On Friday, the draw for the group stage of the final part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Russia for the first time in history, took place at the State Kremlin Palace.
32 teams participating in the World Cup, including Russia, had to find out their rivals, as well as the cities they would go to.
As a result of the draw, it became known that the Russians will play in Group A with the teams of Uruguay, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The hosts of the World Cup will play the opening match on June 14 at Luzhniki with the Saudis, then on June 19 they will meet with the Egyptians in St. Petersburg. The wards of Stanislav Cherchesov will play with the representatives of Uruguay on June 25 in Samara.
It is curious that for the first time in the opening match of the world championships, the participants with the lowest rating will play - the Russians occupy 65th place in the world ranking table, and the Saudi Arabian team - 63rd.
The German national team, which will start the tournament as the reigning world champions, will play in Group F with Mexico, Sweden and South Korea.
The Portuguese team, the reigning European champion, is in Quartet B with Spain, Morocco and Iran.
The ceremony was broadcast on the Internet on the official website of the International Football Federation (FIFA), as well as the First Channel of federal television.
It was watched in more than 200 countries around the world in different time zones. The draw was accompanied by a colorful show program hosted by the singer Alsou and Ivan Urgant.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and FIFA head Gianni Infantino were the first to take the stage for a welcoming speech. The head of state assured the guests that Russia intends to hold the World Cup on the high level. Infantino, in turn, thanked the hosts for excellent organization tournament.
"We will do our best to make the 2018 World Cup great sports holiday, but, most importantly, even more rallied a large and friendly international sports family- a family for which sport itself, friendship and fair fight are most important, the values of which are not subject to any current situation," TASS quoted the Russian leader as saying.
Gianni Infantino expressed confidence that football fans from all over the world will be convinced of the hospitality of Russia in the summer.
"In the summer of 2018, 1.5 million people will come here. They will see that Russia is a warm country, that its people are looking forward to the football holiday. I am sure that the experience of hosting the World Cup will be positive for Russia," the FIFA president said.
After the speech of the first persons, the delegate of the reigning world champions German Miroslav Klose presented the World Cup to the guests. Then the official draw ceremony began.
To get the balls from the baskets was entrusted to the famous football players, led by the Argentinean Diego Maradona.
The assistants to the draw were also a participant in the first World Cup for the USSR in 1958 Nikita Simonyan, Italian Fabio Cannavaro, Frenchman Laurent Blanc, Englishman Gordon Banks, Brazilian Cafu, Spaniard Carles Puyol and Uruguayan Diego Forlan.
Vladimir Putin spoke on the sidelines with guests who had come to Moscow to take part in the event. He met with the legends of world football, including Diego Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, raising glasses of champagne with the players.
Head coach Russian national football team Stanislav Cherchesov, in an interview with the official FIFA channel on YouTube, shared his expectations from the final draw of the 2018 World Cup in advance.
"Expectations are simple, a lot has been completed in football career. Therefore, there are no special expectations and desires. Absolutely no preference. Quietly we have to wait who will get us. The mood is very good," Cherchesov said.
After qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Cup finally ended with intercontinental play-offs and all the participants of the group stage became known , the teams were divided into draw baskets according to the October FIFA rankings .
During the draw, eight groups of four teams were designated from A to H, with the teams from each pot divided into different groups.
The Russian team, as the organizer of the tournament, got into the first basket, although it occupies the lowest position in the ranking (65th place) among all participants. It was known in advance that the team of Stanislav Cherchesov would lead group A and avoid meeting with strong neighbors in the first basket at the group stage.
In one group there could be no more than two teams from Europe, as well as no more than one team from the following confederations: Asia, Africa, Oceania, North and Central America, South America.
The 2018 World Cup matches will be held from June 14 to July 15, 2018 in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Sochi and Saransk.
