According to FIFA, 8.4 million requests have been made for seats at the 2018 FIFA World Cup after two sales phases. The second phase saw a total of 4,905,169 tickets requested, with the majority of those applications coming from Russia. While the top five for requests is rounded out by Germany, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, the percentage of Icelandic people requesting tickets is absurd.
We interrupt your regularly-scheduled workday to bring you an alarming development from Russian agriculture ministry crop farming department head Pyotr Chekmarev, who, at an agriculture event in Moscow, said the World Cup could be overrun by locusts this summer.
No event defines an athlete’s career quite like the World Cup. It’s why people still look at Lionel Messi like he’s got something to prove (he doesn’t) and why the name Chris Wondolowski still brings a tear to the eye of many Americans. The 2014 World Cup made Mario Gotze an international icon, turned James Rodriguez into the hero of Colombians everywhere and earned DeAndre Yedlin a Spurs contract.
It’s a goal every soccer player dreams of scoring. Ball comes in, chest it up into the air and bicycle kick it into the back of the net. But not even Branislav Ivanovic could believe it when he scored his incredible goal for Zenit St. Petersburg against Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday.
Manchester United wrapped up top spot in UEFA Champions League Group A on Tuesday with a 2-1 victory over CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford. Moscow took a shock first half lead before Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford scored in quick succession to restore their side’s advantage for good.
The 2018 World Cup opening match will pit Russia vs. Saudi Arabia on June 14 at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. It’s a matchup of the two worst teams (by FIFA ranking) in the entire tournament. The World Cup opening match in 2018 is going to unequivocally be the worst ever. But it’s not the end of the world.
The World Cup opening match has only been a big deal for the past 13 World Cups (out of 20), with a mixture of previous champions and hosts taking part in the first kickoff. Five of the first seven World Cups began with simultaneous matches.
The World Cup draw was completed this morning at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow with the 32 finalist nations placed into eight groups of four. The 2018 FIFA World Cup will kick off on June 14 at Luzhniki Stadium with a match featuring host-side Russia and Saudi Arabia. We now know the makeup of the entire field for the competition as well as the group stage matches that'll captivate the planet next summer. Here are the full results from the 2018 FIFA World Cup draw.