The World Cup begins. Where and when will the FIFA World Cup start in Russia? Where and when will the World Cup take place?

Before the start of the championship, millions of people around the globe take special vacations so as not to miss any of the 64 matches. Held every four years, the World Cup attracts the increased attention of almost half of the world's population; it is an event of global significance. Given such interest in the World Cup, the organizers of the World Cup are carefully preparing for its holding, thinking through all the accompanying events to the smallest detail: ensuring the safety of all its participants and spectators, living conditions for the teams, accommodation of all visiting foreign fans and much more.

But most attention is paid to one date - the opening of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It is this event that we will now talk about.

June 14, 2018 is marked with a red date in the calendar of all sports fans. It is on this day that the next World Cup starts, in which 32 teams from all regions of the world will compete for the golden set of awards.

The tournament participants are divided into eight groups of 4 teams. The teams that take first or second place in the group will take part in the next round. The championship begins with group stage meetings (48 matches in total), which lasts until June 28.

• Eight games of the 1/8 finals will be held from June 30 to July 3.
• The quarter-final matches will take place on July 6 and 7, again with two matches per day.
• One semi-final match will take place on July 10 and 11.

On July 14, two teams that were eliminated in the semi-final matches will compete for third place and a bronze set of awards. And on July 15, the whole world will join their screens to enjoy the final match of the World Cup, and the closing ceremony of the world tournament will take place on the same day.

When and where will the opening ceremony of the 2018 World Cup take place?

The upcoming World Cup has its own special calendar, where the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup falls on June 14. The championship will begin at 18:00 at the Luzhniki Stadium, when Russian football players will compete with guys from Asia in a head-to-head meeting.

And the opening ceremony itself will begin two hours before this first confrontation of the beginning world tournament.

The details of this event are kept very secret by the organizers themselves, but some information sources say that this will be one of the most ambitious shows that can eclipse all previous ones. It is known that the 2018 World Cup anthem will be sung by an actor, musician and singer from America and another performer from Albania. Naturally, the President of Russia, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, will make a welcoming speech at this event.

The Luzhniki Stadium itself has been preparing for the upcoming magnificent event for a long time and, judging by the spreading rumors, it will be incredibly beautiful and impressive.

Recently, it has been said that the opening ceremony may begin half an hour before the opening match. It will be short but grandiose. In general, the intrigue is heating up like crazy.

Beginning of the championship

The date June 14 is the beginning of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. On this day, the only match will be played - “Russia - Saudi Arabia”. It’s interesting that the World Cup starts a few days later every year:

• World Cup 2014: June 12 – “Brazil-Croatia”;
• World Cup 2010: June 11 – “South Africa – Mexico”;
• World Cup 2006: June 9 – “Germany – Costa Rica”;
• World Cup 2002: May 31 - France - Senegal.

The first match

As mentioned above, the opening match of the 2018 World Cup is the Russia-Saudi Arabia match. The team representing the host of the tournament is the first to start the fight. Traditionally, the teams of group “A” begin to play, on the second day two more teams from this group will play and representatives of group “B” will begin to fight.

The opening and final match will be hosted by Luzhniki (Moscow). Tickets for the World Cup match have been on sale for a long time, they are all divided into 4 categories:

• 4th - from 30,000 rubles;
• 2nd – from 24,000 rubles;
• 3rd – from 13,000 rubles;
• 1st – from 1,260 rubles (opening match from 3,200).

You can immediately say that the cost of tickets is not the highest. For example, at the last World Cup in Brazil, a fan had to spend at least 5,000 rubles to purchase a ticket.

Interesting information: although the US team does not take part in the upcoming tournament, the second largest number of tickets purchased after Russia is the Stars and Stripes. In 3rd place in terms of ticket purchases are Colombia and Germany, then Mexico, Argentina, Peru, etc. South American fans are more active.

There are some restrictions when purchasing tickets:

• you cannot purchase tickets for different matches taking place on the same day;
• No more than four tickets are given per hand, all of them will be of only one category.

Championship cities

The upcoming World Cup will be held in 11 cities, where tremendous work has been done to organize and host the world championship. Naturally, both capitals of the country are included in this list: Moscow and St. Petersburg. It also included:

• Volgograd;
• Kazan;
• Sochi;
• Kaliningrad (many European fans will find it easier to get to this city);
• Nizhny Novgorod;
• Samara;
• Rostov-on-Don.

The eleventh city where the games of the upcoming tournament will be held is Saransk.

Initially, it was proposed to hold the 21st World Cup on the football fields of 13 cities, but the FIFA commission rejected this proposal and reduced the presented list to eleven.

Unfortunately, the World Cup flew past cities such as Yaroslavl and Krasnodar.

In each city, an existing stadium was reconstructed or a new one was built, meeting all the necessary international standards. One of the main requirements for stadiums is its capacity; it should not be less than 40 thousand people. True, two stadiums do not reach this indicator: (“Ekaterinburg Arena” and “Kaliningrad”).

Much work was carried out in the cities themselves:

• new hotels were built to accommodate large numbers of foreign fans;
• a major overhaul of city communications was carried out;
• Transport networks were modernized and local hospitals and clinics were renovated.

A big surprise for many domestic fans was the fact that the list of cities hosting the championship included Saransk, but Krasnodar was not included here. It is difficult to understand what caused this. Maybe the government wanted to improve the city’s infrastructure in view of such a grandiose event?

• within a radius of two kilometers from the stadium where the championship matches will be held, the sale of alcoholic beverages and regular drinks in glass containers is prohibited;
• shooting ranges and stores where firearms and ammunition are sold are closed;
• It is prohibited to bring objects longer than 25 centimeters into the stadium itself (goodbye selfie sticks);
• Lighting fires outdoors is prohibited.

Remember that several million fans from all over the world will come to the upcoming world tournament, and in addition to football, they will obviously take a closer look at the way of life of Russians, their culture, decency, and friendliness. Therefore, everyone must remember that in front of foreign sports fans, local children must show only the best qualities: politeness, responsiveness and mutual understanding.

The FIFA World Cup will be held in Russia from June 14 to July 15, 2018

It was previously assumed that the tournament would take place from June 8 to July 8, but in the end it was shifted by a week.

The world championship matches will be hosted by 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don and Saransk.

FIFA World Cup 2018, match schedule

The group stage matches of this round will be held in 11 Russian cities from June 14 to 28. Play-off matches: 1/8 - from June 30 to July 3, 1/4 games - July 6 and 7, semi-finals in St. Petersburg (July 10) and Moscow (July 11). Finally, the match for third place will take place on July 14 in St. Petersburg, and the championship final will take place on July 15 in Moscow.

The World Cup will open with the teams of Russia and Saudi Arabia. The final game will take place on July 15, 2018 at 18:00 Moscow time.

Calendar of games of the 1st round of the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Russia – Saudi Arabia – June 14, 2018 – start at 18:00 – arena: Luzhniki;

Schedule of matches of the 2nd round of the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Russia – Egypt - June 19, 2018 – start at 21:00 – arena: “St. Petersburg”;

Argentina - Croatia - June 21, 2018 - start at 21:00 - arena: Nizhny Novgorod Stadium;

FIFA World Cup 2018, buy tickets

FIFA World Cup 2018 price, fan passport

In order to attend matches, you must have a ticket and a personalized spectator card, also known as a fan passport. If you only have a ticket in your hands, unfortunately, you won’t be allowed into the match.

