FIFA World Cup 2018 was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in late 2010. It was the eleventh time the championships had been held in Europe, the first time they were held in Eastern Europe, and the first time they were held across two continents (Europe and Asia). At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it was the most expensive World Cup ever held until it was surpassed by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
FIFA World Cup 2018 Awards
| Champions | Runners- Up | Third Place | Fourth Place | Fair play award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Ball | Silver Ball | Bronze Ball |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Boot | Silver Boot | Bronze Boot |
|---|---|---|
(6 goals, 0 assists) | (4 goals, 2 assists) | (4 goals, 1 assist) |
| Golden Glove | Best Young Player Award | Goal of the Tournament |
|---|---|---|
FIFA World Cup 2018 Summary
The tournament phase involved 32 teams, of which 31 came through qualifying competitions, while the host nation Russia qualified automatically. Of the 32, 20 had also appeared in the 2014 event, while Iceland and Panama each made their debut at the World Cup. 64 matches were played in 12 venues across 11 cities. Germany, the defending champions, were eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1938. 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 and becoming the fourth consecutive title won by a European team, after Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010, and Germany in 2014.
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 best performance. It has been estimated that more than 3 million people attended games during the tournament.
FIFA World Cup 2018 Draw
The draw was held on 1 December 2017 at 18:00 MSK at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow. 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 entirely 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. 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.
| POT 1 | POT 2 | POT 3 | POT 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Ranking | Country | Ranking | Country | Ranking | Country | Ranking |
FIFA World Cup 2018 Group Stage
Group A
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1 (Qualified) 3 3 0 0 5 0 +5 9
2 (Qualifed) 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6
3 3 1 0 2 2 7 −5 3
4 3 0 0 3 2 6 −4 0
Group B
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1 (Qulaified) 3 1 2 0 6 5 +1 5
2 (Qualified) 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1 5
3 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
4 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1
Group C
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1 (Qualified) 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7
2 (Qualified) 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 5
3 3 1 0 2 2 2 0 3
4 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Group D
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1 (Qualified) 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9
2 (Qualified) 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4
3 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1 3
4 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Group E
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1 (Qualified) 3 2 1 0 5 1 +4 7
2 (Qualified) 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1 5
3 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
4 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Group F
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1 (Qualified) 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6
2 (Qualified) 3 2 0 1 3 4 −1 6
3 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
4 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
Group G
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1 (Qualified) 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 9
2 (Qualified) 3 2 0 1 8 3 +5 6
3 3 1 0 2 5 8 −3 3
4 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9 0
Group H
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
1 (Qualified) 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6
2 (Qualified) 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
3 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
4 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 3
Notes: Fair play points: Japan −4, Senegal −6.
FIFA World Cup 2018 Knockout stage
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. 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. Below is the bracket for the knockout round of the tournament, teams in bold denote match winners.
FIFA World Cup 2018 Round of 16 matches
Date Team 1 Result Team 2
30 June 2018 4–3
30 June 2018 2–1
1 July 2018 1–1 (a.e.t.)
3–4 (penalties)
1 July 2018 1–1 (a.e.t.)
3–2 (penalties)
2 July 2018 2–0
2 July 2018 3–2
3 July 2018 1–0
3 July 2018 1–1 (a.e.t.)
3–4 (penalties)
FIFA World Cup 2018 Quarter Final matches
| Date | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 July 2018 | 0–2 | ||
| 6 July 2018 | 1–2 | ||
| 7 July 2018 | 0–2 | ||
| 7 July 2018 | 2–2 (a.e.t.) 3–4 (penalties) |
FIFA World Cup 2018 Semi Finals
10 July 2018 21:00 MSK (UTC+3), Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg
| 1–0 | ||
| Samuel Umtiti |
11 July 2018 21:00 MSK (UTC+3), Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
| 2–1 (a.e.t.) | ||
| Ivan Perišić Mandžukić | K. Trippier |
FIFA World Cup 2018 Third place play-off
14 July 2018 17:00 MSK (UTC+3), Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg
| 2–0 | ||
| Thomas Meunier E. Hazard |
FIFA World Cup 2018 Final match
15 July 2018 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
| 4–2 | ||
| Mandžukić Griezmann Pogba Mbappé | Ivan Perišić Mandžukić |
FIFA World Cup 2018 Top Goal Scorer List
Rank Player Name Country Games Played Goals
1 England 6 6
2 Belgium 6 4
3 France 7 4
4 Portugal 4 4
5 Russia 5 4
6 France 7 4
7 Belgium 6 3
8 Uruguay 4 3
9 Croatia 6 3
10 Croatia 7 3
11 Russia 5 3
12 Spain 4 3
13 Colombia 3 3
14 Egypt 2 2
15 England 7 2
16 Brazil 5 2
17 Uruguay 5 2
18 Argentina 4 2
19 Australia 3 2
20 Brazil 5 2
FIFA World Cup 2018 Top Assist Provider List
Rank Player Name Country Match Played Assist
1 France 7 2
2 Belgium 6 2
3 Brazil 5 2
4 Argentina 3 2
5 Argentina 4 2
6 Colombia 4 2
7 Colombia 3 2
8 Belgium 6 2
9 France 7 2
10 Russia 5 2
11 France 7 2
12 Belgium 5 2
13 Sweden 5 2
14 Tunisia 3 2
15 Belgium 4 2
16 Russia 4 2
17 Uruguay 3 2
18 Belgium 6 1
19 Nigeria 3 1
20 Nigeria 2 1
FIFA World Cup 2018 Dream Team
The users of FIFA.com elected their Fan Dream Team.
