The
anxious wait for the 2018 FIFA World Cup is finally over as the tournament
kicks off today at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. The 32 teams for the
competition have all arrived and the first match of this year’s
most-anticipated tournament kicks off at 4pm (Nigerian time) between hosts
Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The
competition ends on July 15.
Five
countries from the Asian Confederation, five from Africa, five from the South
America, three from the North America and 14 from Europe will contest for the
title in Russia.
When
the Russians launched their bid to host the World Cup for the first time, they
were on a high after reaching the semi-finals at the 2008 European
Championship. Fortunes have changed for Russian football and though not one of
the favourites, the world’s focus is on the Eastern European country to deliver
the best-ever football spectacle in the next one month.
With
12 stadiums across 11 Russian cities to host the 64 matches, fans across the
world will witness one of the biggest tournaments in the history of the World
Cup as the 736 players do battle for the world’s most-coveted football honour.
The
host cities are Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Sochi, Kaliningrad, Nizhny
Novgorod, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Ekaterinburg and Saransk.
Before
Russia, European countries have hosted the most World Cup tournaments. They
have hosted the world 11 times while South America has hosted the competition
five times. Africa and Asia have only hosted once each, while North American
countries have hosted twice.
Of
all the continents, most winners of previous editions of the World Cup have
come from Europe (11), while countries from South America have won it nine
times. In all, eight countries have won the past 20 editions of the World Cup.
Record
winners Brazil, who have won five tournaments, are seeking to further extend
their dominance on the world scene while defending champions Germany are also
in the race to add a fifth title to the four they already have. The German
Machines are seeking to equal the number of titles already won by Brazil –
five.
Outside
the two, other past winners like Uruguay and Argentina, who have won it twice
each, and France, Spain and England, who have won it once, would also be hoping
to add to their titles in Russia. But an interesting fact about the competition
is that every World Cup winning country has been coached by their countrymen –
no foreign coach has won the tournament for another country.
Apart
from the past winners, Russia 2018 is witnessing the debut of two countries –
Iceland and Panama. The tournament is also witnessing the return to the
tournament of long-term absentees like Peru, Egypt, Morocco and Senegal.
It
the first time the football’s showpiece event is taking place in Eastern
Europe, as well as the first time the Video Assistant Referee would be used at
a World Cup following its trial, and controversial acceptance by some of the
world’s major football leagues.
At
Russia 2018, Egypt’s 45-year-old goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary will become the oldest
player to feature at the World Cup, if he plays in their opening match against
Uruguay on Friday. He takes over from Colombia’s Faryd Mondragon, who played
against Japan in their 4-1 win at the Brazil 2014 World Cup at 43 years.
Mexico’s Rafael Marquez is the oldest outfield player – he is 39-years-old. The
youngest player at the tournament will be Australia’s Daniel Arzani. He is the
only player who was born in 1999 or later.
Nigeria
will be parading the youngest team at the tournament with an average age of
25.9 years. However, there are seven teenagers at the 2018 World Cup:
KylianMbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold, AchrafHakimi, Francis Uzoho, Jose Luis
Rodriguez, MoussaWague and Arzani. The Panama and Costa Rican teams however
have the oldest players with an average age of 29.6 years.
England
boast of the only home-based squad in Russia. The hosts are close to the Three
Lions as they have 21 of their 23 players who play club football in Russia,
while Saudi Arabia and Spain are not far behind. Nigeria, Belgium, Switzerland
and Iceland have just one player each playing in their domestic leagues while
Sweden and Senegal have no home-based players in their squads.
Football
clubs from England account for 124 of the 736 players in Russia while clubs
from Spain have 81. German clubs have 67 players at the World Cup while 58 of
the players in Russia ply their trades in Italy and 49 do business in France.
The biggest surprise is the Saudi Arabian league, whose league boasts 30
players at the competition.
However,
none of the players from Costa Rica, Iran, Panama, Russia, Saudi Arabia and
Uruguay play league football in England.
