not be tampered with.[221]

Response to Skripal poisoning

In response to the March 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, British prime minister Theresa May announced that no British ministers or members of the royal family would attend the World Cup, and issued a warning to any travelling England fans.[222] Russia responded to the comments from the UK Parliament claiming that the West are trying to "take the World Cup out of Russia".[223] The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced Boris Johnson's statements that compared the event to the 1936 Olympics held in Nazi Germany as "poisoned with venom of hate, unprofessionalism and boorishness" and "unacceptable and unworthy" parallel towards Russia, a "nation that lost millions of lives in fighting Nazism".[224]

The British Foreign Office and MPs had repeatedly warned English football fans and "people of Asian or Afro-Caribbean descent" travelling to Russia of "racist or homophobic intimidation, hooligan violence and anti-British hostility".[225][226] English football fans who did travel have said they received a warm welcome from ordinary citizens after arriving in Russia.[227][228]

Critical reception

Russia received widespread praise as World Cup hosts. Facilities—such as the refurbished Luzhniki Stadium (pictured)—were one aspect of Russia's success.

At the close of the World Cup, Russia was widely praised for its success in hosting the tournament, with Steve Rosenberg of the BBC deeming it "a resounding public relations success" for Putin, adding: "The stunning new stadiums, free train travel to venues and the absence of crowd violence has impressed visiting supporters. Russia has come across as friendly and hospitable: a stark contrast with the country's authoritarian image. All the foreign fans I have spoken to are pleasantly surprised."[229]

FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated: "Everyone discovered a beautiful country, a welcoming country, that is keen to show the world that everything that has been said before might not be true. A lot of preconceived ideas have been changed because people have seen the true nature of Russia."[230] Infantino has proclaimed Russia 2018 to be "the best World Cup ever", as 98 per cent of the stadiums were sold out, there were three billion viewers on TV around the world and seven million fans visited the fan fests.[231] It was the most viewed World Cup to date, and the third most viewed television broadcast, surpassing the Beijing Olympics in 2008.[citation needed]

However, the tournament was called a distraction from the international isolation and economic difficulties Russia has been facing.[232][233][234]

Broadcasting rights

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights

FIFA, through several companies, sold the broadcasting rights for the 2018 FIFA World Cup to various local broadcasters. After having tested the technology at limited matches of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup,[235] and the 2014 FIFA World Cup (via private tests and public viewings in the host city of Rio de Janeiro),[236] the 2018 World Cup was the first World Cup in which all matches were produced in 4K ultra high definition. Host Broadcast Services (HBS) stated that at least 75% of the broadcast cut of each match would come from 4K cameras (covering the majority of main angles), with instant replays and some camera angles being converted up from 1080p high definition sources with limited degradation in quality. These broadcasts were made available from selected rightsholders and television providers.[237][238][239]

In February 2018, Ukrainian rightsholder UA:PBC stated that it would not broadcast the World Cup. This came in the wake of growing boycotts of the tournament among the Football Federation of Ukraine and sports minister Ihor Zhdanov.[240][241] Additionally, the Football Federation of Ukraine refused to accredit journalists for the World Cup and waived their quota of tickets.[242] However, the Ukrainian state TV still broadcast the World Cup, and more than four million Ukrainians watched the opening match.[243]

Broadcast rights to the tournament in the Middle East were hampered by an ongoing diplomatic crisis in Qatar, which saw Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates cut diplomatic ties with Qatar—the home country of FIFA's Middle East and Africa rightsholder beIN Sports—in June 2017, over its alleged state support of terrorist groups. On 2 June 2018, beIN pulled its channels from Du and Etisalat, but with service to the latter restored later that day. Etisalat subsequently announced that it would air the World Cup in the UAE, and continue to offer beIN normally and without interruptions.[244][245][246] In Saudi Arabia, beIN was banned from doing business; as a result, its channels and other content have been widely and illegally repackaged by a broadcaster identifying itself as "beoutQ". While FIFA attempted to negotiate the sale of a package consisting of Saudi matches and the final indirectly, they were unable to do so. On 12 July 2018, FIFA stated that it had "engaged counsel to take legal action in Saudi Arabia and is working alongside other sports rights owners that have also been affected to protect its interests."[247][248]

