By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ANKARA

The FIFA World Cup 2018 will kick off on June 14, Thursday, with host Russia taking on Saudi Arabia in Group A.

Group A consists of Russia, Egypt, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. 

Russia automatically qualified for the World Cup for being the host; the team participated in the 2017 Confederations Cup and played international friendlies to prepare for the tournament.

They competed against Mexico, New Zealand and Portugal in Confederations Cup Group A but failed to advance after collecting only three points.

Russia displayed a poor showing in the international friendlies, they lost to Brazil, France, Austria and drew against Turkey.

The hosts managed to qualify for three World Cups since their independence in 1991, but never made it through the group stage phase.

Confirmed 23-men squad for Russia:

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Gabulov (Club Brugge), Andrei Lunev (Zenit)

Defenders: Vladimir Granat, Fedor Kudryashov (Rubin Kazan), Ilya Kutepov (Spartak Moscow), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit), Sergey Ignashevich, Mario Fernandez (CSKA Moscow), Andrey Semenov (Akhmat Grozny)

Midfielders: Yuri Gazinsky (Krasnodar), Alexander Golovin, Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Alexander Erokhin, Yuri Zhirkov, Daler Kuzyaev (Zenit), Roman Zobnin, Alexander Samedov (Spartak Moscow), Anton Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal)

Forwards: Artem Dzyuba (Arsenal Tula), Alexei Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Fedor Smolov (Krasnodar) 

Manager: Stanislav Cherchesov