Russian president Vladimir Putin declared the World Cup open.
The FIFA World Cup 2018 has officialy begun. Russian president Vladimir Putin declared the World Cup open after a glittering opening ceremony on Thursday.
He addressed the crowd and the two teams - Russia and Saudi Arabia - before the opening match. Putin welcomed all present to “the planet’s biggest football tournament” and said that Russia are seriously happy to host in the country. Putin, in his long speech, talked about the great power of football.
The 15-minute show produced by Russia's state Channel One broke from World Cup tradition, focusing on musical acts including a performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky in front of full stands at the capital's main Luzhniki stadium.
Iker Casillas and Russian supermodel and philanthropist Natalia Vodianova brought the World Cup trophy onto the pitch in a Louis Vuitton travel case.
Robbie Williams performed hits "Let Me Entertain You" and "Rock DJ" accompanied by dancers and freestylers.
He was joined in a duet by Garifullina, a soloist from the Vienna State Opera, who entered the pitch on a firebird, singing Williams' hit song "Angels".
The quadrennial month-long event will see 32 nations, divided into eight groups, competing in 64 games over 32 days and fighting it out for the coveted trophy.
The matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup will be played out in 12 stadiums, located in 11 cities and spread over 1,800 miles across Russia.
The showpiece event will begin with hosts Russia crossing swords with Saudi Arabia in the Group A in the opening match.
Russia, who are tournament's lowest-placed team at the 70th spot in the FIFA's World Rankings, are heading into the showpiece event in full strength, but they are yet to win a friendly in 2018.
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, are placed at the 67th position and are entering the tournament on the back of their World Cup preparations in an international friendly with Italy. Saudi Arabia went on to lose that match 0-1.
Germany are the defending champions, with five-time winners Brazil emerging as favourites.
Top stars like Argentine Lionel Messi, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Egypt's Mohamed Salah will all be taking part in the tournament and looking to guide their respective teams to glory.
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