There’s very little doubt in sports fans minds that the 2018 World Cup is shaping up to be one of the biggest events in football history, with Russia, the world’s biggest nation hosting it for the first time in the events 88 year history after being awarded the rights to host in 2010, automatically qualifying their team for the competition. The event is held at 12 stadiums across the nation, including many of the bigger games being held at the massive Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the 16th biggest stadium in the world, hosting an astonishing 81,000 fans. The World Cup began in 1930, with the first match taking place in Uruguay and was won by the host nation. The event has now run consistently every four years excluding two events in 1942 and 1946 which were canceled due to the events of World War II.
The previous edition of the well-loved game was held in Brazil, seeing over three billion people tune in at home, at work and in bars across the near-month long event, that ran from the 12th of June to the 13th of July 2014, with over a million tourists traveling from 200 different countries to watch the games. This year, 12 locations across Russia will host to the 64 games throughout the tournament, including –
- Luzhniki Stadium
- Krestovsky Stadium
- Fisht Olympic Stadium
- Volgograd Arena
- Kazan Arena
- Otkritie Arena
- Rostov Arena
- Cosmos Arena
- Nizhny Novgorod
- Mordovia Arena
- Ekaterinburg Arena
- Kaliningrad Stadium
With last year’s winners and hosts (Germany and Brazil) currently at the top when it comes to Fifa World Cup betting odds in the lead up to the event, it’s looking like it could be anyone’s game as underdog nations such as South American nation Panama and Euro 2016 heroes Iceland making their World Cup debut. South American team Peru will also be making World Cup history, having been absent from the games since 1982, the longest absence of any team competing this year.
With the tournament only a month away, why not check out this quiz to see how much of a passionate football fan you really are! Is your wardrobe packed with your team jerseys? Are you taking holiday from work to watch it at home with your friends? Perhaps you’re making the journey all the way to Russia to catch a game! Let us know what your plans are, and most importantly, what your score is! Be sure to share it with your pals to see which of you the bigger fan is!