A fan passport is issued free of charge and is valid for all matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This passport and match ticket will allow fans to travel free of charge on World Cup host city transport on match days.

There is already a single 24-hour hotline for fans regarding transportation issues. The Rospotrebnadzor department also operates a hotline for hotel services for the 2018 FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup 2018 official website

The official website of the 2018 FIFA World Cup is located at http://ru.fifa.com/

What matches will be held in Moscow at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Moscow, as the largest city in our country, was included in the list of 11 cities that will host matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup this coming summer. What teams will come to play in the capital of our country?

Moscow is doubly lucky. Two stadiums in the capital will host World Cup matches at once: the renovated Luzhniki and the brand new Spartak stadium.

Moscow football has a rich history. The city has several professional clubs (Dynamo, Spartak, CSKA, Lokomotiv, Torpedo and others), which were formed at the beginning of the 20th century. They still delight their fans with a good game.

In total, 12 FIFA World Cup games will take place in Moscow: 7 matches will be held at Luzhniki and 5 matches at Spartak.

All matches of the 2018 World Cup in Moscow

1. In the opening match on Thursday, June 14 at 18:00 at the Luzhniki Stadium, the Russian national team will play against Saudi Arabia. Of course, the draw favored our team, and in the first game the Russians will not face the most formidable opponent.

2. On Saturday, June 16 at 16:00, the teams of Argentina and Iceland will take to the field of the Spartak stadium. Moscow fans will have a chance to see one of the highest paid players in the world, Lionel Messi.

3. On Sunday, June 17 at 18:00, Germany and Mexico will play at the Luzhniki Stadium. Joachim Löw's team will come to the tournament not only as Champions, but also as winners of the 2017 Confederations Cup.

4. On Tuesday, June 19 at 15:00 at the Spartak stadium there will be a match between the national teams of Poland and Senegal. Both teams may well present a surprise at this tournament.

5. On Wednesday June 20 at 15:00 the teams of Portugal and Morocco will play at Luzhniki. The Portuguese are favorites in this match and should win without any problems.

6. On Saturday, June 23 at 15:00, the Spartak stadium will host the Belgium-Tunisia game. The Belgians are one of the main favorites of the entire tournament in general and this match in particular.

7. On Tuesday, June 26 at 17:00, the national teams of Denmark and France will play at the Luzhniki Stadium. Paul Pogba and company will play the final match of the group stage.

8. On Wednesday June 27 at 21:00 the national teams of Serbia and Brazil will play at the Spartak stadium. This is one of the central matches of the group stage and the attention of fans will be focused on the most expensive player in the world, Neymar.

9. On July 1, the winner of Group B and the team that took second place in the group, where the Russian national team is playing, will play in the 1/8 finals at the Luzhniki Stadium at 17:00.

10. On July 3, the winner of Group H and the second runner-up of Group G will play in the 1/8 finals at the Spartak stadium at 21:00.

11. On Wednesday, July 11 at 21:00, one of the two semi-finals will take place at the Luzhniki Stadium.

12. On Sunday, July 15 at 18:00, the main match of the entire tournament – ​​the final – will also take place at the Luzhniki Stadium. This game will close the program of the 21st World Football Championship among national teams.

Already on December 5, the second stage of ticket sales for the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches began. Fans should hurry up and purchase their desired ticket to one of the matches. Well, the program of the games in Moscow will be the most intense among the programs of all 11 cities.

What matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held in Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod is deservedly included in the list of 11 cities that will host matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Which teams will come to this city to play matches?

Nizhny Novgorod is the main city of the Nizhny Novgorod region. It is located on the banks of several rivers: the Volga and Oka. Moreover, the construction of the new stadium took place on the embankment, right at the location of the Oka River and the Volga, and it was named “Nizhny Novgorod Stadium”.

The first mention of a football team in this city dates back to 1910. Then the famous Lokomotiv club was formed in Nizhny Novgorod, which made a lot of noise by playing in the Top Division of the Russian Championship. Now the team has ceased to exist and the city does not have a representative in the Premier League. But it seems that after the 2018 FIFA World Cup the authorities will think a little and create a good team.

At the 2018 World Cup in Nizhny Novgorod there will be 6 matches, and all of them will be quite spectacular and interesting.

2018 FIFA World Cup matches in Nizhny Novgorod

1. The first match here will take place on Monday 18 June at 15:00 between the teams of Sweden and South Korea. The Swedes were able to prevent the Dutch and Italians from entering the tournament, and the South Koreans, as always, are the “dark horse” of the tournament.

2. On Thursday 21 June at 21:00 the city will host a super match between Argentina and Croatia. Both teams will fight for first place in their group, which means the game should be special and spectacular.

3. On Sunday, June 24 at 15:00, the national teams of England and Panama will play at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium. The latter are debutants in the tournament, and it will be interesting to see how they play with the founders of football.

4. On Wednesday June 27 at 21:00 the national teams of Switzerland and Costa Rica will arrive in the city. Both teams are about the same level and will fight to reach the playoff zone.

5. On Sunday, July 1, at 21:00, a 1/8 final game between the winner of Group D and the second runner-up of Group C will take place in Nizhny Novgorod.

These are the matches that will take place in Nizhny Novgorod. Fans now need to take care and purchase tickets for these games.

What matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup will be held in Rostov-on-Don?

Football fans from Rostov-on-Don have already witnessed matches of the highest level. The local Rostov hosted the teams of Bayern, Atletico Madrid and PSV at home as part of the UEFA Champions League. In 2018, Rostov residents will witness an even larger international tournament – ​​the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

According to the calendar of the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup, Rostov-on-Don will host five World Cup matches, four of which will be held in the group stage and one in a series of playoff games.

Some of the main contenders for gold medals will play in the opening match of the football championship at the new arena in Rostov. Five-time world champions Brazilians in their first game in Group E they will compete with the national team Switzerland. This meeting is scheduled for June 17th.

Residents of Rostov and numerous guests of the city will be able to see the head-to-head confrontation between the rivals of the Russian national team in Group A. As part of the second round of this quartet June 20th Uruguay will play with Saudi Arabia.

June 23rd Rostov-on-Don will host football players from Mexico and South Korea. The confrontation between the two teams will have a significant impact on the chances of advancing from the group to the playoffs. This game is scheduled as part of the second round of Group F.

Two years ago, the Icelandic national team pleasantly surprised the entire football world. This team performed successfully at EURO 2016, making it to the quarterfinal stage. It is believed that the leadership of the Icelandic Football Federation will set high goals for the football players for the upcoming World Cup. However, the level of opponents at the 2018 World Cup will be slightly higher. So, in their final match in the group stage Icelanders have to play with the team Croatia(group D). The game will take place in Rostov-on-Don June 26th.

The last match in Rostov will take place within 1/8 finals of the 2018 World Cup. The winner of group G will compete for the right to advance to the next stage with the second team of quartet N. This meeting will take place July 2nd.

A month of first-class spectacle awaits fans ahead, and on the eve of the start of the World Cup, the site answers the most popular questions about the main sporting event of the summer.

Why is the championship held in Russia?

The applicant must receive at least 50% of the votes. England was eliminated in the first round, and in the second round Russia received 13 votes out of a possible 22.

The matches will be held in 11 cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Yekaterinburg, Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don.

