Football world championship europe standings. Qualifier: Asia

- this is a long series football games, which in total will last almost 3 years. This length of time is due to the huge number of teams in the future World Cup. More than two hundred national teams submitted applications for participation in the championship alone, which became a record for the entire period of the world championships. Therefore, it is not surprising that the qualifying round will last so long.

In the review, we will analyze in detail the future participants, their chances of getting into the final part of the World Cup, as well as the features of qualification.

the date of the

The first games began on 12 March 2015 in the Asian Football Confederation. A week later, matches between CONCACAF teams (North and Central America) started. On October 5, qualifying matches among African and South American teams began, and on August 31, national teams from Oceania competed for the first time. Later, European teams took the start in the championship. This happened on September 6, 2016. Thus, the qualifying round of the World Cup stretched from March 12, 2015 to November 14, 2017, which is a total of more than two years.

Participants of the 2018 FIFA World Cup

All 208 FIFA members expressed their desire to participate in the 2018 World Cup, which was a record in the history of the World Cup. At the same time, for the first time in the championship they took part national teams South Sudan, Kosovo, Bhutan and Gibraltar. However, already at the stage of submitting applications and the first games in the qualifying round, the football family suffered losses. Due to organizational problems and non-compliance with FIFA rules, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and Kuwait dropped out of the championship.

However, 205 national teams is too much for any host country, especially since the level of the teams varies greatly. That is why there is a complex sieve of qualifying tournaments.

All participants whose applications were approved by FIFA were distributed into 6 continental clusters:

• Asia;
• Africa;
• North and Central America;
• South America;
• Oceania;
• Europe.

Let's consider each of these territorial zones separately.

Qualifier: Asia

46 members of the Asian Football Confederation took part in the championship. During two qualifying rounds, only 12 teams remained from among them, which were divided into two groups:

Basket A:

• Iran;
• Uzbekistan;
• South Korea;
• Syria;
• Qatar;
• China.

Basket B:

• Saudi Arabia;
• Australia;
• Japan;
• Iraq;
• Thailand.

The Japanese, Koreans, and Australians have the best chances of getting out. These teams are almost constant participants in world championships. However, Iran should not be written off. Football fans probably remember how the Iranians sensationally made it to the final round of the 2014 World Cup, where they pretty much spoiled the blood of Argentina in the group tournament. Therefore, there is no doubt about the qualifications and fortitude of Iranian football players.

2018 World Cup Qualification: Africa

The results of the 2018 World Cup qualifying matches among African teams are much more interesting. Still, the level of teams from the “dark continent” is much higher than that of Asian teams.

During the two qualifying championships, 20 remained from the 53 teams that entered the competition. After the draw, they were distributed into 5 baskets. The most interesting, perhaps, can be called group B:

• Nigeria;
• Cameroon;
• Algeria;
• Zambia.

In this peculiar “group of death” there were two local grandees at once. However, according to the rules, only the winners of their baskets can advance to the World Cup finals. Therefore, willy-nilly, either Cameroon or Nigeria will remain left out of the football festival in Russia.

North and Central America

In fact, there are only two serious groups in this cluster - Mexico and the United States. The Costa Rican national team has demonstrated some success in the football field. Therefore, it is not surprising that all three of these teams made it to the fifth qualifying round. They were also accompanied by three more highly rated teams. Here is a list of all teams that made it to the final qualifying round:

• Mexico;
• Costa Rica;
• Honduras;
• Panama;
• Trinidad and Tobago.

The first 3 teams will directly qualify for the World Cup finals, and the fourth participant will compete for a spot with the best 3rd team of the Asian Confederation.

South America

Unlike previous clusters, South Americans are not divided into groups. All 10 members of CONMEBOL will play each other in a two-legged format: one match at home and one away. During the qualification, the first 4 lucky ones will receive the coveted tickets to the World Cup, and the 5th team will play a play-off match with the best team of Oceania. The list of all qualifying participants is as follows:

• Brazil;
• Uruguay;
• Ecuador;
• Colombia;
• Argentina;
• Paraguay;
• Chile;
• Peru;
• Bolivia;
• Venezuela.

Oceania

The most modest qualifying zone in terms of the quality of participants. Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea... The table of participants in the qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup from Oceania rather evokes vague memories of school lessons geography than fan interest. However, even here, at the end of the world, football exists. Most professional team counts New Zealand. This team, by the way, can be seen at the 2018 Confederations Cup, which will be held in Russia.

