IFFA World Cup 2012

2018 FIFA World Cup

Чемпионат мира по футболу FIFA 2018 Chempionat mira po futbolu FIFA 2018
Template:Logo size The official emblem
Tournament details
Host country	Russia
Dates	14 June – 15 July
Teams	32 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	12 (in 11 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Template:Country data FRA (2nd title)
Runners-up	Template:Country data CRO
Third place	Template:Country data BEL
Fourth place	Template:Country data ENG
Tournament statistics
Matches played	64
Goals scored	169 (2.64 per match)
Attendance	3,031,768 (47,371 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Template:Fbicon Harry Kane (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Template:Fbicon Luka Modrić
Best young player	Template:Fbicon Kylian Mbappé
Best goalkeeper	Template:Fbicon Thibaut Courtois
Fair play award	Template:Country data ESP

The 2018 FIFA World Cup was an international football tournament contested by men's national teams and took place between 14 June and 15 July 2018 in Russia. It was the 21st FIFA World Cup, a worldwide football tournament held once every four years. It was the 11th time the championships had been held in Europe, and the first time they were held in Eastern Europe. At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it was the most expensive World Cup to date.

The finals involved 32 teams, of which 31 came through qualifying competitions, while as the host nation Russia qualified automatically. Of the 32, 20 had also appeared in the 2014 event, while both Iceland and Panama made their first appearances at the World Cup. 64 matches were played in 12 venues across 11 cities. Germany, the defending champions, were eliminated in the group stage. Host nation Russia was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In the final, France played Croatia on 15 July at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. France won the match 4–2 to claim their second World Cup.

The event featured a number of accolades. Croatian player Luka Modrić was voted the tournament's best player winning the Golden Ball. England's Harry Kane scored the most goals during the tournament with six. Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove awarded to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets. The event was praised for the quality of football but criticised for being a distraction from doping allegations and public relations within Russia. It has been estimated that more than three million people attended games during the tournament.

Host selection

Main article: Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup bid

Russian bid personnel celebrate the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia on 2 December 2010.

President Vladimir Putin holding the FIFA World Cup Trophy at a pre-tournament ceremony in Moscow on 9 September 2017

The 100-ruble commemorative banknote celebrates the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It features an image of Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin.

The bidding procedure to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup tournaments began in January 2009, and national associations had until 2 February 2009 to register their interest. Initially, nine countries placed bids for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but 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, the three remaining non-UEFA nations (Australia, Japan, and the United States) gradually withdrew from the 2018 bids, and thus were ruled out of the 2022 bid. As such, there were eventually four bids for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, two of which were joint bids: England, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium, and Portugal/Spain.

The 22-member FIFA Executive Committee convened in Zürich on 2 December 2010 to vote to select the hosts of both tournaments. Russia won the right to be the 2018 host in the second round of voting. The Portugal/Spain bid came second, and that from Belgium/Netherlands third. England, which was bidding to host its second tournament, was eliminated in the first round.

The voting results were:

2018 FIFA bidding (majority 12 votes)

Bidders	Votes
	Round 1	Round 2
Russia	9	13
Portugal / Spain	7	7
Belgium / Netherlands	4	2
England	2	Template:No result

Teams

Draw

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup seeding

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Template:Country data RUS (65) (hosts) Germany (1) Template:Country data BRA (2) Template:Country data POR (3) Template:Country data ARG (4) Template:Country data BEL (5) Template:Country data POL (6) Template:Country data FRA (7)	Template:Country data ESP (8) Template:Country data PER (10) Template:Country data SUI (11) Template:Country data ENG (12) Template:Country data COL (13) Template:Country data MEX (16) Template:Country data URU (17) Template:Country data CRO (18)	Template:Country data DEN (19) Template:Country data ISL (21) Template:Country data CRC (22) Template:Country data SWE (25) Template:Country data TUN (28) Template:Country data EGY (30) Template:Country data SEN (32) Template:Country data IRN (34)	Template:Country data SRB (38) Template:Country data NGA (41) Template:Country data AUS (43) Template:Country data JPN (44) Marabilla (48) Template:Country data PAN (49) Template:Country data KOR (62) Template:Country data KSA (63)

Officiating

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup officials

On 29 March 2018, FIFA released the list of 36 referees and 63 assistant referees selected to oversee matches. On 30 April 2018, FIFA released the list of 13 video assistant referees, who acted solely in this capacity in the tournament.

Referee Fahad Al-Mirdasi of Saudi Arabia was removed on 30 May 2018 over a match-fixing attempt, along with his two assistant referees, compatriots Mohammed Al-Abakry and Abdulah Al-Shalwai. A new referee was not appointed, but two assistant referees, Hasan Al Mahri of the United Arab Emirates and Hiroshi Yamauchi of Japan, were added to the list. Assistant referee Marwa Range of Kenya also withdrew after the BBC released an investigation conducted by a Ghanaian journalist which implicated him in a bribery scandal.

