Guest author: Mark Cop of The Foosball Zone
We are only six months away from the most anticipated event in world football. After a break of four years the World Cup is here again and this time the host is one of the biggest countries in the world – Russia.
To prepare you for the upcoming event we have gathered 10 facts, at least some of which, we are pretty sure you didn’t know:
1 – 2018 will be the first time a single Eastern European country will be host to the World Cup. Also, it is the first year ever for Russia to be a host, despite already having hosted the Olympics and other big events.
2 – Russia decided on a special theme at this World Cup: “The dream and the cosmic outer space exploration, enlivened with folk motives featuring Firebirds, Matryoshkas and folk patterns.”
3 – The Russian World Cup mascot is called Zabivaka and was selected by the public through internet voting. It is a wolf dressed in a football kit made up of the colours of the Russian flag and of course – a football.
4 – The World Cup is contested by nations from around the globe. There are 14 European countries including Russia, 5 African countries, 4 Asian countries, 4 South American countries, 3 North American countries and 2 additional slots for countries to qualify through play-offs. The total number of participants is 32.
5 – The World Cup is held in the European part of Russia. Whilst not the entire country it is still a vast area. The distance between the main host city and the furthest one out is 1790 km. That is the distance between Moscow and Yekaterinburg.
6 – In total, 11 cities will be hosting games: Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Sochi, Volgograd, Samara, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg, Kazan and Saransk.
7 – As the capital and the main host city, Moscow will hold the first and the last match of the tournament.
8 – This event would have been the first World Cup for Zimbabwe. However, they missed their chance because they failed to pay an “exceptional debt” to their former coach the Brazilian, Valinhos.
9 – During the tournament, Russian doors will remain open for all tourists, which means that they won’t need a visa to enter, but they will need other documentation.
10 – Russia showed their dedication by investing in stadiums, both old and new. They built and reconstructed stadiums all over the 11 cities to conform with Green Building Standards, a requirement of FIFA.
And finally, Russia have paid homage to their footballing icon Lev Yashin with a retro-style poster for next summer’s World Cup.
Despite having died 27 years ago he is still a hero to many Russian people above a certain age.
Yashin, who played in four World Cups between 1958 and 1970, remains the only goalkeeper ever to win the Ballon d’Or and is widely considered to be one of the greatest to ever play the game.
That’s it! We hope you are a little wiser about next year’s World Cup now than you were before reading this.
Good luck to you and your country!
Author’s bio:
Mark is a foosball player who loves football, but his true passion lies in the foosball world. In his blog he writes tips and guides about the things people need to know when they are entering the foosball world. Also, he writes honest reviews about foosball tables and provides fun facts about the game, all of which you can read in his blog The Foosball Zone.
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