FIFA World Cup 2018

 What is FIFA World Cup? –

• FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, abbreviated as FIFA, acts as the global governing body.
• The FIFA World Cup 2018 is an International Football Competition contested by the various National Teams.
• This Football World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world.
• It is also the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games; the cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet.
• The Host Nation for the 2018 World Cup is Russia and Defending Champion is Germanywinning its fourth title at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
• The FIFA World Cuptakes place every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930. However, the FIFA World Cup was not held in 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War.

FIFA 2018 Opening Ceremony –

• The FIFA World Cup 2018 has started on 14th June 2018.
• As Russia gets ready to host the prestigious event, fans from all over the world are set to see the prominent superstars in action.
• Brazilian player Ronaldoand British Pop Star Robbie Williams will be attending the opening ceremony. Robbie Williams will sing alongside Russian soprano Aida Garifullina shortly before Russia face Saudi Arabia in the first match of the FIFA World Cup 2018 at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
• The Official Mascotof FIFA World Cup 2018, Zabivaka, is all set to celebrate the opening ceremony.

FIFA Format and Winning History –

• The format of the competition involves a Qualification Phase. It takes place over the preceding three years to determine which teams qualify for the World Cup. The Host Nation automatically qualifies for the World Cup.
• Thirty two teams compete in the World Cup for the title at venues within the Host Nation. The FIFA World Cup matches take place during a period of about a month.
• The 20 World Cup tournaments have been won by 8 National Teams.Brazil have won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Germany and Italy, with four titles each; Argentina and inaugural winner Uruguay, with two titles each; and England, France and Spain, with one title each.

Here’s the list of Host Nations and Winners of all the FIFA World Cup.

FIFA World Cup 2018 Groups –

All the competing National Teams will be divided into 8 groups.

FIFA 2018 Match Fixtures –

FIFA 2018 Knockouts –