Russia - hosts of the Football World Cup
As hosts of the Football World Cup, the Russian national football team automatically qualify for the competition and will be hoping not to repeat South Africa's first-round exit when they hosted the tournament in 2010. This, however, looks difficult as Russia has been eliminated in the first-round in their three Football World Cup appearances (1994, 2002 and 2014). The hosts will be looking to restore national pride and will be hoping for a strong showing in 2018. With Russia National Football Team tickets here at StubHub you can see for yourself how Stanislav Cherchesov's team will fare on the world's biggest stage.
Russia National Football Team key players
The Russia national team is skippered by experienced goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev who now has 100 caps to his name. Russian's will be hoping that Akinfeev's experience and composure at the back will provide a solid foundation for the rest of the Russian team. Experienced midfielder Yuri Zhirkov is still playing and up front, the players will be looking to Aleksandr Kokorin and Artem Dzyuba to provide the goals especially after record scorer Aleksandr Kerzhakov's recent retirement in 2016.
Russia National Football Team history
After the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Russia National Football Team was founded. The team played their first international match against Mexico in 1992 (which they won 2-0). After the success of the Soviet Union football team, Russia qualified for the 1994 Football World Cup in the USA yet failed to progress from their group. After their first Football World Cup appearance, Russia struggled and, despite qualifying for the 2002 edition, there were several managerial changes in this period.
Russia's star began to brighten with a brilliant performance in the Euro 2008 which saw them defeat Greece and Sweden in the group stage and then an Andrei Arshavin-inspired display saw Russia beat the Netherlands 3-1 in the quarter-finals. The Russia National Football Team crashed out in the semi-finals to eventual winners Spain, but this display brought hope to the nation and pride back to the national team. See the pride of Russia in action with Russia National Football Team tickets today.
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