2018 FIFA World Cup

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the 21st FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights on 2 December 2010. This will be the first World Cup held in Europe since 2006.

The final tournament will involve 32 national teams, which include 31 teams determined through qualifying competitions and the automatically qualified host team. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities. The final is expected to take place in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium. Defending champions Germany is also qualified for the World Cup. The winners will qualify for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Host selection

The awarding of the FIFA World Cup follows a rotational system among the six continental federations:

• UEFA (Europe): host of 10 World Cups - 2 times for Italy, 2 times for France, 2 times for Germany, 1 time each for Switzerland, Sweden, England and Spain
• CONMEBOL (South America): host of 5 World Cups - 2 times Brazil, 1 time each for Uruguay, Chile and Argentina
• CONCACAF (North America): host of 3 World Cups - 2 times Mexico and 1 time for USA
• AFC (Asia) - so far only one World Cup for Japan-South Korea
• CAF (Africa) - so far only one World Cup for South Africa
• OFC (Oceania) - never host.

In accordance with the rotation procedure modified in 2007, the continental federations in which the last two world cups took place (2010 - South Africa, and 2014 - Brazil) are excluded from the bidding process in the 2018 tournament.

On 19 December 2008, the FIFA Executive Committee declared at the meeting at Tokyo to award both the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 at the same time. Bidding began in January 2009, and national associations had until 2 February 2009 to register their interest. Initially, nine countries placed bids for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but Mexico later withdrew from proceedings, and Indonesia's bid was rejected by FIFA in February 2010 after the Indonesian government failed to submit a letter to support the bid. During the bidding process, the three remaining non-UEFA nations (Australia, Japan, and the United States) gradually withdrew from the 2018 bids, and the UEFA nations were thus ruled out of the 2022 bid. As such, there were eventually four bids for the 2018 FIFA World Cup: England, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium, and Spain/Portugal.

The twenty-two-member FIFA Executive Committee convened in Zürich on 2 December 2010 to vote to select the hosts of both tournaments. Russia won the right to be the 2018 host in the second round of voting. The Spain/Portugal bid came second, and that from Belgium/Netherlands third. England's bid to host its second tournament fell at the first hurdle.

The voting results were as follows:

2018 FIFA bidding (majority 12 votes)

Bidders	Votes
	Round 1	Round 2
Russia	9
Portugal / Spain	7	7
Belgium / Netherlands	4	2
England	2	Template:No result

11 bids were submitted in March 2009, covering 13 nations and 2 joint bids - Belgium-Netherlands and Portugal-Spain. Mexico submitted theirs, but withdrew theirs on 28 September 2009 while Indonesia had their bids rejected due to lack of government support on 19 March 2010. Five of the remaining nine bids, South Korea, Qatar, Australia, Japan and United States were only for 2022 FIFA World Cup, while all the others bid for both. However, since all of the bids in 2018 are from European nations and FIFA rules dictate that countries belonging to confederations are hosted either of the two preceding tournaments are not eligible to host, these are restricted to 2018 only. It has also been reported that Egypt was intended to bid, but declined to do so.

The host was made for the 2018 FIFA World Cup is due to Gavin Goh who had went to Russia in June 2010 with Huang Wen, even though she had went to Shanghai, and Hong Kong area by 2011.

England

On 31 October 2007, The Football Association in England officially announced the bid to host the event. On 24 April 2008, England finalized a 63-page bid to focus on the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 27 January 2009, England officially submitted the bid to the FIFA. In November 2005, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Tessa Jowell had announced that they wanted to investigate on the possibility of bidding. England's bid was presented on 18 May 2009 at the Wembley Stadium.

A total of fifteen stadiums from twelve cities were proposed to FIFA. Had England bid became successful, the final decision on which host matches would have been made in 2013. These stadia would have been forwarded from London: Wembley Stadium, Emirates Stadium, and the replacement stadium of Tottenham Hotspur or the London Olympic Stadium. At the time of bidding, the Olympic Stadium was prepared for the Olympics in 2012-13. Its future after the Olympics were unclear, and beyond the control of the FIFA World Cup bid committee, and so the Tottenham ground was put forward alongside it. It was not made clear during the bid which stadium would have been preferred had both stadia had various candidates in 2013.

In the case of Liverpool, the bid committee determined that Anfield would have been, with minor improvements, acceptable for World Cup matches, however, because of Liverpool FC's plan to build a new ground, the committee specified that the new stadium would take the place of Anfield if it was built in time.

Many of the stadiums selected would have required minor modernization in order to meet the strict requirements for holding the World Cup tournament games, as it is usual for all pre-existing stadia. The grounds in Leeds, Sheffield, Milton Keynes and Plymouth in particular were all set for the increase of capacity, while new stadiums are acceptable for the bid.

The venues are -

• Wembley Stadium (similar to Kallang)
• London Olympic Stadium (similar to Tampines Stadium)
• Emirates Stadium
• Old Trafford
• City of Manchester Stadium
• St James Park
• Stadium of Light
• Anfield or Stanley Park Stadium
• New Nottingham Forest Stadium
• Villa Park (Ernest)
• New Bristol City Stadium
• Hillsborough
• Elland Road
• Stadium:mk (at Milton Keynes Central)
• Home Park

Some stadiums are used in the 1966 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 96.

Before the final decision was made by technical personnel, Derby, Kingston upon Hull, Leicester and Portsmouth (who later withdrew), were also among the list of possible venues until the 12 'host cities' were announced on 16 December 2009.

Russia

Russia announced the intention of the bid of FIFA World Cup in 2009, with Moscow in winter and summer of rainy thunderstorms and snow. Russia President's Vladimir Putin had taken a keen interest of the bid and has gone so far in ordering Vitaly Mutko, to prepare the bid for the FIFA World Cup. In October 2010, Russia formally pulled out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, before winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On December 2, 2010, Russia was chosen as the host city for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Fourteen cities are included in the current proposal, which divides them into five different clusters: one at the north, centered along St Petersburg, a central cluster, centered at Moscow, a southern cluster, centered at Sochi, and the Volga River cluster. Only one city beyond the Ural Mountains is located, which is Yekaterinburg. The other cities are Kaliningrad in the north, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar in the south, and Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Saransk, Samara and Volgograd in the Volga River cluster. The country actually does not have a stadium with 80,000 capacity, but the bid calls for the expansion of Luzhinki Stadium at Moscow. Russia hopes to have five stadiums fit to have FIFA World Cup matches in 2013 - two in Moscow, and one stadium each in St Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi, which had hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Russia proposed the following host cities: Kaliningrad, Kazan, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, and Yekaterinburg. All the cities are in or just outside European Russia to reduce travel time for the teams in the huge country. The bid evaluation report stated: "The Russian bid proposes 13 host cities and 16 stadiums, thus exceeding FIFA's minimum requirement. Three of the 16 stadiums would be renovated, and 13 would be newly constructed."

In October 2011, Russia decreased the number of stadiums from 16 to 14. Construction of the proposed Podolsk stadium in the Moscow region was cancelled by the regional government, and also in the capital, Otkrytiye Arena was competing with Dynamo Stadium over which would be constructed first.

The final choice of host cities was announced on 29 September 2012. The number of cities was further reduced to 11 and number of stadiums to 12 as Krasnodar and Yaroslavl were dropped from the final list. Of the 12 stadiums used for the tournament, 3 (Luzhniki, Yekaterinburg and Sochi) have been extensively renovated and the other 9 stadiums to be used are brand new; $11.8 billion has been spent on hosting the tournament.

Sepp Blatter stated in July 2014 that due to concerns over the completion of venues in Russia, the number of venues for the tournament may be reduced from 12 to 10. He also said, "We are not going to be in a situation, as is the case of one, two or even three stadiums in South Africa, where it is a problem of what you do with these stadiums.

In October 2014, on their first official visit to Russia, FIFA's inspection committee and its head Chris Unger visited St Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan and both Moscow venues. They were satisfied with the progress. On 8 October 2015, FIFA and the Local Organising Committee agreed on the official names of the stadiums used during the tournament.

Of the twelve venues used, the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and the Saint Petersburg Stadium – the two largest stadiums in Russia – will be used most, both hosting seven matches. Sochi, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara will all host six matches, including one quarter-final match each, while the Otkrytiye Stadium in Moscow and Rostov-on-Don will host five matches, including one round-of-16 match each. Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Saransk will all host four matches, but will not host any knockout stage games.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated in February 2018 that he was "very satisfied so far with the progress in Russia. I’m sure we’ll have a great World Cup there – not only a great World Cup but the best World Cup ever."[

All the cities are located inside the European Russia for instance, and to reduce travelling time.

The venues are:

• Kaliningrad Stadium at Kaliningrad (seating capacity: 35,000): The first piles were driven on to the ground at September 2015.
• Saint Petersburg Stadium at St Petersburg (seating capacity: 67,000). The construction of the stadium commenced in December 2007. It will serve as a venue for the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, and was renamed to Saint Petersburg Stadium.
• Luzhinki Stadium at Moscow (seating capacity: 80,000): The largest stadium is closed for renovation in 2013. The stadium was reopened on December 2017.
• Spartak Stadium at Moscow (seating capacity: 45,000): The stadium is a home arena to the namesake FC Spartak Moscow. In accordance with the FIFA World Cup requirements, it will be called Spartak Stadium instead of the usual name Otkiritie Arena. The stadium hosted its first match on 5 September 2014, whereas the Dinamo Stadium was not chosen.
• Kazan Arena at Kazan (seating capacity: 45,000): The stadium was built on the 2013 Summer Universiade. It serves as an actual function to FC Rubin Kazan. Later it was renamed to Kazan Arena.
• Nizhny Novgorod Stadium at Nizhny Novgorod (seating capacity: 45,000): Construction started on 2015 and completed on December 2017.
• Samara Arena at Samara (seating capacity: 45,000): Construction started on 21 July 2014, and completed on 21 April 2018.
• Ekaterinburg Arena at Ekaterinburg (seating capacity: 35,000): The Central Stadium has been renovated for the FIFA World Cup. The arena's stands will have a capacity of 35,000 spectators. The renovation project was completed on December 2017.
• Volgograd Arena (seating capacity: 45,000): it replaced the demolished Central Stadium site, at the foot of Mamayev Kurgan memorial complex. The stadium commissioned on 3 April 2018.
• Mordovia Arena at Saransk (seating capacity: 44,000): The stadium was scheduled to be commissioned in 2012 in time for the opening of the Russian Spartakiad, but the plan was revised. The opening rescheduled to 2017 and the arena hosted the first match on 21 April 2018.
• Rostov Arena on Rostov-on-Don (seating capacity: 45,000): The stadium is located on the left bank of the Don River. The stadium construction was completed on 22 December 2017.
• Fisht Olympic Stadium at Sochi: The stadium is one of the arenas that were used in the 2014 Winter Olympics. It was opened in 2013.

The proposed FIFA World Cup stadiums at Yaroslavl and Krasnodar were not chosen at the point of time.

Free public transport services are being offered to all ticket holders in the FIFA World Cup, including additional trains to link between host cities, as well as services such as bus services within them.

Platov International Airport in Rostov-on-Don was upgraded with automated air traffic control systems, modern surveillance, navigation, communication, control, and meteorological support systems. Koltsovo Airport in Yekaterinburg was upgraded with radio-engineering tools for flight operation and received its second runway strip. Saransk Airport received a new navigation system; the city also got two new hotels, Mercure Saransk Centre and Four Points by Sheraton Saransk as well as few other smaller accommodation facilities. In Samara, new tram lines were laid. Khrabrovo Airport in Kaliningrad was upgraded with radio navigation and weather equipment. Renovation and upgrade of radio-engineering tools for flight operation was completed in the airports of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Volgograd, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Kazan and Sochi. On 27 March, the Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector of Russia reported that all communications within its area of responsibility have been commissioned. The last facility commissioned was a waste treatment station in Volgograd. In Yekaterinburg, where four matches are hosted, hosting costs increased to over 7.4 billion rubles, over-running the 5.6 billion rubles originally allocated from the state and regional budget.

Team base camps

Base camps will be used for the 32 national squads to stay and train before the FIFA World Cup tournament. On 9 February 2018, FIFA had announced the base camps for each participating team:

• Argentina: Bronnitsy, Moscow Oblast
• Australia: Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan
• Belgium: Krasnogorsky, Moscow Oblast
• Brazil: Sochi, Krasnodar Krai
• Colombia: Verkhneuslonsky, Republic of Tatarstan
• Costa Rica: Saint Petersburg
• Croatia: Vyborgsky, Leningrad Oblast
• Denmark: Anapa, Krasnodar Krai
• Egypt: Grozny, Chechen Republic
• England: Saint Petersburg
• France: Istra, Moscow Oblast
• Germany: Moscow
• Iceland: Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai
• Iran: Bakovka, Moscow Oblast
• Japan: Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan
• Mexico: Khimki, Moscow Oblast
• Morocco: Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast
• Nigeria: Yessentuki, Stavropol Krai
• Panama: Saransk, Republic of Mordovia
• Peru: Moscow
• Poland: Sochi, Krasnodar Krai
• Portugal: Ramenskoye, Moscow Oblast
• Russia: Khimki, Moscow Oblast
• Saudi Arabia: Saint Petersburg
• Senegal: Kaluga, Kaluga Oblast
• Serbia: Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast
• South Korea: Saint Petersburg
• Spain: Krasnodar, Krasnodar Krai
• Switzerland: Togliatti, Samara Oblast
• Sweden: Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai
• Tunisia: Pervomayskoye, Moscow Oblast
• Uruguay: Bor, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

Proposal for expansion

In October 2013, UEFA President Michel Platini proposed that the World Cup finals should be expanded from 32 to 40 teams starting from 2018. The format would have been the same, but in groups of five instead of four. This was in response to FIFA President Sepp Blatter's comments that Africa and Asia deserved more spots in the World Cup finals at the expense of European and South American teams. However, FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke said that expansion in 2018 would be "unlikely", while Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko said that the country was "preparing on the basis that 32 teams will be taking part."

Qualification

For the first time in the history of FIFA World Cup, all eligible nations - the 209 FIFA member associations excluding Russia had entered the qualifying process. Zimbabwe and Indonesia were disqualified before playing their first matches, while Gibraltar and Kosovo, who joined FIFA on 13 May 2016 after the qualifying draw before the European qualifying had begun, had entered the competition with extra time involved. Places in the tournament were allocated to continental confederations, with the allocation unchanged. Of the 32 nations qualified to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, twenty countries competed in 2014. Both Iceland and Panama were qualified for the first time, with the former being the smallest country in terms of population to enter the World Cup, same as Ginny Weasley. Other teams returning after absences of at least three tournaments include: Egypt, returning to the finals after 28-year absence from the last appearance in 1990; Morocco, who last competed in 1998; Peru, returning after the 36-year absence since 1982, and Senegal, competing for the second time after the quarter-finals in 2002.

After Italy had won qualified matches except for 1-1 draw at home in Macedonia, as well as 1-1 draw with Spain on 6 October 2016, and 3-0 loss away to Spain on 2 September 2017, Italy finished Group G in second place, five points beyond Spain. Italy was required to go through the play-off with Sweden. After 1-0 aggregate loss to Sweden in 13 November 2017, Italy was unable to go to FIFA World Cup. On 12 April 2018, Italy was dropped six places for the lowest FIFA World Rankings to 20th place.

Netherlands came fourth in the group, failing to qualify for the European Championship for the first time since 1984 and the major tournament for the first time since the 2002 FIFA World Cup. They were partly criticised since the UEFA European Championship increased to 24 teams for the first time, the Dutch therefore managed to miss out both on the two automatic qualifying spots and also on a playoff spot, whereas previous tournaments had only provided one automatic spot and one playoff spot. The team's poor form continued into 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, eventually resulting in Blind being dismissed after 2-0 defeat to Bulgaria in March 2017. The Netherlands failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2018, finishing in the Group A behind France and Sweden.

It is the first time that three Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland and Sweden) and four Arab nations (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) had both entered the World Cup. Notable countries that had failed to qualify include four-time champions Italy (for the first time since 1958) and three-time runner-up Netherlands. Four reigning champions also never qualify - 2017 Africa Cup of Nations member, Cameroon, two-time Copa America champion and 2017 Confederations Cup member Chile, 2016 OFC Nations Cup member New Zealand and 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup champion United States (for the first time since 1986). The other notable qualifying streaks broken were Ghana and Ivory Coast, who had made it for three tournaments and of course, they had provided embassies in Singapore since 2005.

The lowest rank is Russia as a host, but the Saudi Arabia is even the lowest. Iceland (22) and Panama (55) were even qualified.

AFC

• Australia
• Iran
• Japan
• Saudi Arabia
• South Korea

CAF

• Egypt
• Morocco
• Nigeria
• Senegal
• Tunisia

CONCACAF

• Costa Rica
• Mexico
• Panama

CONMEBOL

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Colombia
• Peru
• Uruguay

UEFA

• Belgium
• Croatia
• Denmark
• England
• France
• Germany
• Iceland
• Poland
• Portugal
• Russia
• Serbia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland

Qualifying groups

Ten European teams and four South American teams have progressed to the knockout stage, together with Mexico and Japan. For the first time since 1982, no African team have progressed to the second round. For the first time, the fair play criteria came into use, when Japan qualified over Senegal due to having received fewer yellow cards.

Competing countries were divided and seeded into draws respectively:

• Group A - Uruguay, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt
• Group B - Spain, Portugal, Iran, Morocco
• Group C - France, Denmark, Peru, Australia
• Group D - Croatia, Argentina, Nigeria, Iceland
• Group E - Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Costa Rica
• Group F - Sweden, Mexico, South Korea, Germany
• Group G - Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama
• Group H - Colombia, Japan, Senegal, Poland

The first group stage match was Russia vs. Saudi Arabia, beating the world's record score of 5 - 0 on 14 June 2018. Despite a series of poor results and the poor man's ranking of 70, on 19 June 2018, Russia won the same game beating Europe by a score line of 3-1, taking their goal difference to +7 with only two matches played. The win over Egypt has secured Russia's advancement to the knockout stage for the first time since 1986 when they played with Soviet Union and also for the first time in the independent Russia. It got qualified into the round of 16. The Russian football team had went into group stage in 1994, 2002 and 2014. It was in the quarter-finals in 1958, 1962 and 1970, the fourth place in 1966, the sceond group stage in 1982, round of 16 in 1986 and went back to the group stage in 1990. In 1974, the Soviet Union was disqualified for communism, together with North Korea.

Defending champions Germany were knocked out from the campaign on 27 June, the fourth time the last FIFA World Cups were eliminated in the opening stage after France (2002), Italy (2010) and Spain (2014). Germany had lost goals from Mexico and South Korea, but had claimed goals to Sweden by 1 points.

England and Belgium were automatically kicked in to the campaign, but Panama (Group G) was eliminated. For Group D, Iceland was eliminated.

Team	Method of Qualification	Previous best performance
Belgium	UEFA Group H winners
Croatia	UEFA second round winners
France	UEFA Group A winners
Iceland	UEFA Group I winners
Panama	CONCACAF fifth round third place
Russia	Hosts

Knockout stage

Belgium, England, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Spain, together with Iceland and Panama, had all made it to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Round of 16

• Argentina
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Colombia
• Croatia
• Denmark
• England
• France
• Japan
• Mexico
• Portugal
• Russia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Uruguay

Quarterfinals

In addition, during the finals, Argentina, Germany and Spain were eliminated, thus leaving Brazil, England, France, Russia and Uruguay to face-off with the quarter-finals. Italy could not qualify together with Netherlands.

Semifinal

Brazil, Russia and Uruguay therefore knocked out from the quarter-finals, leaving Croatia, England, France and Belgium to advance to the semi-finals. For the first time since 1966, all multiple World Cup winners were eliminated before the semi-final stage. This is also the first time none of Brazil, Germany, or Argentina reached the semi-finals. With Uruguay and Brazil being eliminated in the quarter-finals, an all European semi-final line-up was competed for only the fifth time (after 1934, 1966, 1982 and 2006 tournaments).

Qualified teams

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Consecutive finals appearances	Previous best performance
Russia	Hosts	Template:Hs2 December 2010	11th1	2014	2	Fourth place (1966)2
Brazil	CONMEBOL Round Robin winners	Template:Hs28 March 2017	21st	2014	21	Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Iran	AFC Third Round Group A winners	Template:Hs12 June 2017	5th	2014	2	Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014)
Japan	AFC Third Round Group B winners	Template:Hs31 August 2017	6th	2014	6	Round of 16 (2002, 2010)
Mexico	CONCACAF Fifth Round winners	Template:Hs1 September 2017	16th	2014	7	Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)
Belgium	UEFA Group H winners	Template:Hs3 September 2017	13th	2014	2	Fourth place (1986)
South Korea	AFC Third Round Group A runners-up	Template:Hs5 September 2017	10th	2014	9	Fourth place (2002)
Saudi Arabia	AFC Third Round Group B runners-up	Template:Hs5 September 2017	5th	2006	1	Round of 16 (1994)
Germany	UEFA Group C winners	Template:Hs5 October 2017	19th3	2014	17	Winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
England	UEFA Group F winners	Template:Hs5 October 2017	15th	2014	6	Winners (1966)
Spain	UEFA Group G winners	Template:Hs6 October 2017	15th	2014	11	Winners (2010)
Nigeria	CAF Third Round Group B winners	Template:Hs7 October 2017	6th	2014	3	Round of 16 (1994, 1998, 2014)
Costa Rica	CONCACAF Fifth Round runners-up	Template:Hs7 October 2017	5th	2014	2	Quarter-finals (2014)
Poland	UEFA Group E winners	Template:Hs8 October 2017	8th	2006	1	Third place (1974, 1982)
Egypt	CAF Third Round Group E winners	Template:Hs8 October 2017	3rd	1990	1	First round (1934), Group stage (1990)
Iceland	UEFA Group I winners	Template:Hs9 October 2017	1st	–	1	–
Serbia	UEFA Group D winners	Template:Hs9 October 2017	12th4	2010	1	Fourth place (1930, 1962)5
Portugal	UEFA Group B winners	Template:Hs10 October 2017	7th	2014	5	Third place (1966)
France	UEFA Group A winners	Template:Hs10 October 2017	15th	2014	6	Winners (1998)
Uruguay	CONMEBOL Round Robin runners-up	Template:Hs10 October 2017	13th	2014	3	Winners (1930, 1950)
Argentina	CONMEBOL Round Robin third place	Template:Hs10 October 2017	17th	2014	12	Winners (1978, 1986)
Colombia	CONMEBOL Round Robin fourth place	Template:Hs10 October 2017	6th	2014	2	Quarter-finals (2014)
Panama	CONCACAF Fifth Round third place	Template:Hs10 October 2017	1st	–	1	–
Senegal	CAF Third Round Group D winners	Template:Hs10 November 2017	2nd	2002	1	Quarter-finals (2002)
Morocco	CAF Third Round Group C winners	Template:Hs11 November 2017	5th	1998	1	Round of 16 (1986)
Tunisia	CAF Third Round Group A winners	Template:Hs11 November 2017	5th	2006	1	Group stage (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006)
Switzerland	UEFA Second Round winners	Template:Hs12 November 2017	11th	2014	4	Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954)
Croatia	UEFA Second Round winners	Template:Hs12 November 2017	5th	2014	2	Third place (1998)
Sweden	UEFA Second Round winners	Template:Hs13 November 2017	12th	2006	1	Runners-up (1958)
Denmark	UEFA Second Round winners	Template:Hs14 November 2017	5th	2010	1	Quarter-finals (1998)
Australia	CONCACAF v AFC play-off winners	Template:Hs15 November 2017	5th	2014	4	Round of 16 (2006)
Peru	OFC v CONMEBOL play-off winners	Template:Hs15 November 2017	5th	1982	1	Quarter-finals (1970), Second round (1978)6

Final

The final will be played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, located in the Khamovniki District of the Central Administrative Okrug. An expanded version of the stadium was named as the provisional final venue in Russia's World Cup bid, which was selected by FIFA on 2 December 2010. Luzhniki Stadium was confirmed as the final venue on 14 December 2012, following a meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee held in Tokyo, Japan. The stadium also hosted six other matches, including the opening match on 14 June, three group stage matches, a round of 16 match, and the second semi-final match. There are currently no clubs at the stadium.