On December 1, 2017, the draw takes place in the Moscow Kremlin, or rather, in the Grand Kremlin Palace group stage World Cup 2018. Russia for the first time in history hosts main tournament, and Moscow holds the draw ceremony for the first time. The teams are divided into four pots according to the FIFA rankings.
GROUPS
A: RUSSIA, URUGUAY, EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA
Matches - 1 round (Moscow): Saudi Arabia, 2 round (Petersburg): Russia - Egypt, 3 round (Samara): Russia - Uruguay
B: PORTUGAL, SPAIN, IRAN, MOROCCO
C: FRANCE, PERU, DENMARK, AUSTRALIA
D: ARGENTINA, CROATIA, ICELAND, NIGERIA
E: BRAZIL, SWITZERLAND, COSTA RICA, SERBIA
F: GERMANY, MEXICO, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA
G: BELGIUM, ENGLAND, TUNISIA, PANAMA
H: POLAND, COLOMBIA, SENEGAL, JAPAN
Let's say goodbye! Our correspondents are already preparing materials for you on the results of the draw. Thank you for your attention, well, we are waiting for the World Cup! Ticket sales will resume on December 5th.
20:30 - A little humor. There are already a lot of funny captions for this photo of Maradona. We think it's clear why.
20:25 - It is interesting to sum up our and your forecasts. Of the experts, Roman Askhabadze was the closest. He predicted/wanted such a group: Croatia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. Two hits out of three. Uruguay generally few people expected. Only Anatoly Fedorovich Byshovets.
As for your reader's version of the ideal group, it was: Peru, Tunisia, Panama. At the same time, Egypt and Saudi Arabia from the third and fourth baskets were the third and second most popular in your selection. But Uruguay wanted only 6% to compete.
20:17 - We have already prepared for you a summary of the most important information about our rivals in the group. Read!
The main thing about the rivals of the Russian national team in the group at the 2018 World Cup
Mysterious Arabs, stubborn Africans and hot Latin Americans. World Cup Classic. What else do you need for the show?
20:12 - There are already quotes for our group. Uruguay is considered the favorite of the group, you can bet that it will be the first with a coefficient of 2.0. Russia's entry into the 1/8 finals from the first place is quoted as 2.2. With a coefficient of 7.5, you can bet on the victory of Egypt in Group A, the chances of Saudi Arabia for a similar result are quoted at 34.0.
20:05 - Vitaly Mutko also shared his opinion on the results of the draw:
- It is difficult to predict what will happen in our group. The group is fairly even, giving chances to all teams. Uruguay - serious team, one of the top teams in the world. Egypt has several world-class players such as Salah. We don't know much about Saudi Arabia, but we will prepare. Such a group, which got caught by the Russian team, is normal. Everything depends on ourselves.
Then Egyptian journalists asked Vitaly Leontyevich in English about Salah.
- Is a very good player – fantastic! Top player, - Mutko was not taken aback. - Will he score a goal? Listen, football is a team game.
19:56 - Let's continue about the layouts. This time there is no "group of death" as such. There is Spain - Portugal in one quartet, there is a strong group F and an interesting D, but otherwise everything is smooth and unremarkable. And group H is frankly weak for a tournament of this level. However, for an outside observer, ours is not a fountain either.
19:41 - Stanislav Cherchesov:
- It is impossible to say after the draw whether I am satisfied or not. What group is, such is. Emotions both before and now are the same. I smiled when they pulled Uruguay, because they asked us to play a test match, but we still did not agree. They chased us and still got us ( smiling).
I’ll get ahead of your questions: I don’t know a single team, since I never met with any of them, I didn’t specifically look after them. I know that Salah plays in the Egyptian national team, I will watch him in the Liverpool-Spartak match. Uruguay has Cavani and Suarez, but those are just names. Now you can talk about anything, but everything shows the field. The only thing that catches your eye is that our games are, one might say, on the rise. Here, perhaps, I emphasize - perhaps there is some kind of bonus. But everything will be decided by the field.