In the United States, the 2018 World Cup was the first men's World Cup whose English rights were held by Fox Sports, and Spanish rights held by Telemundo. The elimination of the United States in qualifying led to concerns that US interest and viewership of this World Cup would be reduced, noting that "casual" viewers of U.S. matches caused them to peak at 16.5 million viewers in 2014, and determined how much Fox paid for the rights. During a launch event prior to the elimination, Fox stated that it had planned to place a secondary focus on the Mexican team in its coverage to take advantage of their popularity among Hispanic and Latino Americans. Fox stated that it was still committed to broadcasting a significant amount of tournament coverage.[249][250][251] Viewership was down overall over 2014; match scheduling was not as favourable to viewers in the Americas as it was in 2014. Many matches aired in the morning hours, although Telemundo's broadcast of the Mexico-Sweden Group F match was announced as being its most-watched weekday daytime program in network history.[252][253]

Unlike previous tournaments, where the rights were bundled with those of South Korea, Korean Central Television acquired rights to the 2018 World Cup within North Korea. Broadcasts only began with the round of 16, and matches were tape delayed and edited for time. In addition, matches involving Japan were excluded from the broadcasts, due to strained relations and campaigns against the country.[254]

Sponsorship

FIFA partners FIFA World Cup sponsors African supporters Asian supporters European supporters

Adidas[255]

Coca-Cola[256]

Gazprom[257]

Hyundai–Kia[258]

Qatar Airways[259]

Visa[260]

Wanda Group[261]

Anheuser-Busch InBev[262]

Hisense[263]

McDonald's[264]

Mengniu Dairy[265]

Vivo[266]

Egypt – Experience & Invest[267]

Diking[268]

Luci[268]

Yadea[269]

Alfa-Bank[270]

Alrosa[271]

Rostelecom[272]

Russian Railways[273]

Audience

A combined 3.572 billion viewers – more than half of the global population aged four and over – tuned in to world football’s ultimate competition, according to audience data for official broadcast coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[274]

Average global live audience of 2018 FWC Russia was 191 million viewers, a slight (2.1%) increase over the 2014 tournament average of 187 million viewers, including that average audience in early stages (group stage and round of sixteen) were bigger than in 2014. However, in 2018 audience of semi-finals was smaller by 15 percent, third place play-off by 17% and the final was watched by 517 million people on average compared to 545 in 2014 (-5.1% change). Presumably, the reason for that is the smaller countries involved in the top four games compared to those in 2014, and only one global region (Europe) being represented in 2018 (compared to South America and Europe in 2014).[275]

See also

icon Association football portal

flag Russia portal

FIFA World Cup hosts

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup

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 Steinberg, Brian (3 July 2018). "World Cup Strains to Reverse Sports-Viewing Trends". Variety. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.

 Ingold, Ira Boudway, Eben Novy-Williams, David. "Fox and Telemundo 2018 World Cup ratings are down 44 percent from 2014". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.

 Williams, Martyn (9 July 2018). "North Korean TV picks up World Cup from Round of 16". North Korea Tech. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.

 "FIFA and adidas extend partnership until 2030". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 21 November 2013. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 Matthews, Sam (22 November 2005). "Coca-Cola renews Fifa football sponsorship until 2022". Campaign. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 Millerchip, Oliver (16 September 2013). "Gazprom agrees Fifa sponsorship deal". SportsPro. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 "Hyundai-Kia drives on as FIFA Partner until 2022". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 November 2010. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 "Qatar Airways announced as Official Partner and Official Airline of FIFA until 2022". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 May 2017. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 Mickle, Tripp (1 April 2013). "Visa extending World Cup deal for eight years". Sports Business Daily. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 "Wanda Group becomes new FIFA Partner". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 18 March 2016. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 "FIFA and Anheuser-Busch InBev announce FIFA World Cup sponsorship for 2018 / 2022". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 25 October 2011. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 "Hisense becomes Official Sponsor of 2018 FIFA World Cup". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 6 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 "McDonald's looking ahead to 2018". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 October 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

 Carp, Sam (20 December 2017). "Mengniu Group added to Fifa World Cup sponsor line-up". SportsPro. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.

 Carp, Sam (31 May 2017). "Fifa agrees massive World Cup deal with Vivo". SportsPro. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.