The opening will take place at 17.30 (half an hour before the first match) at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The final will be played there on July 15.

How is a champion determined?

On December 1, 32 teams were divided into 32 teams by drawing lots. Thanks to the initial gradation of teams by rating, these quartets are approximately equal in strength. Group “A” seems to be a little weaker than the rest, where instead of the top favorites the Russian national team ended up as the host of the tournament.

In all groups, teams will play three matches (each against each other). The two best teams from each four will advance to the playoffs, where the knockout matches will begin: 1/8, 1/4 and 1/2 finals. The winners of the semi-final matches will advance to the final, where they will compete for the title of champion. The losers in the 1/2 finals will compete for third place.

Who are the main favorites of the tournament?

There is no clear favorite this year. The bookmakers have Brazil in the lead with a slight advantage. The odds for her final victory are 5, which means that the chances are estimated at approximately 20%.

The start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup is a long-awaited event that almost every fan dreams of. The tournament promises to bring a lot of exciting games, a number of unexpected results, memorable moments, fundamental confrontations and spectacular goals. It will definitely evoke a lot of bright emotions and give the world new stars who will shine for a long time in the best clubs in the world.

But before that, the official opening of the 2018 FIFA World Cup must take place, which will kick off the big football holiday. Its date has long been known, now all that remains is to wait for the scheduled day and you will be able to enjoy the game of the best football players on the planet.

FIFA World Cup: when does it start?

The start date of the future championship of the planet has been known for quite some time. The opening match will take place on June 14. The starting whistle for the first game is 18:00.

This meeting will take place in Moscow, where the restored Luzhniki Stadium will open its doors to fans. The players of the Russian national team and their opponents in Group A, who are still unknown, should take the field. They will be determined on December 1, 2017, during the draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The opening of the championship will be at the same stadium, but 2 hours earlier. That is, the official start of the final stage is scheduled for 16:00 on June 14.

Read also: 2018 FIFA World Cup dates in St. Petersburg, standings

What will the opening be like?

Details and features of the opening of the 2018 FIFA World Cup are carefully hidden. Despite the pre-prepared program, officials and participants in the festive ceremony are in no hurry to tell others about the main nuances of the celebration.

Everything that football fans know so far is limited to the knowledge of:

• who will play in the first match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup;
• When does the World Cup start?
• when will the celebration begin?
• and how long it will last.

According to Mutko, the festive program will be concise and succinct. It is only 17 minutes, during which the championship will start.

Read also: Ticket prices for the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Fans from all over the world are waiting for the start of the World Football Championship matches. They hope that their teams will show quality play and be able to achieve great success. They believe in this in Russia too. But, no matter what the final result of the Russian team turns out to be, holding a tournament of such a high level will bring a lot of positive emotions and will be remembered for a long time by almost all residents of the country.

For more than a month, from June 14 to July 15, the attention of the football community will be focused on Russia. No one will allow themselves to miss such a grandiose event, which will bring new stars to the world and, possibly, a new champion.

sde.in.ua

The World Cup begins in Russia

09:01 06/14/2018 (updated 11:50 06/14/2018) Get short link

Even before the start of the World Cup, many teams held open training sessions. Not only journalists, but also ordinary fans received access to these classes

DUSHANBE, June 14 - Sputnik. The World Cup starts on Thursday; in the opening match, the hosts of the tournament, the Russian national team, will play against the Saudi Arabian team. The meeting will take place in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium, starting at 18:00 Moscow time.

In early June, FIFA reported that almost 2.5 million tickets had been distributed to fans around the world. At the same time, the majority went to the Russians, who purchased more than 870 thousand tickets for the World Cup matches. In second place were fans from the United States with almost 90 thousand tickets, and in third place were Brazilians who bought more than 72.5 thousand tickets.

VAR system

Who is the main favorite?

Reigning world champion and Confederations Cup winner Germany, on the other hand, suffered a number of setbacks in recent friendly games. In addition to the defeat from Brazil, the Germans also lost to the Austrians in June. In the last test match before the start of the World Cup, Bundesteam beat Saudi Arabia with a score of 2:1.

Ru.sputnik-tj.com

The results of the X Championship in 1974 created a real sensation in the football world. The national teams of Germany and Holland, which adopted the principles and ideology of total football, turned out to be so much stronger than all other teams that coaches and specialists, willy-nilly, were forced to seriously study and analyze what happened. When it comes to something fundamentally new, there are always both supporters who try to actively implement and implement this new thing in life, and opponents who try to find various shortcomings, flaws, and most importantly, explain the positive experience by other reasons. Total football was no exception.

Some clubs and national teams began to actively implement it, others considered it wiser to use only individual developments of the West Germans and the Dutch, while others completely ignored the emergence of total football. All four years that passed after the end of the X World Championship, the debate around the merits and prospects of total football did not stop for a day, and from the XI championship they expected, first of all, an answer to the question: total football is one of the bright ideas that will remain in the past, together with its carriers, or is this the future direction of development of all world football.

Looking ahead, we note that the XI World Championship, the host of which FIFA chose Argentina, coped with this task, as they say, one hundred percent. The national teams, who completely or partially restructured their game in accordance with the principles of total football, again, as in 1974, won a convincing victory, finally removing any doubts regarding the effectiveness and prospects of the new football ideology. These teams primarily included teams from Argentina, Holland, Germany, Italy, as well as Brazilians who tried to introduce new ideas born in European football into their game.

Among the listed teams, the world champions - the German national team, which was considered the No. 1 favorite on the eve of the championship, performed weaker than others. Of the six matches, the Germans won only one, played four in a draw, three of them with zero results, and were defeated by the Austrian team in the last match of the second round. For the first time in 12 years, the German team did not win a prize. But it wasn't even about the results. In the history of world championships, there are many cases when a team that performed brightly and meaningfully left the race prematurely, without achieving a place worthy of its performance in the standings. Often matches involving these teams became the subject of analysis and left a long-lasting memory. Nothing similar can be said about the German team of 1978. Everyone was struck by her outdated, inexpressive, and not at all champion-like performance.

It all started with the opening match (Germany-Poland), which surprised football fans with its mediocrity. But then, observers and experts criticized mainly the “unnecessary tradition of opening matches,” which, according to Pele, prevented “the two best teams of the second group from playing more interestingly...” For the participants in the ill-fated match, who sought above all not to take risks and demonstrated a super-cautious, boring and unspectacular game, looking for excuses. “Such a game,” wrote “Soviet Sport,” “had its own background. Realistically weighing their chances, both teams probably expect to reach the next round due to success in matches with teams of a weaker rank - the national teams of Mexico and Tunisia. In meetings with them, they will already do everything to achieve victory. Of course, it’s good to win against your main opponent on occasion, but a draw in such a game is also a good result. That’s why concern for our goal in this match prevailed over attacking aspirations.” And one more thing: “Let us remember similar meetings... They all ended with the same score - 0:0, and all of them did not arouse enthusiasm among football fans. However, a little time passed, and the teams delighted the audience with an interesting and beautiful game.”