19:39 - Pele is now unable to walk. And here's a touching photo...
19:35. And now there will be comments from the coaches.
19:30. On the stage, the celebration and summing up continue.
19:25. It is worth noting that after the terrorist attack over Sinai on October 31, 2015, in which Russian tourists were killed, air traffic between Egypt and Russia was stopped. Now this issue will have to be resolved, since we will play with the Egyptians in the same group.
19:15 - It's time ... forecasts!
19:12 - All the stars of the draw ceremony in the photo gallery of our correspondent Alexander Safonov.
19:10 - We are not going anywhere, now the comments of the coaches from the mixed zone will go.
19:07 - There will be no fiery matches and an influx of fans in Saransk. Maybe it's for the best. Although one cool guest will still come to them - Ronaldo and his Portugal will play here with Iran.
19:03
- Here's another pattern - Argentina and Nigeria always go in pairs. 5 group meetings in 24 years!
1994 - Argentina and Nigeria in the same group
2002 - Argentina and Nigeria in the same group
2010 - Argentina and Nigeria in the same group
2014 - Argentina and Nigeria in the same group
2018 - Argentina and Nigeria in the same group
19:02
- While Larisa Dolina sings, concluding the ceremony, let's look at other interesting matches and groups.
England will play in Volgograd, Nizhny and Kaliningrad. And on the coast of the Baltic - with Belgium. The fans have almost a European exit.
18:59 - So. Our group is quite digestible. But here's more ... Spain or Portugal - it is unlikely that there will be surprises.
18:57 - That's all! Time to analyze the results!
18:53 - Thanks to two teams from Europe in Group B, Serbia will pass us in 1/8 (if both come out). Brazil - Serbia - and again a cool match at the "Opening" in the 3rd round!
18:51 - All! There is a group! Opening match at Luzhniki - Russia - Saudi Arabia. The hall meets the ball with applause from the Arabians.
18:48 - Argentina - Iceland - a very cool match at the "Opening" in the first round. Do not miss!
18:45 - Russia - Egypt! Second round! Peter!
18:43 - England goes to the group to Belgium and will play the first match in Volgograd. With whom, we don't know yet.
18:41 - Cavani and Suarez in Samara! Against Jikia and Vasin! We continue to be aware. After two fiery groups, it is quieter further.
18:40 - And Spain and Portugal will play in the first round in Sochi!
18:39 - Russia and Uruguay will play in the last round of the group stage in Samara. Playing for first place, perhaps.
18:38 - Now let's find out the first opponent... Anticipation! URUGUAY!
18:36 - But Argentina and Brazil will not meet in the 1/8 finals. But Brazil and Germany - can ...
18:33 - To begin with, we are interested in our group, and then group B, with the teams of which we can meet in the playoffs. Portugal is number one.
18:30 - Let's go to drag the balls! Nikita Pavlovich starts from Russia in group A. Simonyan is greeted with applause.
18:28 - Gary Lineker And Maria Command on the stage. "Are you ready Maria? Because if not, it's not too late ... "- jokes Ivan Urgant. Look, by the way, who led the draw before our Masha.
Sophia Loren and our Masha. Who was trusted to conduct the draws for the world championships
Journalist Maria Komandnaya will lead the draw for the 2018 World Cup. Before her, actresses and professional models were honored with such an honor.
18:25 - And now the draw assistants appear on the stage, who will drag the balls - Laurent Blanc, Gordon Banks, Fabio Cannavaro, Cafu, Diego Maradona, Carles Puyol, Diego Forlan And Nikita Simonyan.
18:22 - The show program is in full swing. Now the folk dance ensemble named after Igor Moiseev danced right against the backdrop of the World Cup.
18:15 - Alsu sang. Not just the same as leading her called. But the singer quickly adjusted herself and is already asking questions to Miroslav Klose, who brought the World Cup trophy to the stage. And recently, the trophy visited the office of the "Championship" ...
