The hosts of the World Cup, Russia, will be looking to use their home advantage in their favor for this summer’s tournament. Although certainly not favorites to win the competition, the Russians have been pretty lucky in the draw. Also of significance is the fact that the majority of the squad plays in the Russian Premier League, one of Europe’s better ranked competitions. All things considered, the World Cup hosts should have what it is required to make a big splash on the competition this summer.
– Star players: Fyodor Smolov (Krasnodar), Alexsandr Golovin (CSKA Moscow)
– FootballCoin stars: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow) – 528.00 seasonal points
– Coach: Stanislav Cherchesov
– Group: A
– Group fixtures:
Thu June 14: Russia – Saudi Arabia – Moscow (Luzhniki), 4pm
Tues June 19: Russia – Egypt – (St Petersburg), 7pm
Mon June 25: Uruguay – Russia – (Samara), 3pm
– Prediction: Popular support could see Russia moving past the Group, to the Round of 16. Unlikely to advance forward from here. Still, to qualify from Group A, Russia would need to perform better than either Salah’s Egypt or Cavani’s Uruguay, certainly no simple task.
– Squad:
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Gabulov (Club Brugge), Soslan Dzhanaev (Rubin Kazan), Andrey Lunev (Zenit St Petersburg);
Defenders: Vladimir Granat, Ruslan Kambolov, Fedor Kudryashov (all Rubin Kazan), Ilya Kutepov (Spartak Moscow), Roman Neustadter (Fenerbahce), Konstantin Rausch (Dynamo Moscow), Andrey Semenov (Akhmat Grozny), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit St Petersburg), Mario Fernandes (CSKA Moscow);
Midfielders: Yuri Gazinskiy (Krasnodar), Alexsandr Golovin, Alan Dzagoev (both CSKA Moscow), Aleksandr Erokhin, Yuri Zhirkov, Daler Kuzyaev (all Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Zobnin, Alexsandr Samedov (both Spartak Moscow), Anton Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Aleksandr Tashaev (Dynamo Moscow), Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal);
Forwards: Artem Dzyuba (Arsenal Tula), Aleksey Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Fedor Smolov (Krasnodar), Fedor Chalov (CSKA Moscow)
– World Cup history:
As part of the Soviet Union: Qualified in 1958, 1962, 1966 (Fourth Place), 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990
As Russia: Qualified in 1994, 2002, 2014, 2018 (as hosts)