In view of the depressing level of local teams, the best team that passes through the three qualifying rounds receives as a reward only the opportunity to play in a play-off match with the 5th team from South America. The winner of the match will go to the World Cup.

Qualifying rounds: Europe

Objectively, this is the strongest continental cluster. 54 teams are traditionally divided into 9 groups. The winners of the basket receive a direct ticket to the World Cup, and the 8 best second teams play play-off matches among themselves. This is 4 more vouchers.

The draw for the group round among European teams took place on July 25, 2015. During this process, two interesting baskets were identified:

Group A:

• Sweden;
• France;
• Netherlands;
• Bulgaria;
• Belarus;
• Luxembourg.

Group G:

• Spain;
• Italy;
• Albania;
• Israel;
• Macedonia;
• Liechtenstein.

In Pot A, it will be interesting to watch the struggle between the silver finalists of EURO 2016, the French and the Dutch team, which is going through a painful generational change. Will the not-so-“Clockwork Orange” be able to cope with the young and ambitious Gallic cockerel?

Group G will feature recent rivals in the 1/8 finals of the 2016 European Championship - the national teams of Spain and Italy. Who is stronger: the Spaniards, who have set their sights on building a new young team, or the Italian destructive machine? In general, there is more than enough intrigue!

Afterword

In 2018, two grandiose events await us - and the World Cup. But if the Olympics are just an aftertaste after Sochi, then the World Cup will take place literally outside our windows. Therefore, we have the right to know who will trample Russian lawns in 2018. How are things in Tahiti? Is Honduras qualifying? Does Burkina Faso have a chance of reaching the World Cup finals? For a true fan of the home championship, these are not idle questions!

On June 14, the match between the national team of the host country and Saudi Arabia will kick off the next World Cup, when for a whole month 32 teams from all regions of the world will decide the fate of the gold set of awards in 11 major Russian cities. The Russian national team, as the host, received the right to play in the final part of the 2018 World Cup, the remaining participants earned a ticket to Russia through qualifying matches. At the world football championship, the following will compete: 14 European teams, 5 South American, 5 African teams, 3 from North and Central America, 5 from the Asian region (including the Australian team).

We will see 64 exciting matches, 48 ​​of which will be played in the group stage, another eight will be played in the 1/8 finals, respectively, four matches will be in the quarter-finals, 2 matches will be played in the semi-finals, two more matches will be played in the final and for third place . This article contains a detailed schedule of matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia with cities.

Starting from June 14 and until July 15, almost every day there will be football matches. It is worth noting that matches of the two closest quartets will be held daily, which provides a good opportunity for betting fans to use such a powerful factor as motivation, when two teams have already played, and the remaining two will still play the next day, knowing the results of their opponents. This will be of particular importance in the third round.

2018 FIFA World Cup schedule by dates:

The time indicated is Moscow.

The 32 participants in the upcoming world football competition made up eight quartets. In the quartets themselves, the fights will take place according to the usual round-robin system. If at the end of the group stage two teams have the same number of points, then the team with the best difference in goals scored and goals conceded will be placed higher in the standings. If parity is observed in this parameter, then the result of the face-to-face meeting of these squads is taken into account. Below is the calendar of games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the group stage, displaying the results of the matches online.

Group "A"

• Uruguay - 1.18
• Russia — 1.38
• Egypt - 2.6
• Saudi Arabia - 11.0

Group "B"

Bookmakers' odds for teams leaving the group:

• Spain - 1.08
• Portugal - 1.2
• Morocco - 5.5
• Iran - 6.5

Group "C"

Bookmakers' odds for teams leaving the group:

• France - 1.05
• Denmark - 1.65
• Peru - 2.9
• Australia - 4.7

The French national team has one of the strongest squads at the 2018 World Cup. The headache of head coach Didier Deschamps is the choice of the main squad, there are too many top players in the team competing for starting positions. The French team must take first place in the group.

But there could be a serious fight for second place. Denmark is considered a slight favorite. The Danes have indeed produced a good generation of football players. There are top players, for example, Tottenham leader Christian Eriksen. But do not discount the Peruvian team, which was able to beat the powerful Chilean team in the qualifying tournament. Peru plays strictly defensively and can cause a lot of trouble for opponents.

Group "D"

• Argentina - 1.17
• Croatia - 1.55
• Iceland - 3.2
• Nigeria - 3.4

The South Americans are considered by bookmakers to be the clear favorites of this quartet. If we take a general look at this team in terms of the last few years, then it is so. Plus the name Messi increases the weight of the team from South America. But the Argentines had significant problems in the qualifying tournament and decided the fate of their ticket to the 2018 World Cup only in last round. And in terms of gameplay, there are many problematic issues for the South American guys. If something suddenly doesn’t work out for Messi, then the Argentines may not reach the next round of the tournament at all.

Group "E"

Bookmakers' odds for reaching the 1/8 finals:

• Brazil - 1.02
• Switzerland - 2.0
• Serbia - 2.15
• Costa Rica - 6.5

The Seleção are the clear favourites. It is unlikely that multiple champions will have any difficulties at the initial stage of the tournament.

Two European squads will most likely compete for second place. Bookmakers consider the Swiss to be slight favorites in this fight, but we believe that the chances are at least equal. Swiss in last years were more successful, which is why bookmakers give them preference. But the Serbs prepared very well for the World Cup, reaching almost the peak of their form.

The Costa Rica national team at the last World Cup took 1st place in the group together with Uruguay, England and Italy. This came as a huge surprise. But now Costa Ricans are unlikely to be capable of something like that. The heroes of that World Cup are not getting any younger, and new talents are not yet visible.

Group "F"

• Germany - 1.07
• Mexico - 2.0
• Sweden - 2.3
• South Korea - 3.8

The current world champion, Germany, is unlikely to experience any difficulties in the group stage and will confidently take first place. For second place there will be a struggle between the North Americans and the guys from Sweden. An Asian representative can also compete with them, the difference in class is not so great. But still, Asian groups perform poorly outside their region. Therefore, Koreans should be considered outsiders, but not obvious ones.

Group "G"

Bookmakers odds for exit at 1/8:

• Belgium - 1.07
• England - 1.09
• Tunisia - 6.5
• Panama - 11.0

There can hardly be any questions about the first two places in this group. With a high degree of probability, Belgium and England will reach the playoffs. And the Panamanians are complete outsiders of the entire world championship. But we love sport number one for its unpredictability, when in a super obvious option few people expect a catch. So in this quartet, some experts do not discount the African squad, which includes guys who play for many French clubs from the First League and a number of other strong European championships.

Group "H"

Bookmakers odds for exit at 1/8:

• Colombia - 1.45
• Poland — 1.57
• Senegal - 2.34
• Japan - 2.8

Probably the most unpredictable group. Rivals are about the same level. Perhaps the Japanese are a little inferior to their rivals in terms of composition. The remaining 3 opponents have approximately equal chances. Don't discount the Senegalese national team, which has a lot of strong players. For example, Sadio Mane from Liverpool. All the players from the African squad play in European clubs, the entire midfield line plays in England.

At the end of the group stage, 16 teams are determined that took the first two places in their quartets, which will take part in the 1/8 finals on June 30.

1/8 finals

From June 30 to July 3, two meetings of this stage of the championship will be held every day. Starting from this stage of the World Championship, matches take place according to the cup system. If in 90 minutes of playing time the opponents were unable to identify the strongest, extra time will be assigned, including 2 halves of 15 minutes each. If this does not allow one of the participants in the confrontation to win, then a series of 11-meter strikes will be assigned, in which the opponents will take turns delivering five strikes from the point. If the score remains equal after this series, each participant in the meeting will take a penalty until one of the players in the pair makes a mistake, so to speak, the game continues until the opponent misses, when converting his shot.

New to the 2018 World Cup is the ability to make a fourth substitution if the match goes into extra time.

The full schedule of 2018 FIFA World Cup games in the 1/8 finals is presented below.

• 17:00 (Kazan): 1C - 2D
• 21:00 (Sochi): 1A - 2B

• 17:00 (Moscow, Luzhniki): 1B - 2A
• 21:00 (Nizhny Novgorod): 1D - 2C

• 17:00 (Samara): 1E - 2F
• 21:00 (Rostov-on-Don): 1G - 2H

• 17:00 (St. Petersburg): 1F - 2E
• 21:00 (Moscow, Spartak): 1H - 2G

There is nothing complicated in these designations: if we take the first pair, then on June 30 at 17:00 in Kazan the team that took first place in group “C” and the team that took second place in group “D” will play. Thus, the teams that took first place in the groups will play with the second teams. Teams from group “A” advance to group “B”, “C” to “D”, “E” to “F”, “G” to “H”.

World Cup 2018 playoff calendar

We present to your attention the 2018 FIFA World Cup calendar in Russia, which will be updated online.

In which cities will the matches be held?

The World Cup will be held at 12 stadiums located in 11 cities of Russia. brief information about them, including name and capacity, is presented below:

• Moscow, where 12 matches will be held at the Luzhniki (capacity 81,000 people) and Spartak (45 thousand) stadiums. 8 seeded teams will play one match each in Moscow;
• St. Petersburg, where the most innovative sports complex with a retractable roof and a retractable field has recently been introduced (St. Petersburg Stadium, 68 thousand) will host 4 group stage matches, as well as one semi-final and a match for 3rd place;
• Kaliningrad, the local stadium "Kaliningrad" (35,000) will clearly experience an influx of European football fans, it will host 4 group stage matches;
• Saransk. The modern, handsome Mordovia Arena stadium (44,000) will host 4 group round meetings;
• Kazan. The local sports complex “Kazan Arena” (45 thousand) will host 4 group round matches, as well as playoff matches;
• Samara. At Samara Arena (44,000), only 4 group matches will be held;
• Nizhny Novgorod. The local luxury Nizhny Novgorod stadium (45,000) will provide the opportunity to host not only group stage matches, but also several playoff matches;
• Volgograd. Located on the banks of Russia's famous Volga River, the Volgograd Arena (45,000) will be limited to four group stage matches;
• Rostov-on-Don. Located on the left bank of the Don, Rostov Arena (45 thousand) offers to watch four group stage matches and one playoff match;
• Sochi. At the Fisht stadium (48,000) football fans will be able to enjoy not only matches in groups, but also the most intense stage of the World Cup, knockout matches;
• Ekaterinburg and its Ekaterinburg Arena with 35 thousand spectators will not see playoff matches, limiting themselves to only 4 games in groups.

All stadiums meet international standards.

Place and date of the final

The final match will be played in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium, which seats more than 80 thousand people. The match will take place on July 15 at 18:00 Moscow time and will be the main football event (and maybe sports in general) over the past four years.

The 21st FIFA World Cup is scheduled from June 14, 2018 to July 15, 2018 in Russia. There are 32 teams participating in the tournament, which includes Russia and the other 31 teams that topped the qualifying tournaments. The 6 FIFA confederations organized a series of tournaments to select candidates who will participate in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. FIFA confederations held tournaments in their regions - Europe, Asia, South America, North America, Africa and Oceania.

Qualifications - how they happen

The qualification process for the 2018 FIFA World Cup consisted of a series of tournaments in which all 210 FIFA member countries could participate. These tournaments were organized by the six FIFA confederations, and 31 of the 32 countries selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup were winners. The 32nd country, Russia, is the host nation and qualifies automatically without having to compete in qualifying matches. The schedules for the qualifying rounds were assigned by lot.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying competitions were exciting as the teams registered for the qualifiers were incredibly strong and determined. Several countries such as Bhutan, Gibraltar, Kosovo and South Sudan participated in this event for the first time. However, Indonesia and Zimbabwe were disqualified from the tournament for various reasons.

Regions

The six FIFA confederations are the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the South American Football Federation (CONMEBOL), the Confederation of the North, Central American and Caribbean Football Federation (KONCACAF), the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Football Federation Oceania Confederation (OFC).

The Confederation of African Football, a member of FIFA, is holding a preliminary competition for the five allocated places. Teams competing for five places: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Mali, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Chad, Comoros, Sudan, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. Only Zimbabwe, among the 54 member states of the Confederation of African Football, could not participate because the Zimbabwe Football Union was suspended for failing to pay unemployment benefits former coach national team.

The qualifying matches were held in three rounds. All teams competed in the first two rounds, from which the winners entered the third round. The third round was divided into five groups, with the winners of each group vying to represent Africa at the World Cup in Russia. The five African countries that qualified were Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal and Egypt.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has 4.5 places, four places and one for the playoffs among the two continents.

The qualifying tournaments involved 46 AFC member countries, with matches lasting over five rounds. The AFC itself is a conglomerate of many football federations. The West Asian Federation consists of: Iraq, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. The Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) consists of: Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) consists of: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) consists of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia and the Northern Mariana Islands. The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) consists of: Australia, Cambodia, Vietnam, East Timor, Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

The 12 lowest ranked teams competed in the first round. The top six teams advanced to the next round, which was joined by the next 34 lowest ranked teams. In the end, 40 teams were divided into eight groups of five teams each to play round-robin matches. The eight winners advanced to the third round and also qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup final.

In the third round, eight teams joined the top two teams. The teams were divided into two groups, each consisting of six teams. The top two teams in each group qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The two teams fighting for third place advanced to the fourth round.

In the fourth round, the two third-place teams battled over three rounds, with the winner advancing to the intercontinental playoffs.

Iran, South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia have qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Australia qualified for the Intercontinental and also qualified for the World Cup by defeating Honduras.

The 54-member Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), FIFA's confederation, were divided into nine groups of six teams each, with all teams playing each other in a round-robin format to qualify for 13 places in the group stages. UEFA has a total of fourteen places for the World Cup, but Russia, as the host country, automatically qualifies. In addition, the top eight runners-up also advance to the next round. UEFA members include: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Republic of Macedonia, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary , Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales. Among them, France, Portugal, Germany, Serbia, Poland, England, Spain, Belgium and Iceland topped nine groups and qualified directly for the World Cup. Among the runners-up, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland won the playoffs and qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Among the teams participating in the qualifying rounds, Iceland passed this stage for the first time. Qualifiers were played from November 9, 2017 to November 11, 2017 and from November 12, 2017 to November 14, 2017

CONCACAF has 3.5 places, meaning three places for classification and one for the playoffs. CONCACAF member states are: United States of America, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Bahamas, Bermuda, Panama, Anguilla, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Purto Rico, British Virgin Islands, Curacao, Grenada, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States Virgin Islands.

The extensive qualifying tournaments run by CONCACAF had five rounds. The first three rounds were played in a knockout format, with the fourth and final round being a group round. In the first round, the 14 lowest ranked teams played each other home and away. The top seven teams joined eleven other teams in the next round, which followed the same format. The top ten teams advanced to the third round, where they were joined by two other teams higher in the rankings. Twelve teams qualified again and the top six teams advanced to the fourth round.

In the fourth round, the six teams were joined by six more who qualified in the third round. Six teams, or the top two teams in each group, advanced to the fifth and final round.

In the fifth and final round, six teams competed against each other in two matches: one at home and the other away. The top three teams qualified directly for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The fourth team continued to play in the playoffs with the Oceania group.

Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama, the top three teams, qualified for the championship in Russia. The fourth team, Honduras, played in the qualifiers against Australia but lost.

An interesting fact about the CONCACAF qualifiers is that the United States did not qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986, while Panama, on the other hand, is participating in the World Cup for the first time.

CONMEBOL, the South American Football Federation and the FIFA affiliate also conduct FIFA World Cup qualifying. Qualifying tournament for FIFA 2018 consisted of double round-robin matches, and was played in nine matches of two rounds. Each team plays twice in each round, with one home and one away match.

CONMEBOL's ten member states are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. At the 2018 World Championships in Russia, the preliminary stage has four and a half places for South America. While Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina qualified, Peru qualified, after beating New Zealand, for the intercontinental play-offs

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), an affiliate of FIFA, conducts qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. For thirteen participants, OFC allocates only 0.5 places or an international playoff.

The thirteen members are New Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands, American Samoa, Cook Island, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, French Polynesia Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Notably, Australia is not in the OFC. In 2006, Football Federation Australia (FFA) left the OFC and became a member of the Asian Football Confederation.

The tournament takes place in three rounds. The first round, which was played in a round-robin format, featured the four highest ranked teams: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, with the winner advancing to the second round.

The winner of the first round joined seven other teams: Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu. There were four teams in each group in this round. Three best teams each match advanced to the third round.

The six teams advancing from the second round were divided into two groups of three teams. The two groups played two matches, with the winner advancing to the playoffs with Peru.

From June 14 to July 15, matches of the first World Cup, which will be held in Russia, will be hosted by 11 cities.