| Position | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Belgium | |
| Defender | Brazil | |
| Defender | Brazil | |
| Defender | France | |
| Defender | Uruguay | |
| Midfielder | Belgium | |
| Midfielder | Brazil | |
| Midfielder | Croatia | |
| Forward | England | |
| Forward | France | |
| Forward | Portugal |
FIFA World Cup 2018 All-Star Team
FIFA published an All-Star Team, this year called the Fantasy Team, based on player performances evaluated through statistical data.
| Position | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Belgium | |
| Defender | Sweden | |
| Defender | Brazil | |
| Defender | France | |
| Defender | Colombia | |
| Midfielder | Russia | |
| Midfielder | Brazil | |
| Midfielder | Croatia | |
| Forward | England | |
| Forward | France | |
| Forward | Belgium |
FIFA World Cup 2018 Red Card List
FIFA World Cup 2018 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. Zimbabwe and Indonesia were later disqualified before playing their first matches, 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. Places in the tournament were allocated to continental confederations, with the allocation unchanged from the 2014 World Cup. The first qualification game, between Timor-Leste and Mongolia, began in Dili on 12 March 2015 as part of the AFC’s qualification, and the main qualifying draw took place at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, on 25 July 2015.
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. 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; Senegal, competing for the second time after reaching the quarter-finals in 2002. Poland, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Sweden have also returned after 12 years. 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.
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, had qualified for the last three World Cups, and failed to qualify for their second major tournament in a row, missing out on the UEFA Euro 2016 as well. 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. 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.
AFC(5 team): Asian Football Confederation
CAF (5 team): Confederation of African Football
CONCACAF (3 team): Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football
CONMEBOL (5 team): South American Football Confederation
OFC (0 team): Oceania Football Confederation- None qualified
UEFA (14 team): Union of European Football Associations
AFC
Country | RankingCAF
Country | RankingCONCACAF
Country | RankingCONMEBOL
Country | RankingUEFA
Country | Ranking
FIFA World Cup 2018 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.
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. Brazilian World Cup-winning striker Ronaldo entered the stadium with a child in a Russia jersey. Pop singer Robbie Williams then sang two of his songs solo before he and Russian soprano Aida Garifullina performed a duet. Dancers dressed in the flags of the 32 competing teams appeared carrying a sign with the name of each nation. At the end of the ceremony Ronaldo reappeared with the official match ball which had returned from the International Space Station in early June.
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.
FIFA World Cup 2018 Venue List
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 twelve stadiums were built (some in place of older, outdated venues) and the other three were renovated for the tournament.
| Stadium | City | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Luzhniki Stadium | Moscow | 78,011 |
| Saint Petersburg Stadium | Saint Petersburg | 64,468 |
| Fisht Stadium | Sochi | 44,287 |
| Spartak Stadium | Moscow | 44,190 |
| Volgograd Arena | Volgograd | 43,713 |
| Rostov Arena | Rostov-on-Don | 43,472 |
| Nizhny Novgorod Stadium | Nizhny Novgorod | 43,319 |
| Kazan Arena | Kazan | 42,873 |
| Samara Arena | Samara | 41,970 |
| Mordovia Arena | Saransk | 41,685 |
| Kaliningrad Stadium | Kaliningrad | 33,973 |
| Ekaterinburg Arena | Yekaterinburg | 33,061 |
FIFA World Cup 2018 Budget
At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion as of June 2018, 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.
The Russian government had originally earmarked a budget of around $20 billion, which was later slashed to $10 billion, for World Cup preparations. Half was spent on transportation infrastructure. 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. The biggest item of federal spending was the aviation infrastructure costing ₽117.8 billion. Construction of new hotels was a crucial area of infrastructure development in World Cup host cities. Costs continued to mount as preparations were underway.
FIFA World Cup 2018 Symbols
Mascot
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 1 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”.
Match ball
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. 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”.
Goalkeepers noted that the ball was slippery and prone to having unpredictable trajectory. 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.
Music
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.
FIFA World Cup 2018 Discipline
In total, only four players were sent off in the entire tournament, the fewest since 1978. 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.
A player is automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:
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).
FIFA World Cup 2018 Sponsorship
FIFA partners FIFA World Cup sponsors African supporters Asian supporters European supporters
FIFA partners FIFA World Cup sponsors African supporters Asian supporters European supporters
Adidas Anheuser-Busch InBev Egypt – Experience & Invest Diking Alfa-Bank
Coca-Cola Hisense Luci Alrosa
Gazprom McDonald's Yadea Rostelecom
Hyundai–Kia Mengniu Dairy Russian Railways
Qatar Airways Vivo
Visa
Wanda Group
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