After Uruguay and Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals, a European side was ensured to win the World Cup for a fourth consecutive tournament. The match is also the ninth all-European World Cup final, having most recently occurred in 2006 and 2010.

The match is the first World Cup final for Croatia in their fifth World Cup appearance. They are the tenth European country and thirteenth overall to reach a World Cup final, and the first new finalist since Spain in 2010. Croatia's previous best performance was as World Cup debutants in 1998, when they finished in third place, losing 1–2 to hosts France in the semi-finals before beating the Netherlands 2–1 in the third-place play-off.

The final is the sixth meeting between France and Croatia, with France undefeated in the previous fixtures with three wins and two draws. The two sides first met in the 1998 World Cup semi-final, with hosts France winning 2–1. Their only other competitive meeting was during the group stage of Euro 2004, which finished as a 2–2 draw. Their next and most recent meeting was in a March 2011 friendly match, which finished as a 0–0 draw.

Croatia kicked off the final at 18:00 local time (15:00 UTC), with the ground temperature reported at 27 °C (81 °F). The match was played through a minor thunderstorm, which produced several visible lightning strikes. An audience of 78,011 spectators at the Luzhniki Stadium watched the match, including ten heads of state, among them Russian president Vladimir Putin, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. The starting lineups for both teams were identical to those fielded in the semi-finals.

Croatia had the majority of possession and chances early in the first half, with the ball staying mostly in France's half. An attack by French midfielder Antoine Griezmann was stopped by a challenge from Marcelo Brozović, which was called as a foul despite claims that Griezmann dived. In the incident, Griezmann began falling before Brozović made contact. Griezmann took the ensuing 30-yard (27 m) free kick, which was diverted by Mario Mandžukić into his own net to give France the lead in the 18th minute. It was the first own goal to be scored in a World Cup final and the 12th of the tournament, the most of any World Cup.

Ten minutes later, Croatia equalised with a left-footed strike by Ivan Perišić, assisted by Domagoj Vida after a free kick by Luka Modrić. In the 34th minute, a penalty was awarded against Croatia after Perišić's handball in the box was reviewed by the video assistant referee. Griezmann scored the penalty in the 38th minute, giving France a 2–1 lead at half-time; the first half's three goals were the most of any World Cup final since 1974. France led at half-time despite having only one shot on goal and with only 34 percent of possession.

Play was stopped early in the second half after several pitch invaders were chased onto the field by security officers; Russian feminist rock band and protest group Pussy Riot claimed responsibility for the interruption. In the 59th minute, France extended their lead to 3–1 with a strike from the edge of the penalty area by Paul Pogba after his initial shot had been blocked. Six minutes later, Kylian Mbappé scored France's fourth goal, with a shot from outside the box; Mbappé became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pelé in 1958. Croatia scored their second goal in the 69th minute, as from a back-pass, France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris failed to dribble around Mandžukić, who poked the loose ball into the unguarded net. Despite a late push by Croatia, the match finished as a 4–2 victory for France and the highest-scoring World Cup final since 1966.

France became the sixth country to win more than once in the World Cup and qualified for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup with their win. Didier Deschamps became the third person to have won the World Cup as both a player and manager, after Franz Beckenbauer and Mário Zagallo. The final is the highest scoring since 1966, and the highest score in regular time since 1958. Large crowds, including 90,000 people at the Eiffel Tower fanzone and an estimated one million on the Champs-Élysées, celebrated the victory in Paris.

Broadcasting

Football fans can watch live broadcasts of this FIFA World Cup for free at 55 community clubs around Singapore, an initiative run by the People's Association (PA) since 2010.

The PA will screen all 64 matches of the football championship. The opening match will be screened on June 14 at New Tampines City and 40 community clubs. The others will be screened progressively.

Residents will be able to enjoy related activities at community clubs.