Top
stars
Every
four years, the World Cup is always home to the game’s mega and superstars;
Russia isn’t different. In terms of financial rating, Brazilian Neymar is the
most expensive player at the 2018 World Cup. Clubs have paid a combined €310m (U$366m) to sign the PSG forward so
far.
KylianMbappe
(France, $213m), Angel Di Maria (Argentina, $211m), Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina,
$167m), James Rodriguez (Colombia, $165m), RomeluLukaku (Belgium, $163m),
Philippe Coutinho (Brazil, $161m), OusmaneDembele (France, $154m), Luis Suarez
(Uruguay, $137m) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, $133m) complete the top 10
richest stars in Russia.
African
teams
Making
their sixth appearance in the 2018 tournament, some argue that Nigeria’s Super
Eagles are arguably Africa’s best chance of winning a World Cup ouf of the five
sides presented by the continet — they come into the tournament as one the toughest
sides in it and can be considered the dark horses.
Led
by experienced captain John Obi Mikel, the Eagles will be banking on their
seasoned players — who play their football abroad among the elite teams in
Europe to break their quarter-final jinx in five previous appearances. The
Eagles haven’t reached the last eight since their debut in 1994.
The
Egyptians are playing in the World Cup for the first time in 28 years and will
be buoyed by the fact that the mercurial Mohammed Salah will be fit to play,
after he suffered a shoulder injury in the 2018 Uefa Champions League Final in
May.
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The
Pharaohs come into the tournament as the most successful African nation in
terms of continental titles, winning a record of seven African Cup of Nations
trophies.
Senegal’s
Lions of Teranga are playing in the World Cup for only the second time, but
will forever be remembered for their 2002 heroics — when they eliminated
then-defending champions France and made it all the way to the quarter-finals.
This
Senegalese team are an unpredictable side, spurred on by their Liverpool
talisman Sadio Mane.
For
Morocco, it’s the fifth time the Lions of the Atlas have made the tournament
and will be led by two-time AFCON winning coach HervéRenard.
Tunisia’s
Eagles of Carthage head into the 2018 World Cup as the highest-ranked African
side (41) after an impressive 2017 — and their momentum is likely to continue
into the tournament.
They
are making their fifth appearance — but their first since 2006. Coach Nabil
Maaloul, who is in his third spell as Tunisia coach, has built a solid,
spirited team worthy of going all the way.
Economic
impact
The
cost of hosting the FIFA World Cup in Russia will reportedly exceed $14
billion, making it the most expensive football competition in history.
It’s
the first time Russia will host the World Cup, and the country’s former Deputy
Prime Minister ArkadyDvorkovich estimated that preparations for the
championship had contributed $14bn, or around one per cent, to Russia’s GDP
over the last five years.
Altogether,
Russia will spend 883bn rubles ($14.2bn) to host the World Cup, several billion
more than the official cost of 683bn rubles ($11bn), according to calculations
by the RBC business portal.
Transport
infrastructure ($6.11bn), stadium construction ($3.45bn) and accommodation
($680m) are the biggest line items.
Over
half of official World Cup-related costs fall on the federal budget. Since
Russia won the hosting bid in 2010, the official budget for the tournament has
been amended 12 times.
Analysts
surveyed by RBC forecast that any economic growth from the World Cup would
quickly dissipate, despite the influx of government spending.
“We
spent a lot of money and we need to make sure that all this infrastructure
works first and foremost for the development of sport,” President Vladimir
Putin said at an annual call-in show on Thursday.
Tourism
Eleven
cities, namely Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny
Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg and Sochi, will host
the championship’s matches, and the hosts are hoping that the 2018 FIFA World
Cup will have a long-term positive effect on Russia’s tourism industry and may
even positively influence the Russian economy.
More
than 1.5 million foreign tourists are expected to visit Russia during the World
Cup, the head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, Oleg Safonov, said.
“We
believe that about 1.5 million people will visit us. The figure may be even
revised upward,” he said.
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