Russia 2018: FIFA World Cup JUNE 14 - JULY 15 Russia hosts the FIFA World Cup for the first time, but the lowest ranked team in the tournament faces a huge challenge to compete with the world’s top footballing powers RED AMBITION: Russia finished fourth in 1966, as Soviet Union, but Russian Federation team has yet to qualify from group stage Performance by host Group stage 1 2010 2nd round / Last 16: 3 1982, 94, 2002 Quarterfinal: 4 1938, 54, 70, 86 3rd / 4th 5 1962, 90, 2002, 06, 14 Final 2 1950, 58 Winner 6 1930, 34, 66, 74, 78, 98 WINNING FEELING: Victory for Germany would equal Brazil’s five World Cup crowns and be first successive title win since 1962 Brazil Win ratio: 67.3% Tournament wins: 70 Germany 62.3% 66 Italy* 54.2% 45 Argentina 54.5% 42 Spain 49.2% 29 France 47.5% 28 Netherlands* 54.0% 27 England 41.9% 26 *Did not qualify for World Cup 2018 Germany qualified with superlative 10-game winning streak – scoring 43 goals Telstar 2018 Official World Cup match ball Leroy Sane Rising German star, 22, set to shine on world stage after excelling for Manchester City in Premier League Top goalscorers: Poland’s Robert Lewandowski (right) and Mohammad Al-Sahlawi of Saudi Arabia both scored 16 goals in qualifying matches Igor Akinfeev Russia captain and veteran goalkeeper crucial to host nation’s hopes – over 100 caps for his country Venues Kaliningrad Stadium 35,000 Saint Petersburg Stadium, 67,000 Moscow: Luzhniki Stadium Capacity: 80,000 Spartak Stadium 45,000 Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, 45,000 Saransk: Mordovia Arena 44,000 Rostov Arena 45,000 Sochi: Fisht Olympic Stadium 48,000 Kazan Arena 45,000 Samara Arena 45,000 Volgograd Arena 45,000 Yekaterinburg: Ekaterinburg Arena 35,000 Competition schedule 32 teams contest total of 64 matches, played at 12 venues, over four weeks 0 FIFA rank at time of draw June A 65 63 30 17 14 Russia Saudi Arabia Moscow 15 Egypt Uruguay Yekaterinburg 19 Russia Egypt St Petersburg 20 Uruguay Saudi Arabia Rostov 25 Uruguay Russia Samara Saudi Arabia Egypt Volgograd P W D L F A Pts 1234 June B 3 8 48 34 15 Morocco Iran St Petersburg Portugal Spain Sochi 20 Portugal Morocco Moscow Iran Spain Kazan 25 Iran Portugal Saransk Spain Morocco Kaliningrad P W D L F A Pts 1234 June C 7 43 10 19 16 France Australia Kazan Peru Denmark Saransk 21 Denmark Australia Samara France Peru Yekaterinburg 26 Denmark France Moscow Australia Peru Sochi P W D L F A Pts 1234 June D 4 21 18 41 16 Argentina Iceland Moscow Croatia Nigeria Kaliningrad 21 Argentina Croatia Nizhny 22 Nigeria Iceland Volgograd 26 Nigeria Argentina St Petersburg Iceland Croatia Rostov P W D L F A Pts 1234 June E 2 11 22 38 17 Costa Rica Serbia Samara Brazil Switzerland Rostov 22 Brazil Costa Rica St Petersburg Serbia Switzerland Kaliningrad 27 Serbia Brazil Moscow Switzerland Costa Rica Nizhny P W D L F A Pts 1234 June F 1 16 25 62 17 Germany Mexico Moscow 18 Sweden South Korea Nizhny 23 South Korea Mexico Rostov Germany Sweden Sochi 27 Mexico Sweden Yekaterinburg South Korea Germany Kazan P W D L F A Pts 1234 June G 5 49 28 12 18 Belgium Panama Sochi Tunisia England Volgograd 23 Belgium Tunisia Moscow 24 England Panama Nizhny 28 England Belgium Kaliningrad Panama Tunisia Saransk P W D L F A Pts 1234 June H 6 32 13 44 19 Colombia Japan Saransk Poland Senegal Moscow 24 Japan Senegal Yekaterinburg Poland Colombia Kazan 28 Japan Poland Volgograd Senegal Colombia Samara P W D L F A Pts 1234 Top two from each group progress to knockout stage If scores level after 90 minutes, knockout stage matches go into extra-time. Matches remaining level decided on penalties Second stage Quarter-finals June Sochi 30 A1 July 6 Nizhny B2 Kazan 30 C1 D2 July Samara 2 E1 July 6 Kazan F2 Rostov 2 G1 H2 Third-place play-off July 14 St Petersburg Semi-final FINAL Semi-final July 10 St Petersburg July 15 Moscow July 11 Moscow Quarter-finals Second stage July Moscow July 7 Sochi 1 B1 A2 Nizhny 1 D1 C2 St Petersburg July 7 Samara 3 F1 E2 Moscow 3 H1 G2 ROLL CALL OF CHAMPIONS Host nation 1930 Uruguay 4-2 Argentina Uruguay 1934 Italy 2-1 Czechoslovakia Italy 1938 Italy 4-2 Hungary France 1950 Uruguay 2-1 Brazil Brazil 1954 West Germany 3-2 Hungary Switzerland 1958 Brazil 5-2 Sweden Sweden 1962 Brazil 3-1 Czechoslovakia Chile 1966 England 4-2 West Germany England 1970 Brazil 4-1 Italy Mexico 1974 West Germany 2-1 Netherlands West Germany 1978 Argentina 3-1 Netherlands Argentina 1982 Italy 3-1 West Germany Spain 1986 Argentina 3-2 West Germany Mexico 1990 West Germany 1-0 Argentina Italy 1994 Brazil 0-0 (3-2 pens) Italy USA 1998 France 3-0 Brazil France 2002 Brazil 2-0 Germany Korea/Japan 2006 Italy 1-1 (5-3 pens) France Germany 2010 Spain 1-0 Netherlands South Africa 2014 Germany 1-0 Argentina Brazil Luzhniki Stadium Capacity: 80,000 Opened in 1956 as Central Lenin Stadium, flagship stadium of Communist Russia – hosted 1980 Summer Olympics and Champions League final in 2008 Reopened in Nov 2017 after four-year, €350m renovation to expand roof structure, increase capacity and preserve iconic Soviet facade Source: FIFA Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS