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FIFA World Cup Betting: For the first time ever, Russia will host the World Cup, and the country is delighted to be the center of the sporting world for a month. The Russians were awarded the World Cup late in 2010, and the nation has spent nearly eight years getting ready for this event.
As hosts of the event, Russia automatically qualified for the World Cup. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been busy though. The national team played 12 matches in 2017, and they are trying to prepare themselves with the hopes of a nation resting on their backs.
Once every four years, the world's most popular game has its biggest tournament. The World Cup is as big as it gets all over the world, especially for the 32 countries who have earned the right to partake in this tournament. We think of the World Cup as a four-week tournament in June and July every few years, but this is actually a tournament where every FIFA team in the world has a chance to make it to the big stage.
The 2018 World Cup in Russia will begin on Thursday, June 14 and run through the final on Sunday, July 15. All of the action can be seen on FOX, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2.
Russia Betting OddsOdds on Russia to win Group A: +151
Odds on Russia to win 2018 World Cup: +2775
Matches
Russia vs. Saudi Arabia, Thursday, June 14, 2018, 11 a.m. ET Luzhniki Stadium (Moscow)
Russia vs. Egypt, Tuesday, June 19, 2018, 2 p.m. ET Zenit Arena (St. Petersburg)
Russia vs. Uruguay, Monday, June 25, 2018, 10 a.m. ET Cosmos Arena (Samara)
Manager
Stanislav Cherchesov
History at the World Cup
While Russia was part of the Soviet Union, the country was considered one of the top teams in the world for about two decades. The Soviet Union didn’t participate in any of the first five World Cups, but the USSR made the Quarterfinals in every World Cup between 1958 and 1970. During that time, their best performance came in the 1966 World Cup, when they finished in fourth place.
Under its current name, Russia doesn’t have much history at the World Cup. Since first making the World Cup in its current form back in 1994, Russia has only made the World Cup in three of six tries. They have never made it out of the Group Stage and have just two wins in nine games.
Player to Watch
This Russian squad is going to have a lot of question marks heading into the World Cup, but one area that we know is in good shape is goalkeeper. Igor Akinfeev has been the team’s top choice for over a decade now and he has shown no signs of slowing down.
Observers familiar with Russian soccer know that Akinfeev is the top goalkeeper for CSKA Moscow, one of the top teams in Russia. He has kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in Russian league history, but he is looking to make amends after an error during the last World Cup.
In Russia’s first match against South Korea, he mishandled a long-range shot and that gave Korea a goal in what ended up being a draw. Despite the error, he continued to be Fabio Capello’s man, yet misfortune struck again when he allowed a goal to Algeria after a laser shone from the crowd blinded him at a crucial moment. The game ended in a draw and left Russia at home for the knockout stage.
This will probably be Akinfeev’s third and final World Cup. He is the team captain and would love to take the team to the knockout stage for the first time.
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