Regarding the German team, the observer's forecast clearly did not come true. True, after the match with the Mexican national team, many observers decided that “the world champions had restored their fighting potential.” Of course, the devastating result made an impression. The Germans, as they say, frolicked. Their advantage was overwhelming. At a calm, if not sluggish, pace of play, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Heinz Flohe scored braces, Dieter and Hansi Müller scored a goal each. The victory was complete. It’s hard to call this match beautiful and meaningful. The forces were too unequal. This is not a reproach to the Germans: this is how the lot decreed. But in 1978, everyone in the group defeated the Mexican team, and all with a convincing score. As for the “interesting and beautiful game,” the audience saw it in the West Germany-Tunisia match, after which it became obvious that the world champions had not yet restored their fighting potential.

The performance of the Tunisian national team turned out to be perhaps the main sensation of the XI championship. First, the universally recognized “outsiders” beat the Mexicans (3:1). Then they played with the Poles, who snatched a victory with great difficulty (1:0). In any case, the Polish coach J. Gmoch seemed to be sincerely happy about this minimal result. The match with the Germans was of fundamental importance for the Tunisian team: if they won, they would advance to the second round. “The Tunisian national team,” wrote “Soviet Sport,” “held the meeting with dignity, playing... reliably in defense and witty in attack. The goalkeeper of the German national team, Mayer, was not bored, and twice he only reflected dangerous blows with enormous difficulty.” And one more thing: “Until the last second of their match with Tunisia... the players of the German national team did not know whether they would make it to the second round.” It is noteworthy that practically no scoring situations arose at the goal of the Tunisian national team - the defense did not allow it. The Tunisians locked their opponents in their half of the field. But the goal did not work out, although Sepp Mayer had to “sweat”. However, the German national team in this match was not saved from defeat by Mayer alone. The English observer M. Meyers reported on, to put it mildly, a strange act of the Peruvian referee S. Orozco: “How close the Tunisian football players were to knocking the champions out of the tournament is evidenced by at least the 39th minute, when Ruessman was roughly knocked down in the penalty area Ben Rehalema... Only the fact that referee Orozco turned a blind eye to this violation saved the West German team.”

M. Meyers’ message was included in their reports by columnists from Soviet Sport and two or three other newspapers. But no one made a fuss. And not only because it was useless. Decency demanded that the German team advance to the second round. Moreover, many expected that the Germans would still “wake up” and show themselves. And before, in group tournaments they were often the object of criticism, but as soon as they “crawled out” of the group, unexpectedly for everyone they found themselves in the finals or at least in the semi-finals.

The first timid indications of the unfavorable situation in the German team began to appear in the press only after the zero draw result of the first match of the second round (Germany-Italy). Observers noticed that the experienced Helmut Schön, who worked as the head coach of the German national team since 1963, changes the composition and tactical structure of the team almost before every game, that in three out of four games the German football players did not score a single goal, etc.

We will return to the troubles in the German team later, but now let’s talk about the last two matches held by the German national team at the 1978 championship. In the match with the Dutch, the German players did not get carried away with defensive tactics. They attacked a lot and in some cases successfully. In any case, it was the German team that took the lead twice during the match, but could not hold on to the victory: the Dutch responded to the goals of Abramczyk (3rd minute) and D. Muller (70th minute) with effective strikes from Haan on the 27th and R Van de Kerkhof in the 84th minute. After a draw result in the meeting with the Dutch (2:2), the German team only had a theoretical opportunity to reach the final. To do this, it was necessary, firstly, for the Dutch to draw with the Italians, and secondly, for the Germans to beat the Austrians by a difference of five goals.

On the eve of the match between Austria and Germany, Austrian coach G. Semenovich promised that his team would do everything to win over the German team in order to “please its fans with a good game at the end.” The Austrians really played in an organized and militant manner, but they could have let their coach down and lost the match if Berti Vogts had scored his goal against the Austrian team, and not against his own...

The players of the German national team started the match with the Austrians collectedly, actively and already in the 19th minute after Rummenigge's goal they achieved success. The first half passed with a clear advantage for the German team, but they failed to convert it into goals. After the break, the game changed beyond recognition, and one of the main reasons for what happened was Vogts’ own goal. 7 minutes later, after an unfortunate mistake by the leading defender of the West German national team, Krankl put the Austrians ahead, and although Holzenbein restored the balance in the 72nd minute, the Germans lost the threads of the game. Three minutes before the final whistle, Krankl again forced Mayer to take the ball out of the net. This was the end of the German team's championship.

Now about the troubles in the German national team. It consisted of internal discord, tactical disagreements, and possibly conflict between the coach and leading players. G. Schön was not a consistent supporter of total football. His ideal was careful tactics, thanks to which his teacher 3. Herberger managed to lead the German team to victory in the 1954 championship. The bearers and promoters of the new ideology were the players who came to the national team from Bayern - Beckenbauer, Breitner, G. Müller, Hoenesy, who enjoyed great authority in the team and achieved the introduction of new principles of the game. But, apparently, G. Schön continued to insist on his own, and Beckenbauer, Breitner, G. Müller, Hoenesy and Grabowski left the team.

True, even without them the composition of the 1978 national team cannot be called weak. Mayer, Vogts, Bonhof, Holzenbein continued to play. New players joined the team - Rummenigge, Fischer, Floe, who relatively quickly became stars of German football. But G. Schön failed to find an optimal tactical scheme for building a team, nor to eliminate the existing internal contradictions. The team was both psychologically and tactically weakened. After the championship games ended, the conflict spilled over. Not only G. Schön resigned, but also a group of players - Holzenbein, Schwarzenbeck, Beer and captain Vogts. “I have been patient for too long,” Holzenbein told reporters. - For six years I kept my mouth shut because I wanted to be on the national team. It's time for someone to open the public's eyes. Unfortunately, lately the whole life of the national team has been reduced to one thing - discipline. You were told like a child what to do, where to go, what to wear before the game, after the game, instead of worrying about how to play.” Apparently others thought so too. “Only the fact that I still want to play in the national team,” said Mayer, “holds me back. My lips are sealed. But when I finish, I will tell something that no one will believe...” The German national team practically disintegrated, but it was too early to bury it. J. Derval, who replaced G. Schön, already at the 1982 championship led the German team to the title of vice-world champions.

After the unsuccessful performance of the Italian team at the 1974 championship, F. Valcareggi, whose name is associated with its successes in the second half of the 60s, resigned. The long search for a new head coach of the Italian national team ended with the appointment in October 1977 of Vincenzo (Enzo) Bearzota, who in the full sense of the word reformed Italian football. Having abandoned the defensive system of “catenaccio” (“not losing is more important than winning”), which he considered the main reason for the failure of the Italians in the 1974 championship, Bearzot set out to introduce the ideology of total football into the playing practice of the Italian national team: an attacking orientation built on team actions , high speeds, interchangeability of players. The implementation of the plan required, first of all, a rational revision of the composition of the team. From the previous team, E. Bearzot left a few: the famous goalkeeper Dino Zoff, whose goal remained “dry” for 1143 minutes in the 1973/74 season - this record remains unsurpassed to this day; the “golden boy” of national football, the elegant and intuitive midfielder Giancarlo Antonioni; fast, technical and team-playing striker Franco Causio. E. Bearzot recruited new players mainly from Juventus. Among them, Roberto Bettega, Claudio Gentile, Antonio Cabrini, Paolo Rossi, Marco Tardelli, Gaetano Scirea, who formed the backbone of the 1982 champion team and became world football stars. The selection of players should be attributed to the undoubted success of the new coach. Cabrini was one of the best defenders in world football in the 80s, and the combination of central defenders - the "charming sweeper", the skillful and graceful Scirea and the powerful, tough, sometimes rude Gentile - was one of the most impressive in the history of the Italian national team. A reliable middle line, capable of attacking and defending: Antonioni, Benetti and the famous Tardelli, who especially distinguished himself in the 1982 championship final. Swift and effective strikers - Rossi, who shone at the championships in 1978 and 1982, Bettega, who, thanks to his excellent acrobatic training, managed to score incredibly beautiful goals, Francesco Graziani, Renato Zaccarelli.

