2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ Everything You Need to Know

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The most anticipated football event of the calendar, the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ kicks off on 14 June 2018. This will be the 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup™, and the first one held in Eastern Europe.  

In 2018, the tournament will see 32 national teams go head-to-head in 64 nail-biting matches, played in 12 Venues across 11 Host Cities. The Final will take place on 15 July 2018 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. We have a wide selection of match ticket-inclusive Official Hospitality Packages for you to experience the greatest sports show on earth.

Edusport is an authorised Sales Agent of MATCH Hospitality in South Africa for the sale of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ Official Hospitality Programme.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https://edusport.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Logo-updated.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image” _builder_version=”3.23″ animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”left” animation_duration=”500ms” animation_intensity_slide=”10%” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” animation=”left” sticky=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https://edusport.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/FIFA_WC_BW_Game-1_set2_55_ready-1.jpg” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image” _builder_version=”3.23″ animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”left” animation_duration=”500ms” animation_intensity_slide=”10%” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” animation=”left” sticky=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]Choose your match ticket-inclusive Official Hospitality Package by team and cheer them on every step of the way on their 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ journey, opt for a Single Match Package and hand-pick the matches you want to see, or watch a specific series with matches bundled according to group stage, team or hospitality product.

The FIFA World Cup™ is the most widely-viewed and followed sports tournament globally. Here’s how the most prestigious association football tournament in the world works:

Qualification

Apart from Russia, who qualified automatically for the tournament as the Hosts, all FIFA member associations were eligible to enter the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ qualification process.

Schedule

The full schedule was announced by FIFA on 24 July 2015. Russia will be placed in position A1 in the Group Stage and play in the Opening Match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 14 June, which will also host the second Semi-Final on 11 July and the Final on 15 July. Saint Petersburg will host the first Semi-Final on 10 July and the 3rd Place Match on 14 July.
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Group Stage

In the Group Stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Eight teams are seeded, including the Hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings and/or performances in recent FIFA World Cups™, and drawn to separate groups.

The other teams are assigned to different “pots”, usually based on geographical criteria, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the eight groups. Since 1998, constraints have been applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation.

Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. This means that a total of six matches are played within a group. The last round of matches of each group is scheduled at the same time to preserve fairness among all four teams. The top two teams from each group advance to the Knockout Stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points).
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Knockout Stage

The Knockout Stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the Second Round in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the Quarter-Finals, the Semi-Finals, the 3rd Place Match and the Final.

Want to be there?

Edusport is an authorised Sales Agent of MATCH Hospitality in South Africa for the sale of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ Official Hospitality Programme.

Contact us today for match ticket-inclusive Official Hospitality Packages to experience the 2018 FIFA World Cup™.

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