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2018 FIFA World Cup

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2018 FIFA World Cup finalists

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2018 FIFA World Cup stadiums

Kaliningrad Stadium (Kaliningrad)Krestovsky Stadium (Saint Petersburg)Luzhniki Stadium (Moscow)Otkritie Arena (Moscow)Kazan Arena (Kazan)Nizhny Novgorod Stadium (Nizhny Novgorod)Samara Arena (Samara)Volgograd Arena (Volgograd)Mordovia Arena (Saransk)Rostov Arena (Rostov-on-Don)Fisht Olympic Stadium (Sochi)Central Stadium (Yekaterinburg)

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AFC

Fahad Al-MirdasiAlireza FaghaniRavshan IrmatovMohammed Abdulla Hassan MohamedRyuji SatoNawaf Shukralla

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Mehdi Abid CharefMalang DiedhiouBakary GassamaGehad GrishaJanny SikazweBamlak Tessema Weyesa

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Matthew CongerNorbert Hauata

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Felix BrychCüneyt ÇakırSergei KarasevBjörn KuipersSzymon MarciniakAntonio Mateu LahozMilorad MažićGianluca RocchiDamir SkominaClément Turpin

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Categories: 2018 FIFA World Cup2018 in association football2017–18 in Russian footballFIFA World Cup tournamentsInternational association football competitions hosted by RussiaJune 2018 sports events in RussiaJuly 2018 sports events in RussiaAssociation football 

If there’s one thing football fans love in this world, it’s a debate.

You won’t be able to go to a pub on a Saturday afternoon and not hear a fan from one club telling a fan from another club that their players are better.

So, to try and settle this one and for all, the team over at FourFourTwo have ranked the 100 best players from the 21st century.

The list is going to cause some controversy, and ironically, probably even more debate, so let’s jump right into it and not waste any more of your time.

The list of footballers ranked from 81st to 100th is rather interesting, with a mix of some current players, as well as some top stars from yesteryear, as can be seen below.

Interestingly, six out of the 20 players ranked from 81 to 100 either currently play for Man United, or have played for Man United in the past, just going to show the dominance of the Red Devils since 2000.

100. Trent Alexander-Arnold

99. Miroslav Klose

98. Rivaldo

97. Luca Toni

96. David De Gea

95. Deco

94. Javier Zanetti

93. Mesut Ozil

92. Edwin van der Sar

91. Carlos Tevez

90. Arturo Vidal

89. Hernan Crespo

88. Thibaut Courtois

87. Thiago Silva

86. Juan Roman Riquelme

85. Fernando Torres

84. Henrik Larsson

83. Raphael Varane

82. Raheem Sterling

81. Ryan Giggs

The next 20 names also make for some rather interesting reading, with 11 of the players ranked, such as Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane, still plying their trade in the Premier League at the moment.

80. Alexis Sanchez

79. Edinson Cavani

78. Ivan Rakitic

77. Harry Kane

76. N’Golo Kante

75. Kylian Mbappe

74. Jan Oblak

73. David Silva

72. Alessandro Nesta

71. Wesley Sneijder

70. Cesc Fabregas

69. Fabio Cannavaro

68. Mohamed Salah

67. Raul

66. Bastian Schweinsteiger

65. Cafu

64. Marcelo

63. David Beckham

62. Ruud van Nistelrooy

61. Paolo Maldini

There is often a debate about who is the better Premier League centre-back, between Nemanja Vidic, Virgil van Dijk and John Terry, but FourFourTwo has solved that, by putting them in 60th, 54th and 44th places respectively.

The list also shows the recent dominance of Man City, with three of the names ranked from 41st to 60th having lined up for the blue half of Manchester.

60. Nemanja Vidic

59. David Villa

58. Eden Hazard

57. Roberto Carlos

56. Paul Scholes

55. Angel Di Maria

54. Virgil van Dijk

53. Michael Ballack

52. Radamel Falcao

51. Antoine Griezmann

50. Petr Cech

49. Pavel Nedved

48. Xabi Alonso

47. Kevin de Bruyne

46. Carlos Puyol

45. Yaya Toure

44. John Terry

43. Toni Kroos

42. Luis Figo

41. Vincent Kompany

The next 15 names, ranked from 26th to 40th also feature some incredible talents, with the likes of Didier Drogba, Sergio Aguero and Gareth Bale.

This portion also features a strong Chelsea contingency, with four of the 15 names featured having played for the London outfit.

40. Didier Drogba

39. Frank Ribery

38. Francesco Totti

37. Patrick Vieira

36. Frank Lampard

35. Gianluigi Buffon

34. Claude Makelee

33. Andrea Pirlo

32. Rio Ferdinand

31. Andriy Shevchenko

30. Sergio Busquets

29. Gareth Bale

28. Robert Lewandowski

27. Iker Casillas

26. Sergio Aguero

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Now, we’re getting into the business end of things, with the players between 11 and 25 being ranked, so expect to see some of the very best to ever step onto a pitch, with eight of the 15 still playing to this day.

