World Cup 2018 kicks off today

Baku. 14 June. REPORT.AZ/ 2018 FIFA World Cup  will start today in Moscow, the capital of Russia.

Report informs, the opening ceremony beginning at 18:30 Baku time will be held at the Luzhniki stadium. Robbie Williams and Russian opera singer Aida Garifullina will perform at the event.

The ceremony will be attended by more than 20 heads of state, including the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. The first match of the World Cup will be between the Russian and Saudi Arabian national teams. The match will begin at 19:00 Baku time.

World Championship matches finishing on July 15, will be held in 12 stadiums of 11 Russian cities: Moscow ("Luzhniki" and "Spartak"), Kaliningrad ("Kaliningrad" stadium), St Petersburg (St Petersburg Stadium), Nizhny Novgorod ("Volgograd Arena"), Kazan ("Kazan Arena"), Samara ("Samara Arena"), Saransk ("Mordovia Arena"), Rostov-Don (Rostov Arena), Sochi ("Fisht" Stadium) and Yekaterinburg ("Yekaterinburg Arena").

Besides hosting country Russia, Germany, England, Belgium, Iceland, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, France, Switzerland, Croatia, Sweden and Denmark will also represent Europe at the World Cup 2018.

Five countries from South American - Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina and Peru have qualified to the tournament, while 3 countries- Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama from Northern Central America and the Caribbean.

Africa will be represented by Nigeria, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia at the World Cup where Asian zone will be represented with the same number of countries- Iran, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia.