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On Friday, Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup draw giving Russia the chance to showcase the cities and stadiums that will host the 32 teams next June and July.
In a new simplified format, the teams were placed in pots one to four from highest to lowest FIFA ranking with the exception of Russia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, who were automatically in pot one alongside the top seeds. Each pot was emptied one by one into eight groups containing four teams each.
Thus, hosts Russia will kick off next year’s World Cup finals versus Saudi Arabia in Moscow and defending champions Germany will start against Mexico .
“Mexico plays aggressive football, we can cope well with Sweden and we know what to expect given they eliminated Italy . South Korea is a strong team,” said Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer regarding Group F.
Five-times winners Brazil will face Switzerland in their first Group E match with Costa Rica and Serbia making up one of the tougher-looking of the eight groups.
European champions Portugal will play Iberian neighbors Spain in their first match in Group B, while Argentina was placed in Group D with newcomers Iceland , Croatia , and Nigeria .
England
will face the other debut nation Panama in Group G in which Belgium are the top seeds.
“The most coveted trophy will be won by the team showing the most resilience,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said shortly before Russia’s opponents were revealed. “I would like to wish success to all the teams and I call upon all loyal fans to come to Russia and enjoy the finals of 2018.”
The month-long tournament, taking place across 11 host cities from Kaliningrad in the west to Ekaterinburg , 2,500km away in the east, begins on June 14 .
It will involve 64 matches in total with the final taking place in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on July 15 .
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