FIFA 2018 – The 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup, founded in 1930, is opening on the 14th of June in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium with a match between the hosts, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

All eyes across the globe will be on who will win the finals on July 15th.

Like the rest of the world, many of us do not have an inside idea about the facts on FIFA World Cup. There are many ups and downs in the game.

The Downs of FIFA

• Coaches from the teams including Germany, Spain, Mexico and Chile have all forbidden their players from having sex during the tournament. The managers claim sex is a distraction and a waste of the player’s energy.

• The hosting team is currently ranked 70th according to FIFA official ranking.

• The FIFA World Cup 2018 will cost Russia almost $12 billion. The estimated cost rose by $600 million last year.

• Zimbabwe was supposed to make its World Cup debut in Russia, but the FIFA expelled them from the competition because the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) failed to pay former coach José Claudinei a severance fee within the time granted by the FIFA.

• Racism has reared its ugly head time and again during football matches in Russia, including the friendly in March between France and the host country at St Petersburg. To counter it, FIFA had implemented an anti-discrimination monitoring system at the World Cup qualifiers, monitoring all 871 matches and deploying trained observers at 177 of those.

The Ups of FIFA

• Almost 3.2 billion people worldwide, roughly 46% of the world’s population, watches more than one minute of the World Cup, making it “the world’s most widely viewed sporting event.”

•  Essam El-Hadary, who represents Egypt, will be the oldest player to play in the world Cup 2018. The veteran goalkeeper is currently 45 years old.

• 39-year-old Rafael Marquez, who represents Mexico, is the only one from 2002 world cup ready to play World Cup 2018 in Russia. He is one the greatest players which Mexico ever had.

• USD 400 million would be shared between the participants at the 2018 World Cup in the form of prize money. It is an increase of 12 per cent from last year.

• The FIFA World Cup 2018 opener will be played by the two lowest-ranked teams in the tournament—Russia (65) and Saudi Arabia (63) as per the October 2017 FIFA rankings.

These are FIFA 2018 world cup ups and downs –

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So, FIFA World Cup is round the corner and Russia is rolling up the sleeves for welcoming the teams and fans. The 32 competing nations are now updated about their opponents in the group stage of the tournament.

64 matches are slated to be held in 12 stadiums in Russia.

There are five arenas that are already being set up. The name of the stadiums are Spartak Stadium in Moscow, the Fisht stadium in Sochi, the Kazan arena and the Saint Petersburg Stadium. All of these stadiums have lately hosted FIFA Confederation Cup 2017 in June and July of this year. However, the main venue of 2018 FIFA World Cup is Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium where the both the opening match and the final will be held. This is recently reopened and being remodelled to host a friendly match between Russia and Argentina.

Preparations of FIFA World Cup are in full swing at the seven other stadiums too where the stadiums will house scores of visitors from around the world.

The first match:

It will be held between Croatia and Nigeria whose venue Kalinigrad Stadium is 90 percent complete. The metal structure shell of the stadium has been nicely structured and weighs more than 15,000 tonnes. The decoration is underway and seats are being fitted in the stands.

2. The second match:

The second match will be held between Tunisia and England on 18^th June at Volgograd Arena. The pitch is being built anew and the turf was even readied before the winter months. At the entrances of the stadium, coloured windows are being installed, in the stands, seats are being put and protective barriers are being raised around them too.

3. The third match:

This stadium which is likely to host the France and Peru match is called Ekaterinburg Arena. The match will be held on 21^st June and the stadium is 98 percent complete so far. There are new lightening system, multi-media façade are being installed and the cultural heritage is being restored.

4. The fourth match:

The fourth match will be held between Sweden and Korea Republic on 19^th June in the Mordovia Arena stadium which is laying new foundations on the pitch and planting new grass surfaces. The roof, façade and temporary stands of the stadium are being reconstructed too.

5. The fifth match:

It will be held between Brazil and Switzerland on 17^th June in the Rostoz Arena whose roofs, lifts and escalators are being rebuilt. Work is going on the doors as well. The exterior of the stadium is being redeveloped too.

6. The sixth match:

The sixth match will be held on Samara Arena on 17^th June between Costa Rica and Serbia. The roof is being honed and decorations are going on too, mostly in the façade and internal facilities. Work on the pitch is going on too.

FIFA World Cup – So that Russia is all set to host the most extravagant sports event in the world, have you booked your tickets already?

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