But a great team ensemble, even with talented football players, did not emerge suddenly. E. Bearzot had seven months to prepare his team for the championship. And it was simply impossible to do everything in time. The renewed Italian team performed poorly on the eve of the championship and became the target of sharp criticism from the press, which predicted complete failure for the Squadra Azzurra. The “objective” analysis of the “state of the team” looked so convincing that the mood of its players on the eve of the first match of the group tournament, according to Italian observer Enrico Giacomini, was depressed. But it was the first match with the French national team that determined the tournament fate of the Italian team at the 1978 championship.

Most observers predicted victory for the French. Michel Hidalgo, appointed head coach of the national team in 1976, managed to do a lot. The team progressed literally before our eyes. In the last ten matches played on the eve of the championship, the French team was undefeated. The French beat the world champions, the German national team, the Brazilians, the Italians... The leader of the team was the brilliant Michel Platini - a “one-man orchestra” who knew how to do everything on the field, a player who made an era in the history of French, and perhaps European football. In 1978, twenty-three-year-old Platini was making his debut at the final stage of the world championship, but everyone understood that a new superstar was emerging on the football horizon. His performance in qualifying and friendly matches has already attracted the attention of specialists and colleagues. “Platini is very strong,” experienced Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff told reporters on the eve of the Italy-France match. - Better than Bonhof... Better than Antonioni. Better than Corso. He has powerful free kicks." It is not difficult to guess with what mood the Italian football players came out for their first match of the XI World Cup. But in 1978, Zoff was not destined to experience the power and precision of Platini's blows. The French lost. We undoubtedly lost, without even having time to fully understand what was happening on the field. Platini in his book gives the chronology of this fight: “13.45. The ball is in play. 13.46. Six's break on the left edge. A wonderful pass into the center... Lacombe jumps and reaches the ball with his head. Zoff stands glued to the goal line. Hit! Goal! France leads 1:0. It was the fastest goal in the history of the World Cup. Half an hour later, balance was restored. 1:1. An hour later - loss 1:2. ...We don't even have time to discuss our latest opportunity: a free kick from an excellent position - just nineteen meters from the goal... The whistle blows to end the game. An arbitrator, absolutely indifferent, devoid of any illusions about us...”

Platini, too carried away by his own experiences, writes nothing about the game of his opponents. And she is quite remarkable. Remarkable for both skill and courage. Lacombe's quick goal did not cause despondency among the Italians, but on the contrary, awakened in them the will to win. They seized the initiative and continuously attacked, creating dangerous moments at the French goal. “The constant pressure of the Azzurra squadra ultimately led to success,” wrote the Soviet Sport columnist. - Benetti sent the ball into the French penalty area, Bettega redirected it to Causio. The Italian midfielder's header resulted in the ball hitting the post. Bettega's second shot was again deflected by the post, and only with the third shot did Rossi finish the ball into the net. It was the 27th minute (according to the FIFA report - 29th - author) minute." In the second half, the French gradually gained dominance in the center of the field, but attacked weakly and disorganized. The Italians strengthened their defenses and periodically counterattacked. In the 52nd minute, the French simply missed the counterattacking attack of Zaccarelli, who unexpectedly and accurately shot into the far corner of Bertrand-Demant's goal... We repeat: the French played the match with the Italians frivolously; carried away by themselves, they often forgot about the existence of rivals. “We did not lack fighting spirit,” M. Hidalgo told reporters after the match, “but we lost our attentiveness and caution. Having scored a quick goal, we forgot that there were 89 minutes ahead.”

The defeat left the French in shock, and the merciless and sometimes unfair assessments of the press apparently made the French players think more about their own reputation than about the upcoming match with the Argentines. The army of thousands of Argentine fans was also annoying, convinced that the losers would become easy prey for their idols. And the French lost again, however, with a minimal gap in the score of 1:2, achieved as a result of an unfairly awarded (or at least controversial) penalty... But their tournament fate was decided: a convincing victory over the Hungarian team (3:1) meant nothing could change. The French left the championship in order to shine in Spain four years later and hold the brightest, most outstanding football match of the 20th century in Seville. The victory over the French did not just inspire the Italians. They believed in their strength, as they say, they found themselves. “Today our team showed that it has recovered physically and mentally...” Bearzot said after the match. - We felt unwell leaving Rome. From now on everything is fine.” And so it happened. In a duel

The Italians played powerfully, inventively and accurately against the Hungarians. Only towards the end of the second half, having scored three goals (Rossi in the 34th minute, Bettega in the 36th and Benetti in the 60th), did they slow down. In the 81st minute, Hungarian midfielder J. Toth pulled one back from the penalty spot.

Two victories ensured the Italian team advanced to the second round. The Italy-Argentina match, which was considered central in the group stage, lost its significance. As if confirming this, both E. Bearzot and the coach of the Argentine national team, Luis Cesar Menotti, suggested that they would give the main players of their teams a rest. However, the next day an explanation appeared from the Italian delegation - in the match with the Argentine national team, “the squad will be the strongest.” The Argentines did the same. The fight wasn't particularly interesting. In response to the powerful but ineffective onslaught of the Argentines, the Italians adopted defensive tactics, so that most of the game took place in the Italian half of the field, and the Italian midfielders were not immediately able to organize counterattacks, one of which, brilliantly carried out by Bettega and Rossi, ended in a goal. The Italian team became the only team to defeat the future world champion.

In the second round, the Italians began to feel tired in their game. In the match with the West German team that ended in a draw, they looked better and had enough opportunities to score against their opponents... Bettega hit the goal three times from very promising positions, but missed the target each time. In the game with the Austrians, the Italians were graceful and inventive, clearly outplaying their opponents, but scored only one relatively quick goal. “In the 13th minute,” reported “Soviet Sport,” “they finally achieved their goal. Rossi also played a “wall” with Causio and already in the penalty area, taking advantage of the defender’s mistake, he accurately rolled the ball past the running goalkeeper.” At the beginning of the second half, the Austrians seized the initiative and launched several attacks. But they couldn’t take Zoff’s gate. The sharp attacks of the Italians at the end of the match were also unsuccessful, although both Tardelli and Causio had chances to increase the score.

The Italians lost the match with the Dutch, which we’ll talk about later, but nevertheless ended up in the top four. They had to play with the Brazilian national team for 3rd place, and here another disappointment awaited them.

“I don’t understand how the Brazilian national team can play such bad football. This is our most shameful championship!” - such a harsh assessment by Pele of the play of his compatriots seems unfair. The Brazilians did not lose a single match, took third place, scored ten goals, conceding only three. Note: the Brazilian team was the only team that did not lose a single match at the XI championship. The future world champion - the Argentina national team, which performed more effectively (15 goals scored), was defeated in one match and, having scored the same number of points with the Brazilian national team in the semi-final group, reached the final only thanks to a better ratio of goals scored and goals conceded. The second-placed Dutch also scored 15 goals, but also conceded 10 and lost two matches. Finally, compared to the results of the X Championship, the Brazilians have clearly moved forward. Then they took 4th place, were defeated in two matches, scored 6 goals and missed 4. And this was after the Mexican triumph. It turns out that according to objective indicators... Continued...

strikerfootball.com

When does the first match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup start?