18:10 - Astronauts give a countdown! A cool video shows the path that has passed from the victory of Russia in the elections of the host country of the World Cup to the present.
18:07 - Gianni Infantino speaks Russian! “Vladimir Putin, other friends, good evening, welcome to Moscow. Thank you, Russia "... Not only Vitaly Mutko taught foreign language all these years.
18:06 - Vladimir Putin: “Friendship, sport, fair fight - these values are not subject to any conjuncture. But the winner will be determined not by chance, but by skill, the will to win. Good luck and all the best to everyone! We look forward to seeing you in Russia in 2018!”.
18:05 - Vladimir Putin: “We expect that the guests of our country will not only enjoy the football holiday, but also get to know our country. Championship peace will pass in 11 cities, and fans will be able to look at different regions of our vast and diverse country. Anyone who has ever visited Russia knows how good we are at receiving guests.”
18:02 - Two presidents are invited to the stage - Vladimir Putin And Gianni Infantino.
18:00 - Go! Leading on stage Ivan Urgant And Alsou.
17:55 - Before the TV broadcast starts, some more exclusive angles. For example, from a commentary position. Well, read again everything you need to know about the draw.
17:51 - Stanislav Cherchesov and Victoria Lopyreva are practically hospitable hosts today. Not the Kremlin, of course, but our football. Photo from the red carpet.
16:50 - We have coaches coming. For guests of honor there is a red carpet.
16:37 - The theory of probability in action, or the calculation of the chances that one or another opponent will fall out to us.
16:31 - Since the draw is tense with permission to shoot video, foreigners are actively filming Russian journalists. Here is our Dmitry Egorov talked with the Dutch, for example.
16:20 - Foreigners are lucky with the weather (well, if they are ready for the cold). Near zero, a pleasant snowball - in such conditions the Kremlin and Red Square are especially beautiful. And there is already a Christmas market. There, many spent time during the day.
16:14 - Choose your dream band for Russia. Simple, complex - whatever.
16:06 - The draw assistants are very cool today. could be stellar football team succeed.
16:01 - We start our online. In the Kremlin, everything or almost everything is ready for the draw.
The balls will be taken out of the baskets in order - starting with the first one. According to the standard procedure, first the ball with the name of the team is drawn, and then the ball with the designation of the group and a number that indicates the serial number of the team in the corresponding group.
This is how bookmakers assess the chances of the Russian team to get one or another team as rivals.
Start of the draw ceremony - 18:00.
Live Stream- First channel.
Hosts of the ceremony- Gary Lineker and Maria Komandnaya.
Show host- Ivan Urgant.
Our correspondents Dmitry Egorov, Ivan Karpov and Mikhail Tyapkov, as well as photojournalist Alexander Safonov are working at the scene and will tell and show everything that television will ignore.
the most grandiose sporting event 2018 will be the FIFA World Cup, which will be held on the fields of Russia from June 14 to July 15. Before the start of "" there is still a lot of time, and at this stage, fans football game from all over the world are waiting for the end of the World Cup qualification games, and then the draw for the final stage.
32 teams will take part in the final part of the World Cup 2018, of which 31 will be determined by the results of the qualification and 1 team is the host of the tournament, that is, Russia. For the first time in the history of the World Cup, 210 teams took part in the qualification process. Debutants qualifying matches were the teams of Kosovo, Sudan, Gibraltar, Bunat and South Sudan. The qualifying round of the World Cup will end at the end of November 2017, according to the results of which the 31 best teams will receive tickets to Russia.
Where and when will the 2018 FIFA World Cup draw take place?
According to FIFA official data, the 2018 World Cup draw will take place December 1, 2017 in the Kremlin. The choice of this particular place emphasizes the importance of this event for the Russian government.
The draw will take place at the State Kremlin Palace, a building currently used as a concert hall.
According to the results of the draw, 8 groups of 4 teams each will be determined. The teams that took first and second places in the group will advance to the 1/8 finals of the World Cup.
World Cup matches will be held at 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities: Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Moscow, Kazan, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk and Kaliningrad.
The Russian national team will play in the first match of the World Cup on June 14, 2018, since according to the rules, it is the tournament hostess who must play the first meeting. This will be the only game on the opening day of the tournament, but the rest of the days, during the group stage, there will be 3 or 4 games.
Foreign colleagues who came to cover the draw were pleasantly surprised long before the ceremony itself. Because working in such an environment is the dream of a tourist-journalist. Through the Spasskaya Tower - if you're lucky, also under the chiming clock - reporters get to the Kremlin. Next - a short walk past the Tsar Bell and the Tsar Cannon with views of the most beautiful temples in the country. The main thing is not to forget about the ultimate goal of the trip and get to the Kremlin Palace. In order to enjoy a panoramic view of the snow-covered green roofs from the sixth floor, a press center was organized under the very top.
The main football event of the four years begins in the most important place in Russia, hosting the tournament - symbolically and very effectively.
The ceremony itself will last only an hour, but it will determine the plans of a huge number of people for the next six months. It will be hosted by Ivan Urgant, and the actual draw procedure will be conducted by the famous Englishman Gary Lineker and our sports journalist Maria Komandnaya. At the same time, the entire elite of world football will gather in the hall of the Kremlin Palace. For example, the invitations were received by the head coaches of all 32 teams that made it to the tournament.
And only two did not respond. The coach of Uruguay will not come, and Australia simply does not have a coach now. All the rest flew to Moscow in advance and yesterday already took part in a seminar for participating teams.
Live broadcast of the draw will begin at 18.00 Moscow time on Channel One
There are enough stars in addition to coaches, and they come not only to admire the beauties of the Russian capital. Diego Maradona, Laurent Blanc, Fabio Cannavaro, Carles Puyol - these legendary figures, for example, will participate in the draw as assistants. And the famous Frenchman, world champion-98 Marcel Desailly, together with the ex-forward of the Russian national team Alexander Kerzhakov, now act as ambassadors of the fan festival. Of course, both could not avoid questions about the upcoming draw.
I do not like forecasts, - Kerzhakov admitted. - Home World Cup - a tournament in which their own walls can help. The Confederations Cup showed it. I am sure that the Russian team will leave the group. And we'll see.
The draw ceremony for the 2018 World Cup will be attended by many football celebrities. Among them is Uruguayan Diego Forlan (second from left). Photo: Sergey Savostyanov/TASS
Desailly added that the Russian national team lacks star players like Kerzhakov, and therefore much will depend on the fans: “The first games are very important for the team’s confidence in the future in the tournament, and support is needed here. The fans helped us, the French, to home championship peace in 1998, thanks to them we have become stronger. Fans must oblige the team to fight to the end. I hope your team will go far."
Streamlined formulations fought back not only Desailly. Journalists tried to find out from the famous Uruguayan Diego Forlan what lot he would like for his compatriots. But in response they heard the standard "there are no weak teams in such a tournament" and "it will be interesting with any opponent." It is clear that there is an element of slyness in these words.
The 32 teams are initially split into four pots based on their rankings. Russia is among the seeded ones, but not for merit on the football field, but as a hostess. And even a cursory glance at the resulting baskets is enough to understand that the strength of the teams gathered in one company is completely different, so you can get both a "life group" and a "death group". By the way, even among football people there is no consensus on which option is preferable.
With questions, we went to the ex-player of the Russian national team Dmitry Cheryshev, who came to the draw as an ambassador of the World Cup from Nizhny Novgorod.
Dmitry, what opponents would you like for the Russian team?
Dmitry Cheryshev: Wish we could get strong teams. Because it is with a strong opponent that you always show your the best game, good mood. And you can still leave the group.