Meetings of Group A, which includes the Russian team, will take place in six cities. In Moscow, at the Luzhniki Stadium, on June 14, the world championship will be opened by Russia and Saudi Arabia. The next day, Egypt and Uruguay will play in Yekaterinburg. In the second round, the teams will exchange opponents: on June 19, the Russians will play with Egypt in St. Petersburg, and on the 20th, Uruguay will play with Saudi Arabia in Rostov-on-Don. The matches of the last round of Group A will be held on the same day, June 25, in Volgograd (Saudi Arabia - Egypt) and Samara (Russia - Uruguay).

Opponents in Group B will begin playing on June 15. On this day, Iran and Morocco will meet in St. Petersburg, and Spain and Portugal will meet in Sochi. Five days later, on June 20, Portugal and Morocco will face each other at the Moscow Luzhniki Stadium, and Spain and Iran will play in Kazan. The final games between the participants of Group B will take place on June 25: Portugal will meet Iran in Saransk, and Spain will meet Morocco in Kaliningrad.

The national teams of France, Australia, Peru and Denmark are included in Group C. On June 16, the French and Australians will open the competition in it at the Kazan Arena, and Peru and Denmark will continue them on the same day at the Saransk Mordovia Arena. On June 21, the teams of France and Peru will move to Yekaterinburg, where they will play against each other, and the Danes and Australians will meet on the same day at the Samara Arena. In the third round of Group C, Denmark will compete with France in Moscow (Luzhniki), and Peru will compete with Australia in Sochi.

On June 16, the Moscow Spartak Otkritie Arena stadium will host the first match of Group D, in which the teams of Argentina and Iceland will meet. At the same time, Croatia and Nigeria will play in Kaliningrad. 21st already in Nizhny Novgorod the Argentines will compete with the Croats, and the next day in Volgograd the Icelanders will compete with the Nigerians. On June 26, Nigeria will play Argentina in St. Petersburg, and Iceland will play Croatia in Rostov-on-Don.

Football fans living in Samara will be able to see the first match of Group E: Costa Rica and Serbia will play on June 17. On the same day, Brazil and Switzerland will delight fans from Rostov-on-Don. On June 22, the Brazilians and Costa Ricans will move to St. Petersburg, where they will play each other, while Serbia and Switzerland will meet in Kaliningrad. The final round of Group E will take place on June 27: Serbia and Brazil will meet at the Otkritie Arena in Moscow, and Switzerland and Costa Rica will compete at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.

On June 17, competitions will open in Group F: the teams of Germany and Mexico will compete against each other on the field of the Moscow Luzhniki stadium. The competition will continue only the next day: on June 18, Sweden and South Korea will play in Nizhny Novgorod. On the 23rd, the Germans and Swedes will meet in Sochi, and the Koreans and Mexicans will meet in Rostov-on-Don. On June 27, Germany will face South Korea in Kazan, and Sweden - with Mexico in Yekaterinburg.

Belgium and Panama, rivals in Group G, will play on June 18 in Sochi, while England and Tunisia, representing the same group, will play in Volgograd on the same day. Five days later, on June 23, Belgium will meet Tunisia at the Otkritie Arena (Moscow), and the next day the British and Panamanians will play in Nizhny Novgorod. In the last round of Group G, which is scheduled for June 28, England and Belgium will play in Kaliningrad, and Panama and Tunisia in Saransk.

Competition in the last group of the World Cup, H, starts on June 19 at the Otkritie Arena in Moscow, where Poland and Senegal will meet, and in Saransk, where Colombia and Japan will play. On June 24, the national teams of Senegal and Japan will move to Yekaterinburg, where they will play a match against each other. Poland and Colombia will meet in Kazan on the same day. In the last round of Group H, the Poles and Japanese will play in Volgograd, and the Senegalese and Colombians will play in Samara.

In addition, it is already known where the playoff matches will take place, although the opponents who will meet in them are not yet known. On June 30, Sochi and Kazan will host the 1/8 finals, on July 1 - Moscow (Luzhniki) and Nizhny Novgorod, on July 2 - Samara and Rostov-on-Don, and on July 3 - St. Petersburg and again Moscow (Otkritie Arena ").

The quarterfinals will be held on July 6 in Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, and on July 7 in Sochi and Samara. The semi-finalists will be hosted by St. Petersburg on July 10, and Moscow (Luzhniki) on the 11th. On July 14, the match for third place will take place in St. Petersburg, and the final on July 15 will be hosted by Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.