FIFA World Cup

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the 21st quadrennial international soccer tournament. It is played by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Russia from June 14 to July 15 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights on December 2, 2010.

This will be the first World Cup held in Europe since the 2006 tournament in Germany, and the first ever to be held in Eastern Europe. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities. All of the stadium venues are in European Russia to keep travel time manageable.

The tournament will involve 32 national teams. This includes 31 teams determined through qualifying competitions and the automatically qualified host team. Of the 32 teams, 20 will be making back-to-back appearances following the last tournament in 2014, including defending champions Germany, while Iceland and Panama will both be making their first appearances at a World Cup.

The final will take place on July 15 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. From June 17 to July 2, 2017, Russia will host another FIFA tournament, the Confederations Cup where 8 teams will participate. The winners of the World Cup will automatically qualify for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Each host city will be represented by elected ambassadors who were either born in those cities, or are somehow related to them. The ambassadors of the World Cup promote sports and healthy lifestyle and promote the World Cup.

Apart from soccer matches, guests will also be able to visit FIFA Fan Fests which are public viewing events organized by FIFA and its partners. These areas are the perfect way to safely and conveniently watch live coverage of the games between the best teams in the world.