FIFA World Cup Gets On The Way in Russia

Russia 2018 World Cup

Following an opening ceremony at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. Russia would be kicking off the mundial with their first game against Saudi Arabia as the 2018 FIFA World Cup gets on the way.

Naija News understands that Germany, the reigning champion would be slogging it out with 32 other countries in the world football show piece that world entails a total of 62 matches.

12 stadiums, across 11 cities, would host the 21st edition of the competition which would spread over 1,800 miles.

The winners in 1966, England are the only team from the home nations to qualify and would face Tunisia on June 18.

While Brazil intends to extend its record sixth world title, Germany is looking to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since 1962, after it beat Argentina in 2014 final.

An estimated three billion viewers are watch the the competition world wide, while half a million fans are to visit Russia to support their teams.

While the final of the showpiece takes place at the 81,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium on July 15 (16:00 BST). 8 teams would be advancing to the quarterfinals with four teams in 8 groups.

The eight top teams in the competition include reigning champion Germany, five-time winners Brazil, Euro 2016 winners Portugal, 2014 runners-up Argentina, Belgium, Poland and 1998 winners France are among the eight seeded teams.

The host of the competition, Russia are ranked as the tournament’s lowest-placed team – 70th – in FIFA’s world rankings.

According to the Nation, Germany has reached at least the semi-finals in each of the past four editions of the competition and after being the only team to progress through European qualifying matches with a 100 percent record, are expected to be in the shake-up again. They are in Group F with Mexico, Sweden and South Korea.

“Germany will be hunted like never before,” said head coach Joachim Low. “Only we, as world champions, have anything to lose.”

Record has it that Brazil is the only nation to have participated at every single World Cup competition but they have not won the tournament since 2002, while you have to go back to 1958 to the last time they won it on European soil.

Spain features several Champions League winners from Real Madrid in their squad as they look to recapture the magic that saw them crowned world champions eight years ago and European champions in 2008 and 2012.