Stars such as Maradona, Blanc, Puyol and Cannavaro will determine the fate of the 32 teams participating in the 2018 World Cup
At the Confederations Cup, we got strong opponents, Portugal and Mexico, and as a result, the team could not leave the group.
Dmitry Cheryshev: Then these were our first steps in serious international matches under the leadership of Stanislav Cherchesov. I think that we have run the team. By the way, the last match at the Confederations Cup was played quite well. The team was in good shape interesting game against the Spanish team. To score three goals against such an opponent is worth a lot. Even if the Spaniards did not bring the optimal composition, any player who defends her colors is still a level. Therefore, in my opinion, we the right way, and only victories await us ahead.
You are the World Cup Ambassador from Nizhny Novgorod. What fans and what teams would you like to see in your city?
Dmitry Cheryshev: First of all, Latin Americans. I would like our fans to see how they support their own. I saw fans of Chile and Mexico at the Confederations Cup, enjoyed this atmosphere and would like to see the same celebration during the World Cup in our city.
On Friday, December 1, in the heart of the capital of Russia - the State Kremlin Palace - there will be a draw final stage of the World Championship FIFA football 2018 in Russia. The ceremony will start at 18:00 and will be broadcast live on Channel One.
The draw ceremony will be hosted by the ex-England striker, top scorer World Cup 1986 Gary Lineker, who will be assisted by Russian sports journalist Maria Komandnaya.
Legendary football players Laurent Blanc, Gordon Banks, Fabio Cannavaro, Cafu, Diego Maradona, Carles Puyol and Diego Forlan will take the stage of the State Kremlin Palace as Gary Lineker's eight assistants. Together with Miroslav Klose, who will carry the FIFA World Cup Cup on stage during the draw, they will represent the eight winning countries of the FIFA World Cup. The eighth assistant of the draw will be the legend of the Soviet and Russian football, the first vice-president of the RFU Nikita Simonyan, who spoke at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. The hall will be attended by representatives of all teams participating in the tournament, celebrities, public figures and functionaries.
In preparation for the draw, the teams were divided into four pots according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings (as of October 2017). The top seven teams according to the world rankings, as well as the national team of the host country of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, were included in the first pot.
Basket 1: RUSSIA, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France;
Basket 2: Spain, Peru, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Croatia;
Basket 3: Denmark, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Iran;
Basket 4: Serbia, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, South Korea, Saudi Arabia.
Additional terms.
1. The Russian national team, as the host country, receives the designation “Team A1” during the draw (that is, the first team in group A), and will be designated with a red ball in pot 1.
2. The remaining seven teams in Pot 1 will be placed into groups (B to H) and will automatically be assigned the number 1 in each group. The order numbers of the teams from pots 2, 3 and 4 will be determined by a draw.
3. According to the general principle of FIFA, each group can have a maximum of one team from one continental zone. This rule applies to all zones, except for the UEFA zone, which is represented by 14 teams. Each group must have at least one and no more than two European teams. Thus, six of the eight groups will have two European teams. The division of teams into groups according to the geographical principle will be controlled by a special system that will take into account all factors, therefore, in the procedure for determining the places of teams in groups individual groups may be skipped. For example, Peru, Colombia and Uruguay - teams from Pot 2 - will definitely not be placed in the same group as Brazil or Argentina, which are in Pot 1. The same rule applies to teams from other confederations, except for UEFA
The Russian national team will play the first match of the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on June 14 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Then our team led by Stanislav Cherchesov will perform on June 19 at the Krestovsky Arena in St. Petersburg, and then on the 25th at the new stadium in Samara.
If Russia takes first place in the group, then in the 1/8 finals it will fight with the second team from quartet B (June 30, Fisht stadium, Sochi). At the same time, if the Russian squad finishes second in the group, then in the 1/8 finals they will fight with the winner of group B (July 1, Luzhniki, Moscow).