FIFA World Cup 2018 opening date

According to the calendar, the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place at the Moscow Luzhniki Stadium on June 14 at 18:00 Moscow time. This will be a game between the participants of Group A - the host country of the tournament, Russia and Saudi Arabia. This was determined by the draw that took place on December 1, 2017. The opening of the tournament itself will take place in the same arena, but two hours earlier - at 16:00. According to the organizers, the ceremony will be bright and concise, and will last only 17 minutes.

First game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Russia and Saudi Arabia will play in the first match of the championship. Russian football players were exempted from the qualifying stage, since Russia is the organizer of the tournament. During the qualifying stage, Saudi Arabia took second place in Group 2 of the Asian Football Confederation, which gave it the right to play in the final tournament of the World Cup. For the Russian national team, this World Cup will be the fourth since the collapse of the USSR (1994, 2002, 2014, 2018), Saudi Arabian football players will go to the tournament for the fifth time (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018). The history of meetings between these teams includes only one match. It took place on October 6, 1993 - the Arabs won the friendly game with a score of 4:2.

Start of the 2018 World Cup

The tournament, which all football fans around the world are looking forward to, will last more than a month. Starting at Luzhniki on June 14 with a match between Russia and Saudi Arabia, it will end on July 15 with the final game in the same arena. 64 matches will be played at 12 stadiums, based on the results of which the football world will recognize the best national team for the next four years.

football-champions.ru

World Football Championships. Figures and facts

On the eve of the start of the 2018 World Cup, Dialogue collected historical information about what past football world championships were famous for. Let's remember everything - from the rather modest first competitions in Montevideo to the grandiose construction, political, media machine into which the championships have now turned.

How it all began

Let us remind you that the World Cup has been taking place since 1930, with a four-year break, just like the Olympic Games. The championship was not held in 1942 and 1946 - of course, due to the Second World War and the need to restore what was destroyed. The first World Cup took place in Uruguay, a country that had won the Olympics twice before. Then only 13 teams took part in the championship (the same number was in the first post-war championship, which took place in 1950), and the hosts of the tournament won, beating Argentina in the final.

Looking ahead, let's say that Latin America has continued to be traditionally strong in everything related to championships - Brazilians, for example, became champions more often than any other country (5 times), Argentines and Uruguayans - twice. In fact, for all subsequent decades, the World Cup turned into a “Western Europe or Latin America” lottery - countries from any other region have never won the championship title, and there is no particular reason to believe that this circumstance will change.

The northernmost championship

I would like to say that the coming one will be like this - three days left! – The 2018 World Cup is in Russia, but no, it won’t work. And all because the northernmost city that has ever hosted matches of the World Cup is Sandviken, Sweden, 60° 37′ 19″ latitude. Yes, it’s not much north of St. Petersburg, but the St. Petersburg Arena, alas, is located at 59° 58′ 24″. It’s a pity that we won’t get this record - we wouldn’t want to enter Murmansk or Arkhangelsk at the 2018 World Cup!..

By the way, it was in the far north that in 1958 the star rose for probably the most famous football player in the history of sports; a player who was not even 18 years old at the time. Then the name Edson Arantis do Nascimento did not mean anything to anyone, but soon the world recognized Pele - the only three-time world football champion in history, the scorer of 77 goals for the Brazilian national team (and 1281 in club football), one of the best football players of the 20th century according to... yes in all versions.

Back in Sweden, the Soviet team made its debut at the World Championships, showing a decent, but not outstanding result: reaching the playoffs with a defeat in the quarterfinals from the Swedes - the hosts of the tournament and future holders of second place. The first then went to the Brazilians - they finally became champions!

Southernmost championship

Latin America hosts the world's football championships with enviable regularity for its generally low financial situation. The 1978 World Cup was held in Argentina, and one of the stadiums, “José Maria Minella” in the city of Mar del Plata, became the southernmost arena in the world to host championship matches (38° 01′ 04″ S). It was built specially to the championship, although there is not a single Argentine major league team in the city. However, at that time world sport had not yet entered the engineering-architectural (and financial) race, so the arena with 35 thousand seats looks quite simple. After the 1978 World Cup, it was used for various sporting events - for example, in 2001, the FIFA Youth World Cup was held here - and concerts.

The toughest championship

In 1962, the world's football championship was hosted by the neighbors of the Argentines - the Chileans. That World Cup was remembered for the terrible earthquake that occurred two years before it began and seriously damaged the infrastructure (fortunately, they managed to put it in order, although three stadiums had to be excluded from the application). And then - an unprecedented number of brawls, injuries, violations of the rules and outright judicial lawlessness. The British newspaper Daily Express wrote: “There are all signs that the tournament is turning into a bloody massacre. Match reports sound like reports from the battlefields; the game between Italy and Germany is called nothing less than war and massacre.”

Soviet football player Eduard Dubinsky received a severe fracture in the first match with the Yugoslavs, from which sarcoma subsequently developed, causing his early death at the age of 34. In the match with the Colombians, the famous goalkeeper Lev Yashin was injured - he received a concussion and because of this he played worse in the future, which led to a loss in the quarterfinal match against Chile. In the game Czechoslovakia - Spain, three Spaniards suffered fractures. The great Brazilian Pele was injured in the first group match against Czechoslovakia. Note that these same two teams later met in the final - but without the famous forward; however, the victory went to the Brazilians, who defended the title they received in Sweden (this is also a unique case in the history of the World Cup).

The Chile-Italy match (which went down in history under the name “Battle of Santiago”) was scandalous: throughout the game there were disputes, skirmishes, fights, the players used petty foul tactics, constantly provoking each other. However, English referee Kenny Aston sent off only Italian players, and when Chilean Leonel Sanchez broke the nose of an Italian player with a punch, he... went unpunished. The Italians lost with a score of 0:2, and therefore the Chileans managed to leave the group. The reason for the conflict was that before the start of the World Cup, the Italian press spoke impartially about Chile - in particular, one journalist stated in his article that Santiago was “proud of its backwardness, a garbage dump mired in poverty, full of prostitutes and chavs.” To be honest, it was not for the Italians (especially in those lean times) to blame Latin America.

The only championship for two

Unlike UEFA, which periodically entrusts the holding of European championships to two or more countries at once (for example, in 2012, Poland and Ukraine, and in 2020 the European Championship will be completely “spread out” across 12 countries - from Russia and Azerbaijan to England and Spain ), FIFA has only done this once. The fact is that the struggle for the right to host that championship flared up between Japan and South Korea - therefore, the FIFA Congress made a “Solomon decision”, since due to tense (due to historical grievances and territorial disputes) relations between these Asian states, the victory of one of the parties would lead to a strong reaction from the other.

As a result, the first Asian World Cup was held in two countries. Each played 32 matches, which were held in 10 cities: the first in Seoul, the final in Yokohama. It was even planned to grant North Korea the right to host two championship matches, but Pyongyang did not respond to FIFA’s proposal. One way or another, FIFA does not intend to repeat this experience again - a decision was issued in this regard by the organization's executive committee.