25. Neymar

24. Gerard Pique

23. Ashley Cole

22. Arjen Robben

21. Steven Gerrard

20. Thomas Muller

19. Sergio Ramos

18. Philipp Lahm

17. Ronaldo (R9)

16. Wayne Rooney

15. Samuel Eto’o

14. Luka Modric

13. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

12. Dani Alves

11. Karim Benzema

The final ten will also likely cause a stir, particularly amongst the Team Messi and Team Ronaldo fans.

Also, such as been the dominance of Spanish football over the last 21 years, that only one of the players in the top ten (Manuel Neuer) didn’t play for either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

10. Luis Suarez

9. Kaka

8. Manuel Neuer

7. Thierry Henry

6. Zinedine Zidane

5. Ronaldinho

4. Xavi

3. Andres Iniesta

2. Cristiano Ronaldo

1. Lionel Messi

A Guide to the World Cup 2022

The World Cup is undoubtedly the most highly anticipated sports tournament globally. In 2018, a total of 3.5 billion people watched this competition when it took place in Russia. Now, the 2022 edition is set to break all known records.

The World Cup is undoubtedly the most highly anticipated sports tournament globally. In 2018, a total of 3.5 billion people watched this competition when it took place in Russia. Now, the 2022 edition is set to break all known records as research shows that there may be as many as 5 billion people that will divert their attention to it. 

Considering the fact that the 2022 World Cup is just around the corner, we decided to join the bandwagon and share a complete guide to the tournament and list all the things that you need to know. Let’s get down to business. 

Betting on the World Cup 

One side activity that sports fans like to do while the World Cup is taking place is betting on the games. Sportsbooks, especially online bookmakers, report massive surges in betting activity in this period. That is the reason why they offer exclusive bonuses and promotions that can be used to boost the potential rewards. 

One country that is particularly active in terms of betting on the World Cup, is Germany. In 2021, the estimated revenue of the online gambling industry (online betting included) was more than $6.5 billion. Since online betting is legal, fans are more than happy to wager on the games.

Of course, when punters are looking to register and bet online, they will be looking for a sportsbook that has the best World Cup 2022 odds in Germany. The better the odds are, the higher the potential rewards can be. 

So, if you are looking to wager on the World Cup, you will be pleased to know that you’ll have plenty of options – land-based and online sportsbooks will all be at your disposal. 

Dates, Location and Teams 

As mentioned in the beginning, the 2022 World Cup will take place in Qatar. The opening game will take place on November 21 and the tournament will last until December 18. Now, you may be asking yourself what’s the deal with a winter edition of the World Cup? The answer’s very simple – Qatar faces extremely high temperatures during the summer and it was impossible for the Cup to be held then. 

There will be a total of 32 teams that will compete in 8 groups. Senegal will be playing against the Netherlands at Al Thumama Stadium; this will be the first game of the tournament and it will be followed by the hosts playing against Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium. 

Many consider that this will be the most competitive tournament and it is hard to determine whether any team will be able to remain undefeated. 

As for the groups themselves, they are the following: 

Group A: The Netherlands, Senegal, Qatar, Ecuador

Group B: USA, England, Iran, Euro Play-Off Team

Group C: Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Poland, Mexico

Group D: Tunisia, Denmark, France IC Play-Off Team 

Group E: Spain, Japan, Germany, IC Play-Off Team

Group F: Croatia, Morocco, Belgium, Canada

Group G: Serbia, Cameroon, Brazil, Switzerland

Group H: South Korea, Ghana, Portugal, Uruguay 

The knockout phase is set to begin on December 3 and end on December 18. That’s when the final will be played at Lusail Iconic Stadium (Lusail). 

Biggest Favourites to Win the World Cup 

As mentioned earlier, the competition will be unlike anything we’ve seen before and many are already categorizing the World Cup 2022 as the best in its history. Each team has a good chance of winning, but what is the shortlist of the biggest favourites? 

The top three favourites are Brazil, England and France. Brazil may have not been glorious in this competition since 2002, but there's no denying the fact that the national team is returning to its former glory. The likes of Neymar, Allisson, Vini Jr., etc., make the team hard to beat. 

Then, we have England, the eternal favourite of every competition and a team that somehow manages to fail to live up to the expectations almost every time. England came close to winning the Euro 2020, but it fell short in the final against Italy. Who knows, maybe this time, football might really be coming home. 

Finally, we have the current titleholder – France. Mbappe, Kante, Pogba, Benzema, Griezmann and more are part of this star-studded team and there’s hardly a team that can stand toe-to-toe with it. 

Other honourable mentions are Belgium, Spain, Germany and Argentina.