Football World Cup 2018 / Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Uruguay Uruguay	3	3	0	005-000	+5	09
2.	Russia Russia	3	2	1	008: 400	+4	06th
3.	Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia	3	1	2	002: 700	−5	03
4th	Egypt Egypt	3	0	3	002: 600	−4	00

Group A of the Football World Cup 2018 :

Russia - Saudi Arabia 5: 0 (2: 0)

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Lineup

1st matchday

June 14, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. CEST ) in Moscow ( Luzhniki Olympic Stadium )

Spectators: 78,011

Referee: Néstor Pitana ( Argentina ) ¹

Match report

Igor Akinfejew - Mário Fernandes , Ilja Kutepow , Sergei Ignaschewitsch , Juri Schirkow - Juri Gasinski , Roman Sobnin - Alexander Samedow (64th Daler Kusjajew ), Alan Dzagojew (24th Denis Cheryshev ), Alexander Golowin - Fyodor Smolow (70th Artyom ) Coach: Stanislav Cherchessov

Abdullah Al-Mayouf - Mohammed Al-Breik , Osama Hawsawi , Omar Hawsawi , Yasser Al-Shahrani - Salman Al-Faraj , Abdullah Otayf (64th Fahad Al-Muwallad ), Taisir Al-Jassim , Salem Al-Dawsari , Yahya Al- Shehri (72nd Hattan Bahebri ) - Mohammad Al-Sahlawi (85th Mohannad Aseri ) Coach: Juan Antonio Pizzi ( Spain )

1: 0 Gasinsky (12th)

2: 0 Cheryshev (43rd)

3: 0 Dzyuba (71st)

4: 0 Cheryshev (90th + 1 ′)

5: 0 Golovin (90th + 4 ′)

Golovin (88.)

Al-Jassim (90th + 3 ′)

Player of the Match: Denis Cheryshev (Russia)

The Luzhniki Olympic Stadium before the opening game

¹Assistants: Hernán Maidana and Juan Pablo Belatti , fourth official: Sandro Ricci Video assistants: Massimiliano Irrati (VAR), Mauro Vigliano (AVAR1), Carlos Astroza (AVAR2), Daniele Orsato (AVAR3)

For the first time since the introduction of the FIFA world rankings , the host of the World Cup was the worst placed participant in the FIFA world rankings at the time of the draw and immediately before the tournament. In the opening game, the Russians faced the second-worst placed participant Saudi Arabia, which was the first Asian team to play a World Cup opening game, and won.

At the start of the tournament, Russia achieved the highest victory ever in an official World Cup opening game with a 5-0 win. It is noteworthy that three goals were scored by substitutes. Denis Tscheryschew, who was later elected man of the game, came into the game due to an early injury to Alan Dzagojew, which he suffered in a counterattack without outside influence, and made the preliminary decision with his goal to make it 2-0 shortly before the break. Saudi Arabia barely managed to create scoring chances during the entire season and allowed the hosts a clear opening win with numerous individual mistakes.

Egypt - Uruguay 0: 1 (0: 0)

Egypt

Uruguay

Lineup

1st matchday

June 15, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. CEST ) in Yekaterinburg ( Central Stadium )

Spectators: 27,015

Referee: Björn Kuipers ( Netherlands ) ²

Match report

Ahmed El-Shenawy - Ahmed Fathy , Ali Gabr , Ahmed Hegazy , Mohamed Abdel-Shafy - Tarek Hamed (50th Sam Morsy ), Mohamed Elneny - Amr Warda (83rd Ramadan Sobhi ), Abdallah Said , Trezeguet - Marwan Mohsen (63. Kahraba ) Coach: Héctor Cúper ( Argentina )

Fernando Muslera - Guillermo Varela , José María Giménez , Diego Godín , Martín Cáceres - Nahitan Nández (58th Carlos Sánchez ), Matías Vecino (87th Lucas Torreira ), Rodrigo Bentancur , Giorgian De Arrascaeta (59th Cristian Rodríguez ) - Luis Suárez , Edinson Cavani Coach: Óscar Tabarez

0: 1 Giménez (89.)

Morsy (90. + 4 ′), Hegazy (90. + 6 ′)

Player of the Match: Ahmed El-Shenawy (Egypt)

²Assistants: Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra , fourth official: Milorad Mažić Video assistants: Danny Makkelie (VAR), Paweł Gil (AVAR1), Cyril Gringore (AVAR2), Clément Turpin (AVAR3)

Uruguay scored the winning goal late. Against the very defensive Egyptians, the favorite could not bring their playful superiority to advantage, there was also an insufficient exploitation of chances, especially in the person of Luis Suárez, and a good performance by Egyptian goalkeeper El-Shenawy. A minute after Cavani hit the inside post with a free kick, Giménez scored the winning goal with a header.