In the much more immediate future, though, the best players and countries in world football will head to Russia hoping to be crowned world champions. Here is everything you need to know about the 2018 tournament.
The second stage of phase one began on November 16 and concluded on November 28. During this period, tickets were allocated to applicants on a first-come, first-served basis.
Julen Lopeteguis side have won nine of their 10 qualifiers, eventually finishing five points clear of Italy.
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If Didier Deschamps can mould his hugely talented France team into a coherent unit,Antoine GriezmannandPaul Pogbawill have the chance to flourish andSergio Ramos, you would imagine, will be central to any Spain revival.
The World Cup is being hosted in Russia. The tournament will be played in 12 stadiums across 11 cities, all of which are in or just outside European Russia to reduce travel times.
Germany qualified at the top of their group with a perfect record, scoring 43 goals in 10 games.
Euro 2016 finalistsFranceare also fancied to be in contention as their new generation of stars mature into a formidable unit.
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The groups for the World Cup finals were drawn onDecember 1, 2017in Moscow, at the State Kremlin Palace inside the Moscow Kremlin.
The second stage of phase two begins on March 13 and ends on April 3, with tickets being allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Fox and Telemundo outbid ESPN (English) and Univision (Spanish), who had bought the rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups for a combined $425m and hoped to hold on to them.
As was the case for the World Cup in 2014, BBC and ITV will share the TV rights to the tournament in the UK.
Both BBC One and ITV will broadcast the final, with the rest of the knockout stage and the group stage split. In 2014, the BBC had first pick of the round-of-16 and semi-final matches, while ITV chose first in the quarter-finals.
According to theNew York Times, Fox paid $400m for the rights and Telemundo paid $600m.
The original Telstar was used for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico and a slightly different Telstar design was also used in the 1974 World Cup in then-West Germany.
Former England internationalGary Linekerconducted the draw along with Russian sports journalistMaria Komandnaya.
And the 2018 tournament is particularly notable for being the last before the current World Cup status quo becomes a distant memory.
The first match of the World Cup will involve hosts Russia and kick off onThursday, June 14, 2018at 18:00 local time (16:00 BST). It will be against Saudi Arabia in Group A and take place at the Luzhniki Stadium, which will also be the venue for the final.
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It was officially unveiled on November 9with Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi helping to launch the product.
BrazilandSpainhave jumped ahead of France in the betting on the back of more impressive qualifying campaigns.
Defending championsGermanyare currently favourites to win the World Cup withdabblebet.
The individual tickets are split up into four categories and the prices for each category – converted to British pounds from U.S. dollars – are shown below. Tickets from category four are only available to Russian residents, and have been converted from rubles.
The draw for the 2018 World Cup took place on December 1, 2017 and served up a number of very interesting encounters.
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Neymarwas having a superb World Cup before he was injured in the quarter-finals in 2014, and seems to find another level when he plays for his country as the undisputed star of the team.
Ten of the 12 stadiums are either brand new or have been built within the past five years. The only exceptions are the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and Central Stadium in Yekaterinburg, both of which have been renovated extensively for the tournament.
The 2018 edition of the World Cup kicks off on June 14 as hosts Russia take on Saudi Arabia in the opening game. Each group then has six games before the top two progress to the knockout stage which begins on June 30.
You can see images of and find out more about each stadiumin our complete stadium guide for the tournament.
The official match ball for the 2018 World Cup is theAdidas Telstar 18. As with a lot of Adidas products this year, the Telstar 18 is a reimagining of a classic design.
The 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup will take place in the summer of 2018 in Russia.
The full list of teams that have qualified for the World Cup finals can be found below. For a full continent-by-continent breakdown,check out our comprehensive guide to the qualification spots.
I was lucky enough to get to know this ball a bit earlier and I managed to have a try with it, Messi said. I like all of it: the new design, the colours, everything.
Panama will face two of the favourites in Group G, taking on Belgium and England before facing Tunisia in their final group game.
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Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe are just some of the stars Les Bleus will be relying on but Didier Deschamps side had to wait until their final qualifying match to win their group.
Tickets went on sale intwo phases, which were each divided into two stages. The first stage ofphase onebegan on September 14 and ended on October 12. During this stage, it did not make a difference what day applications were submitted; they all had the same chance of success, with notification to be delivered by November 16.
Since then, Ronaldo, Oliver Kahn, Zinedine Zidane and Messi have all been runners up at the tournament and Diego Forlan lost in the third-place play-off with Uruguay.
Argentinaare also rated as contenders despite their dreadful qualification campaign, whileBelgium,ItalyandEnglandare all outside bets to win the tournament.
Tickets for the World Cup went on sale on Thursday, September 14 /tickets. According to FIFA, fans will not only be able to buy individual tickets but also ticket packages for multiple matches involving a specific team or host city.
Spain are looking to bounce back from a meagre few years which saw them eliminated at the group stage of the 2014 World Cup and knocked out in the round of 16 at Euro 2016.
That will be the only game on the opening day, but after that there will be three or four games played per day for the duration of the group stage.
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There will also be a last-minute sales phase, which will run from April 18 to July 15 – the day of the World Cup final.
Local rivals Portugal and Spain were both selected in Group B, while familiar foes Argentina and Nigeria will face off once again at the World Cup.
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As always after the World Cup draw, pundits nickname the most difficult pool as the group of death with Group D the most popular choice due to its composition of four strong teams that could realistically make it through to the knockout stage.
The last day of the group stage is June 28, with England and Belgium facing off in Kaliningrad. By that time, both teams may have qualified already, but if not, it is sure to be a mouth-watering finale to Group G.
After that, the World Cup will complete its expansion – opposed by many fans – to 48 teams and is likely to be held across three countries for the first time in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.
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Most tickets will be sold in advance online, but last-minute tickets for games that have not already sold out will also be available to buy during the tournament at sales centres in Russia.HOW CAN I WATCH THE WORLD CUP ON TV?
You can check out our in-depth look at the drawhere.
Goal has all the information you need to know as the 21st edition of the most-watched sporting event on earth draws nearer and nearer
World Cup 2018: Fixtures, draw, tickets & your complete guide to the finals in Russia
Brazil boast attacking talent in abudance, with Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino forming a dangerous front three, but have also found an unlikely new star in Barcelonas Paulinho, who, despite flopping at Tottenham, has been a revelation for his country.
All of the final four matches of the World Cup will be played at either the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow or the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg.
The State Kremlin Palace was originally built on the orders of Nikita Khrushchev for Communist Party meetings, but since the fall of the Soviet Union it has become a concert hall. The Kremlin as a whole is a fortified complex that includes the residence of Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation.
The first huge game of the tournament takes place on the second day with Portugal taking on Spain in Sochi. One of the games on June 17 is a repeat of the 2017 Confederations Cup semi-final with Germany facing Mexico at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Joachim Lows side won 4-1 in that game before going on to defeat Chile in the final, and Mexico will be looking for revenge in Russia.
Interestingly, though, the Golden Ball has not been won by a player from the World Cup winners since 1994, when Romario was awarded it as Brazil lifted the trophy for a fourth time.
Thomas Mullerwas the runner up to Messi and could be prominent again if Germany can repeat as world champions, withToni KroosandManuel Neueralso likely to be integral toDie Mannschafts hopes.
There is no bigger sporting event on earth than footballs quadrennial international championship, which draws more television viewers than even the Olympic Games.
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Joachim Low will be without former captain Philipp Lahm, who has retired, in Russia and Bastian Schweinsteiger is unlikely to be involved having left Europe for MLS, but he still boasts a star-studded cast of players that includes Manuel Neuer, Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller.
In the US, Fox will broadcast the World Cup in English and Telemundo will air the tournament in Spanish. Their combined $1 billion deal also includes the 2022 World Cup and Womens World Cups in 2015 and 2019.
Phase twobegan after the draw for the World Cup, with a random-selection approach – like in the first stage of phase one – applied for the first period between December 5 to January 31.
It is hard to look pastCristiano RonaldoandLionel Messiwhen it comes to Golden Ball favourites, with Messi having won the prize despite suffering defeat in the final with Argentina in 2014.
They have struck another two-tournament, combined deal with FIFA that will also see them air the 2022 competition. The cost of that deal is unknown, but their previous agreement – for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups – was worth 220 million.
In 2022, the trophy will head to Asia for a controversial tournament in Qatar that will be the first to be played outside of the European summer due to concerns over the countrys climate.
The tournament ends onSunday, July 15, with the final kicking off at 18:00 in Moscow (16:00 BST). The third-place play-off is a day earlier, and the two semi-finals will take place on July 10 and 11.
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