2018 FIFA World Cup
On the 2nd of December 2010, the FIFA Executive Committee gathered in Zürich to vote for the host of the 2018 tournament. Russia won the right to host after securing nine votes in the second round of voting. The Portugal and Spain bid received seven votes, while the Belgium and Netherlands joint bid took four. England was eliminated in the first round with only two votes. This decision sparked immediate controversy regarding corruption allegations that followed.
The bidding process began in January 2009 when national associations had until the 2nd of February 2009 to register their interest. Nine countries initially placed bids for the event. Mexico later withdrew from the proceedings, and Indonesia's bid was rejected by FIFA in February 2010 after the Indonesian government failed to submit a letter to support the bid. During the bidding process, three non-UEFA nations gradually withdrew from the 2018 bids. Australia, Japan, and the United States all pulled out before the final vote.
Corruption allegations emerged shortly after the awarding of rights. Four members of the executive committee were accused of requesting bribes to vote for England. Sepp Blatter stated it had already been arranged before the vote that Russia would win. FIFA appointed Michael J. Garcia, a US attorney, to investigate these claims. Although the report was never published, FIFA released a 42-page summary determined by German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert. Eckert's summary cleared Russia and Qatar of any wrongdoing but was denounced by critics as a whitewash.
For the first time in history, all eligible nations applied to enter the qualifying process except automatically qualified hosts Russia. The first qualification game between Timor-Leste and Mongolia began in Dili on the 12th of March 2015 as part of the AFC's qualification. The main qualifying draw took place at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, on the 25th of July 2015. Of the 32 nations qualified to play, 20 countries competed at the previous tournament in 2014.
Iceland and Panama qualified for the first time, with Iceland becoming the smallest country in terms of population to reach the World Cup. Egypt returned to the finals after their last appearance in 1990 while Morocco returned after missing out since 1998. Peru came back following an absence since 1982. Senegal competed for the second time after reaching the quarter-finals in 2002. Poland, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Sweden returned after 12 years.
Several major teams failed to qualify for this edition. Italy missed out for the first time since 1958. The Netherlands failed to qualify for the first time since 2002. The United States did not advance for the first time since 1986. Chile could not advance despite being two-time Copa América champions and 2017 Confederations Cup runners-up. Ghana and Ivory Coast all failed to qualify after making the three previous tournaments.
At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, the 2018 FIFA event was the most expensive World Cup in history. The Russian government had originally earmarked a budget of around $20 billion which was later slashed to $10 billion for preparations. Half was spent on transportation infrastructure as part of the program to prepare for the tournament. A federal sub-program called Construction and Renovation of Transport Infrastructure was implemented with a total budget of ₽352.5 billion rubles.
Twelve stadiums in eleven Russian cities were built or renovated for the competition. Between 2010 when Russia were announced as hosts and 2018, nine of the twelve stadiums were built while the other three were renovated. Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow hosted seven matches including the final on the 15th of July at 18:00 MSK. Saint Petersburg's Krestovsky Stadium also hosted seven matches including the first semi-final on the 10th of July.
Construction projects faced delays and cancellations throughout the process. In October 2011, Russia reduced the number of stadiums from 16 to 14. Construction of the proposed Podolsk stadium in the Moscow Oblast was cancelled by the regional government. Otkritie Arena competed with Dynamo Stadium over which would be constructed first. The final choice of host cities was announced on the 29th of September 2012 reducing the number further to 11 cities.
Russia played in the opening match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on the 14th of June against Saudi Arabia. These were the two lowest-ranked teams of the tournament at the time of the final draw. Germany, the reigning champions, were eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1938. Host nation Russia was eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing to Croatia.
In the final match on the 15th of July, France played Croatia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. France won the match 4, 2 claiming their second World Cup title. This victory made them the fourth consecutive European team to win the tournament following Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010, and Germany in 2014. A winning streak for teams representing the same continent extended the record broken four years earlier.
Croatian player Luka Modrić was voted the tournament's best player winning the Golden Ball award. England's Harry Kane won the Golden Boot as he scored the most goals during the tournament with six. Belgium's Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove awarded to the goalkeeper with the best performance. More than 3 million people attended games during the tournament.
On the 16th of March 2018, the International Football Association Board incorporated video assistant referees into the Laws of the game. The FIFA Council took the step of approving the use of VAR for the first time in a FIFA World Cup tournament shortly after this decision. VAR operations for all games were operated from a single headquarters in Moscow which received live video of the games.
VAR had a significant impact on several matches throughout the competition. On the 15th of June 2018, Diego Costa's first goal against Portugal became the first World Cup goal based on a VAR decision. The first penalty as a result of a VAR decision was awarded to France in their match against Australia on the 16th of June and resulted in a goal by Antoine Griezmann. A record number of penalties were awarded in the tournament partially attributed to VAR technology.
FIFA declared the implementation of VAR a success after the first week of competition. Overall the new technology was both praised and criticised by commentators. International Football Association Board technical director David Elleray stated belief that fewer red cards since 1978 was due to the introduction of VAR since players would know they could not get away with anything under the new system.
A combined 3.572 billion unique viewers tuned in to world football's ultimate competition according to audience data for official broadcast coverage. The average global live audience for every game of the tournament was 191 million viewers for a cumulative live audience of 12.224 billion viewers. This represented a 2.1% increase over the 2014 tournament average of 187 million viewers.
The 2018 World Cup was the first men's World Cup whose English rights were held by Fox Sports while Spanish rights were held by Telemundo in the United States. Viewership was down overall compared to 2014 as match scheduling and time zones were not as favourable to viewers in the Americas. Many games aired in morning hours although Telemundo's broadcast of the Mexico-Sweden Group F match was announced as being its most-watched weekday daytime program in network history.
Broadcasting rights to the tournament in the Middle East were hampered by an ongoing diplomatic crisis in Qatar. Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates cut diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017 over alleged state support of terrorist groups. beIN pulled its channels from Du and Etisalat on the 2nd of June 2018 but service to the latter was restored later that day. In Saudi Arabia, beIN was banned from doing business so its channels have been widely repackaged by a broadcaster identifying itself as beoutQ.
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Common questions
When did Russia win the right to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup?
Russia won the right to host the tournament on the 2nd of December 2010 after securing nine votes in the second round of voting. The decision followed a bidding process that began in January 2009 and involved multiple countries including Portugal, Spain, Belgium, and Netherlands.
Which teams qualified for the first time in the 2018 FIFA World Cup?
Iceland and Panama qualified for the first time in history with Iceland becoming the smallest country by population to reach the finals. Egypt returned to the finals after their last appearance in 1990 while Morocco returned after missing out since 1998.
Who won the final match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and when was it played?
France won the final match against Croatia on the 15th of July at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow with a score of four goals to two. This victory made France the fourth consecutive European team to win the tournament following Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010, and Germany in 2014.
How much did the 2018 FIFA World Cup cost to organize?
The event had an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion making it the most expensive World Cup in history. The Russian government originally earmarked a budget of around $20 billion which was later slashed to $10 billion for preparations before half was spent on transportation infrastructure.
When was video assistant referee technology first used in the 2018 FIFA World Cup?
VAR operations were implemented during the tournament starting from the match between Russia and Saudi Arabia on the 14th of June. Diego Costa's goal against Portugal on the 15th of June became the first World Cup goal based on a VAR decision while the first penalty awarded via VAR occurred in the match between France and Australia on the 16th of June.