Football Union of Russia vs Saudi Arabia. FIFA World Cup Group A.
Luzhniki StadiumAttendance78,011.
Thursday 14 June 2018 14:19, UK
Hosts Russia get the 2018 World Cup underway when they host Saudi Arabia in Moscow on Thursday evening (4pm BST).
Following a 30-minute opening ceremony, which will feature Robbie Williams and Ronaldo, Russia will look to start the tournament with a morale-boosting victory in Group A.
Stanislav Cherchesov's side are the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup and have not won a game since October 2017.
They were whistled off the pitch by fans after drawing their final warm-up against Turkey and former Russia and Manchester United winger Andrei Kanchelskis says it is the "worst Russian team" he has seen during his lifetime.
The hosts have been hampered by injuries, with forward Alexander Kokorin and defenders Georgy Dzhikiya and Viktor Vasin missing the tournament due to knee problems.
"We're realists," said striker Artyom Dzyuba. "We're not favourites to win the World Cup, but we want to get out of the group and we're playing at home. We want to prove to everyone, and most of all to ourselves, that we can play football, so that the country can be proud of us
"We're a football country, not just an ice hockey or basketball or volleyball country, but a football one too. And we'll put every effort into getting out of the group, to start with, and we'll only start fantasising after that."
Saudi Arabia are the second-lowest ranked team at the World Cup and have lost their last three matches heading into the tournament.
Egypt and Uruguay meet in the second Group A clash on Friday.
Both teams have a full-strength squad to pick from for the opener.
Russia have selection issues in defence, which result in 38-year-old Sergei Ignashevich playing from the start while Saudi Arabia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi's main dilemma is in attack where he has to choose between Mohammed Al-Sahlawi and Muhannad Assiri.
Russia and Saudi Arabia's only previous encounter was in October 1993; the Saudis won 4-2 at home in a friendly.
Since the split up of the USSR, Russia have never reached the knockout stages of the World Cup in three appearances (1994, 2002, 2014). They have finished third in their group in each of those three editions.
France were the last World Cup hosts to win the trophy in 1998. The hosts have always reached the second round of the competition, the only exception coming in 2010 when South Africa were knocked out in the group stages.
This is Saudi Arabia's fifth World Cup, their first since 2006. They have finished bottom of their group in their last three appearances, their best performance dating back to their opening tournament in 1994 (knocked out by Sweden in the round of 16).
Saudi Arabia have won none of their last 10 games at the World Cup, losing eight of them (D2). In fact, their last win in the competition dates back to the group stages of the 1994 edition (1-0 v Belgium, 29th June 1994).
Saudi Arabia have kept only one clean sheet in their 13 games at the World Cup - it was in their 1-0 win against Belgium in June 1994. They have also failed to score in seven of their last nine games in the tournament.
These are the two struggling teams, but I've just gone for Russia to win this game - but only just - given their home advantage. I always find that with teams at home, that just gives them that little bit more.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-0 (4/1 with Sky Bet)