The noisiest championship

According to the policy of rotation of continents when choosing the country to host the final football championships, which was in force until October 2007, in 2010 the championship was supposed to take place in Africa. South Africa won, beating Morocco, Egypt and the joint application of the then-existing Libya with Tunisia (rejected precisely because of the Japanese-South Korean experience). 204 of the 208 teams included in FIFA took part in the qualifying tournament, making this championship the largest sporting event in terms of the number of participating countries, repeating the achievement of the Beijing Olympics.

The hosts of that World Cup did not make it to the playoffs, but they gave the world such a phenomenon as the vuvuzela - this African pipe, in fact, was invented back in 1970, but gained worldwide fame precisely at the championship and the 2009 Confederations Cup that preceded it. The hum of these instruments, like the low buzzing of a large swarm of bees, infuriated the players, coaches, referees, journalists, and broadcast workers - in fact, everyone except the fans who used them. Commentators suffered especially, who were simply inaudible due to the noise of the pseudo-folk wind instruments...

It is interesting that at the 2010 World Cup matches the vuvuzelas always sounded the same note - B flat of the small octave. When this became clear, proposals arose to “filter” this frequency from the audio stream in order to improve the quality of television broadcasts. The French company Audionamix quickly implemented such a filtration system, and it was first used on June 16, 2010 during the broadcast of the match South Africa - Uruguay by Sky Deutschland and Canal+. Many TVs equipped with sound quality control can also help eliminate annoying noise because the sound of the vuvuzela is relatively predictable. It consists of a set of vibrations based on a frequency of 233 Hz and complemented by overtones with multiple frequencies of 466, 932 and 1864 Hz.

Moreover, due to its ease of use and great destructive potential - what else does a rabid fan need? – the damned pipes spread very quickly throughout the football world. Already in the same 2010, the administrations of individual stadiums and football leagues of European countries began to ban their carrying into stadiums (however, the leadership of FIFA opposed the blanket ban). The fashion for using vuvuzelas also spread to political activists, who began to use them at their rallies. Then it gradually faded away - but back in 2017, during the Confederations Cup in Russia, the organizers specifically indicated that it was prohibited to bring vuvuzelas into the stadium.

There are many of us, and there will be even more

The number of fans attending World Cup matches is constantly growing. Already, 590 thousand people showed up for the first World Cup, and a significant part of them were already foreigners, for whom it was not nearly as easy as it is now to get to Uruguay, which is far from European countries. The milestone of one million spectators was first overcome at the first post-war championship in 1950 (the official figure is 1,045,246 people), but the point here is probably also that these competitions took place in Brazil, a country that is football to the core, and densely populated and not affected by the war. At the next three championships there was a “failure” - less than a million visitors - but then the growth continued. The hitherto unbeaten peak (3,587,538 people) was recorded in 1994, when the World Cup was hosted by the United States, the third most populous country on the planet. At the last three championships, the threshold of three million fans was also reached, but at the current World Cup a downward trend may be noted, since as of June 7, 2,403,116 tickets were sold - and another 120 thousand went on sale. By the way, among foreigners, US citizens lead in the number of tickets purchased (88,825) - this country did not qualify for the current World Cup. I wonder how many millions of fans will come when the World Cup is held in China?

From the world by thread

The 1998 championship in France set a record for the number of goals scored at the World Championships: 171 goals. 16 years later the achievement was repeated (but not surpassed) in Brazil. By the way, the 1998 World Cup was remembered for two more things: France - the riots and massacres committed in Marseille by British fans (who have a reputation as the most stupid and aggressive of European fans) after the match England - Tunisia, Russia - the reason for the appearance of the song by the ChaiF group "Argentina" – Jamaica 5:0.” True story, as they say.

As for the actions of one player, the record for scoring in one championship has been held by the Frenchman Juste Fontaine for 60 years (13 goals in Sweden!) A similar achievement in one match belongs to the Russian Oleg Salenko: in 1994, he scored 5 goals in the match Russia - Cameroon. Alas, the victory over the Africans did not help the young Russian team at that time (for it, after all, it was de jure the first championship) even to leave the group.

The same championship was also remembered for the fact that a certain fan from Colombia, upset by the loss of his native team in the USA match... shot his team player Andres Escobar, who scored an own goal and thereby led his squad to defeat and elimination from the group stage. Hot Latin American morals as they are.

But in general, the calm and unremarkable championship of 2006 in Germany was remembered for the fact that in the 1/8 finals match between Portugal and Holland, Russian referee Valentin Ivanov handed out 16 (!) yellow cards and made 4 deletions. This became a new World Championships record - previously there had never been more than three deletions in a World Cup match.

The record for the number of free kicks was set at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico: in the Mexico - Paraguay match, 80 were awarded, of which 46 were awarded to the Mexicans. Once again, the hot Latino guys showed their mettle. By the way, that World Cup was also notable for the fact that it was the first time that the championship was hosted for the second time by one country. True, the reason for this is “not your merit, but our shortcoming”: three years before the World Cup, Colombia, endowed with this right, announced its unwillingness to host it, and Mexico “lent its shoulder.”

Prepared by Ilya Snopchenko / Dialog news agency

More vital information about the 2018 World Cup is in our special section; championship news is collected here.

topdialog.ru

When does the 2018 FIFA World Cup start?

It was previously assumed that the tournament would take place from June 8 to July 8, but in the end it was shifted by a week.

Calendar of games of the 1st round of the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Schedule of matches of the 2nd round of the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Argentina - Croatia - June 21, 2018 - start at 21:00 - arena: Nizhny Novgorod Stadium;

FIFA World Cup 2018, buy tickets

Please keep in mind that only the main customer - the account holder - can pay for the order. If you use a friend’s card, the tickets will be canceled, and 20% of their value will be deducted from the card, or even 100% if there are less than 48 hours left before the match.

Tickets will be delivered to the address you provide within a few weeks before the start of the championship. Ticket delivery will begin no earlier than April/May 2018 (subject to change).

FIFA World Cup 2018 price, fan passport

A fan passport is issued free of charge and is valid for all matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This passport and match ticket will allow fans to travel free of charge in the transport of the host cities of the World Cup on match days. For fans, there is already a single 24-hour hotline for transport issues. The Rospotrebnadzor department also operates a hotline for hotel services for the 2018 FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup 2018 official website

triboona.ru

All the flags are visiting us: the World Cup begins in Russia | Analytics

St. PETERSBURG, June 14 – RIA Novosti, Sergey Yaremenko. The World Cup starts on Thursday; in the opening match, the hosts of the tournament, the Russian national team, will play against the Saudi Arabian team. The meeting will take place in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium, starting at 18:00 Moscow time.

Cities and stadiums

Russia received the right to host the FIFA World Cup on December 2, 2010. In the second round of voting, members of the executive committee of the International Football Federation (FIFA) gave the Russian application 13 votes, while the joint applications of Spain/Portugal and the Netherlands/Belgium received 7 and 2 votes respectively. England, the fourth contender to host the 2018 World Cup, did not receive any votes in the second round.

It was initially assumed that the World Cup would be held in 13 Russian cities, divided into 5 clusters, but the final application, announced in early September 2012, included 11 cities with 12 stadiums. It was decided that the tournament would be hosted by Moscow (Luzhniki and Spartak stadiums), St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Sochi, Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Saransk. The first stadium of the 2018 World Cup to be put into operation was the Kazan Arena, opened in the summer of 2013, the last one was the Samara Arena, which hosted the first test match on April 28, 2018.

Kazan Arena Stadium

In the summer of 2017, Confederations Cup matches were held at the St. Petersburg, Spartak, Kazan Arena and Fisht stadiums in Sochi. The German team won this tournament, which is considered a rehearsal for the World Cup. In the final, the Germans beat the Chilean team with a score of 1:0.

Germany national football team players

twelve plus

The tournament area is not limited to the twelve arenas where the World Cup matches will be held. Many teams chose cities and regions remote from the main World Cup venues as their bases. Kaluga became the base for the Senegal team, the Swiss stopped in Togliatti, the Moroccans chose Voronezh, the Danes - Anapa, the Egyptians - Grozny, the Spaniards - Krasnodar, the Nigerians - Essentuki, and the Icelanders - Gelendzhik. The Moscow region turned out to be the most popular - 10 teams gave preference to it.

Even before the start of the World Cup, many teams held open training sessions. Not only journalists, but also ordinary fans received access to these classes. Almost everywhere, training took place in front of large crowds. More than three thousand spectators watched the training of the Brazilian national team in Sochi; not everyone was able to attend the training of the Argentine national team in Bronnitsy, because there were fewer seats in the stands than there were fans.

Fans at the Bronnitsy sports base, where the Argentina national football team trained

In early June, FIFA reported that almost 2.5 million tickets had been distributed to fans around the world. At the same time, the majority went to the Russians, who purchased more than 870 thousand tickets for the World Cup matches. In second place were fans from the USA - almost 90 thousand tickets, and in third place were Brazilians who bought more than 72.5 thousand tickets.

Tickets for the 2018 World Cup matches

VAR system

The upcoming World Cup should be a breakthrough in terms of football technology. For the first time in history, a video assistant referee (VAR) system will be used at a tournament of this level. A year ago it was tested during the Confederations Cup, and during the completed club season it was used in a number of leading European championships.

Video assistant referee (VAR) control room

The head of the FIFA refereeing department, Massimo Busacca, hopes that the video assistant referee system will help avoid high-profile scandals with controversial decisions of his subordinates.

"We are trying very quickly to implement this system, but it takes time. Yes, there were difficulties during the season. We don’t expect everything to be perfect. For example, no team can be perfect. Don’t think that technology solves everything 100%, because people will interpret it. But I’m sure that we won’t see the scandals of the past,” Busacca told reporters.

Will Salah play?

Several famous football players will be forced to miss the World Cup due to injuries. The Russian national team also suffered, missing defenders Georgy Dzhikia and Viktor Vasin, as well as striker Alexander Kokorin - all of them will miss the home tournament due to ruptured cruciate ligaments.

Alexander Kokorin

One of the veterans of the Brazilian national team, Dani Alves, French defender Laurent Koscielny, Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero, midfielder of the English national team Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a number of other players will not play at the World Cup. The performance of Egypt striker Mohamed Salah remains in question. The top scorer of the completed season of the English Premier League suffered a shoulder injury in the Champions League final and is still working on an individual program.

Egyptian national team player Mohamed Salah

Who's the main favourite?

Of the traditional favorites of the World Cup, the Brazilians were the most successful in the final part of their preparation for the tournament. The team, led by coach Tite, did not concede a single goal in four friendlies in 2018. In March, the five-time world champions beat the Russian national team in Luzhniki (3:0) and defeated the Germans (1:0). In June, the Brazilians defeated Croatia (2:0) and Austria (3:0).

Football. World Cup 2018. Brazil national team training

The winners of the 2010 World Cup, the Spaniards, also carried out a powerful final stretch of preparation for the current world championship. Julen Lopetegui's side beat Argentina 6-1 in March. In June, Spain drew with Switzerland 1:1 and beat Tunisia with a minimal score. However, the day before the start of the World Cup, the leadership of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) dismissed Lopetegui.

Head coach of the Spanish national team Julen Lopetegui during training in Krasnodar

The reason for the dismissal was the coach’s negotiations and the signing of a contract with Real Madrid, which the federation “learned about five minutes before the appointment.” RFEF President Luis Rabiales compared the sudden departure of the coach to the Royal Club with betrayal and said goodbye to Lopetegui without waiting for the end of the World Cup. Fernando Hierro took over the helm of the Spanish national team.

Reigning world champion and Confederations Cup winner Germany, on the other hand, suffered a number of setbacks in recent friendly games. In addition to the defeat from Brazil, the Germans also lost to the Austrians in June. In the last test match before the start of the World Cup, Bundesteam beat Saudi Arabia with a score of 2:1.

Germany national team players

Many experts consider the French team to be the favorites of the starting World Cup. The Blues started 2018 with a 2-3 loss to Colombia but went on to beat Russia (3-1), Ireland (2-0) and Italy (3-1). In the last friendly match, the French tied with the US team (1:1).

France national team player

Very soon, on June 14, 2018, the 2018 FIFA World Cup will start in Russia. For the first time in history, the championship will be held in Eastern Europe. Due to the difficult political situation in the world, the holding of the Championship in Russia almost fell through, but the organizers made a decision in the direction of sports, and not in the direction of politics.

So, 32 teams from different parts of the world will play in a month, until July 15, 2018, 48 matches at 12 stadiums in 11 cities of our country. The following will host the Championship on their territory: Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, St. Petersburg, Saransk, Sochi.

Each of the cities is going to host hundreds of thousands of fans and tourists from other countries of the world and surprise them with their hospitality. Everywhere, in addition to the preparation of stadiums, hotels are being prepared, hostels and even ordinary residents renting out rooms and apartments. Park areas are being put in order, popular recreational areas are being improved, and architectural and cultural monuments are being “washed.”

In St. Petersburg, for example, 33 football cats, painted in the colors of the participating countries, will greet the guests of the Championship; a Championship park has opened in Yekaterinburg; grandiose entertainment will be prepared for the guests in Moscow.

FIFA World Cup schedule - who is playing whom and in which cities

The World Championship starts on June 14 in Moscow - the first match will be played by the national team against Saudi Arabian players. Please note that the teams were divided into 8 groups of 4 teams each by drawing lots.

The World Cup schedule is already known:

The playoffs start on June 30. The quarterfinals will take place on July 6 and 7. The semi-finals will take place on July 10 and 11, and the final and closing of the Championship will take place on July 15, 2018.

FIFA World Cup 2018 - information for fans

As you know, in order to become a Championship fan, it is enough to buy at least one ticket to one of the Championship matches. Subsequently, you need to issue a special card - a Fan Passport. It is a mandatory document that you will present when entering any stadium in any city.

Passports were invented not only to fight fraudsters who distribute fake tickets - the document gives you a lot of privileges. For example, for residents of other countries who have a fan passport, it will serve as a visa to Russia for the duration of the Championship, Therussiantimes.com reports. The passport can also be used as a train ticket between participating cities.

A little more for reference: the symbol of the 2018 Championship is the wolf Zabivaka, the anthem is the song Colors performed by the American singer Jason Derulo. The 2018 World Cup emblem features the silhouette of the FIFA World Cup. Conquest of space, iconography and love of football are three components of the logo, according to a press release from the tournament’s organizing committee.