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World Cup day one in a nutshell: Russia spank Saudi Arabia, Marcus Rashford update

Russia 2018
Image: Russia 2018 - day one in a nutshell

The World Cup is underway - and hosts Russia are off to a winning start, while there was reassuring news about the fitness of Marcus Rashford ahead of England's opener next week.

Each day during the tournament we'll be rounding up all the big stories and best reaction right here in a nutshell, so you don't miss a thing.

Here are the highlights from day one at the World Cup…

The report

World Cup hosts Russia kicked off their Group A campaign in style with a 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia on Thursday. Here's the full rundown from the game:

Russia 5-0 Saudi Arabia
Russia 5-0 Saudi Arabia

Denis Cheryshev stars in World Cup opener - read the report here.

Moment of the day

Denis Cheryshev celebrates scoring Russia's fourth in the 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia
Image: Denis Cheryshev celebrates scoring Russia's fourth in the 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia

Denis Cheryshev showed why he was once on the books of Real Madrid with a performance dripping in quality - his first goal was good, but his second was a stunner, curling an effort into the top corner from an awkward angle with the outside of his left boot. A gem.

World Cup hosts make light of pressure
World Cup hosts make light of pressure

Adam Bate reports as Russia made light of the pressure to see off Saudi Arabia.

The key quotes

Two goal hero Cheryshev:

I could never have dreamed of anything like this. I felt very happy when I knew I would be here in the squad but I never dreamed of anything like this.
Denis Cheryshev

Stat of the day

Tweet of the day

What were England up to?

Essential World Cup reading
Essential World Cup reading

Read our in-depth features on all 32 teams competing at Russia 2018

While the action got underway in Moscow, England continued their preparations to face Tunisia with a training session in Repino.

Also See:

For the second day in a row Rashford was missing from the session, but the Manchester United forward, who was restricted to gym work, took to social media to dismiss the injury as nothing more than a 'niggle'.

In the news

It has been a whirlwind couple of days for Spain and their new boss Fernando Hierro as they travelled to Sochi on Thursday ahead of their Friday night clash with Portugal.

Hierro appeared before the media on Thursday for his pre-match press conference.

He said: "It is true that there is very little time to prepare, but the moment is here and we are clear about what we want to achieve. This will not change, and we will see the same old Spain, the one that wants to take the initiative."

Huge task for Hierro
Huge task for Hierro

All you need to know about Fernando Hierro and the task ahead of him as he looks to steady the Spain ship.

Meanwhile, Julen Lopetegui, who was expecting to lead his country in Russia, was unveiled as Real Madrid boss just an hour after Hierro's Spain press conference.

"It was a surreal day," explained Lopetegui regarding the swiftness of his sacking.

"One of the nice things was the respect and affection shown to me by the players.

"I think respect is earned and we earned it. Me and my staff worked really hard, and they (Spanish FA) took our dream away from us.

"They, the players, have a great challenge ahead.

"They're well prepared and hopefully we have that little bit of luck needed to win the World Cup."

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Find out how Spain are doing after replacing manager Julen Lopetegui just two days before the tournament.

And finally...

Meet the animals attempting to predict the outcome of World Cup matches...

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The World Cup starts today and that can only mean one thing. A feast of football featuring the planet's finest exponents of the beautiful game? Don't be silly - it's time for random animals to try and predict the results!

Who plays on Friday?

Egypt v Uruguay (Group A) - Ekaterinburg, 1pm

Morocco v Iran (Group B) - St Petersburg, 4pm

Portugal v Spain (Group B) - Sochi, 7pm

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