List of officials
Confederation	Referee	Assistant referees	Video assistant referees
AFC	Alireza Faghani (Iran)	Reza Sokhandan (Iran) Mohammadreza Mansouri (Iran)	Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
	Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)	Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan) Jakhongir Saidov (Uzbekistan)
	Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)	Mohamed Al Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Hasan Al Mahri (United Arab Emirates)
	Ryuji Sato (Japan)	Toru Sagara (Japan) Hiroshi Yamauchi (Japan)
	Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)	Yaser Tulefat (Bahrain) Taleb Al Maari (Qatar)
CAF	Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria)	Anouar Hmila (Tunisia)
	Malang Diedhiou (Senegal)	Djibril Camara (Senegal) El Hadji Samba (Senegal)
	Bakary Gassama (Gambia)	Jean Claude Birumushahu (Burundi) Abdelhak Etchiali (Algeria)
	Gehad Grisha (Egypt)	Redouane Achik (Morocco) Waleed Ahmed (Sudan)
	Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)	Jerson Dos Santos (Angola) Zakhele Siwela (South Africa)
	Bamlak Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia)
CONCACAF	Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)	Juan Zumba (El Salvador) Juan Carlos Mora (Costa Rica)
	Mark Geiger (United States)	Frank Anderson (United States) Joe Fletcher (Canada)
	Jair Marrufo (United States)	Corey Rockwell (United States)
	Ricardo Montero (Costa Rica)
	John Pitti (Panama)	Gabriel Victoria (Panama)
	César Arturo Ramos (Mexico)	Marvin Torrentera (Mexico) Miguel Hernández (Mexico)
CONMEBOL	Julio Bascuñán (Chile)	Carlos Astroza (Chile) Christian Schiemann (Chile)	Wilton Sampaio (Brazil) Gery Vargas (Bolivia) Mauro Vigliano (Argentina)
	Enrique Cáceres (Paraguay)	Eduardo Cardozo (Paraguay) Juan Zorrilla (Paraguay)
	Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)	Nicolás Tarán (Uruguay) Mauricio Espinosa (Uruguay)
	Néstor Pitana (Argentina)	Hernán Maidana (Argentina) Juan Pablo Belatti (Argentina)
	Sandro Ricci (Brazil)	Emerson de Carvalho (Brazil) Marcelo Van Gasse (Brazil)
	Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)	Alexander Guzmán (Colombia) Cristian de la Cruz (Colombia)
OFC	Matthew Conger (New Zealand)	Simon Lount (New Zealand) Tevita Makasini (Tonga)
	Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)	Bertrand Brial (New Caledonia)
UEFA	Felix Brych (Germany)	Mark Borsch (Germany) Stefan Lupp (Germany)	Bastian Dankert (Germany) Artur Soares Dias (Portugal) Paweł Gil (Poland) Massimiliano Irrati (Italy) Tiago Martins (Portugal) Danny Makkelie (Netherlands) Daniele Orsato (Italy) Paolo Valeri (Italy) Felix Zwayer (Germany)
	Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)	Bahattin Duran (Turkey) Tarık Ongun (Turkey)
	Sergei Karasev (Russia)	Anton Averianov (Russia) Tikhon Kalugin (Russia)
	Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)	Sander van Roekel (Netherlands) Erwin Zeinstra (Netherlands)
	Szymon Marciniak (Poland)	Paweł Sokolnicki (Poland) Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland)
	Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)	Pau Cebrián Devís (Spain) Roberto Díaz Pérez (Spain)
	Milorad Mažić (Serbia)	Milovan Ristić (Serbia) Dalibor Đurđević (Serbia)
	Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)	Elenito Di Liberatore (Italy) Mauro Tonolini (Italy)
	Damir Skomina (Slovenia)	Jure Praprotnik (Slovenia) Robert Vukan (Slovenia)
	Clément Turpin (France)	Cyril Gringore (France) Nicolas Danos (France)

Video assistant referees

Shortly after the International Football Association Board's decision to incorporate video assistant referees (VARs) into the Laws of the game (LOTG) on 16 March 2018, the FIFA Council took the much-anticipated step of approving the use of VAR for the first time in a FIFA World Cup tournament.

VAR operations for all games were operated from a single headquarters in Moscow, which received live video of the games and were in radio contact with the on-field referees. Systems were in place for communicating VAR-related information to broadcasters and visuals on stadiums' large screens were used for the fans in attendance.

VAR had a significant impact on several games. On 15 June 2018, Diego Costa's 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 16 June and resulted in a goal by Antoine Griezmann. A record number of penalties were awarded in the tournament, a phenomenon partially attributed to VAR. Overall, the new technology was both praised and criticised by commentators. FIFA declared the implementation of VAR a success after the first week of competition.

Venues

Russia proposed the following host cities: Kaliningrad, Kazan, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, and Yekaterinburg. Each city was located in European Russia, except Yekaterinburg, which is located very close to the Europe-Asia border, to reduce travel time for the teams in the huge country. The bid evaluation report stated: "The Russian bid proposes 13 host cities and 16 stadiums, thus exceeding FIFA's minimum requirement. Three of the 16 stadiums would be renovated, and 13 would be newly constructed."

In October 2011, Russia reduced the number of stadiums from 16 to 14. Construction of the proposed Podolsk stadium in the Moscow region was cancelled by the regional government. Also, in the capital, Otkritie Arena was competing with Dynamo Stadium over which would be constructed first.

The final choice of host cities was announced on 29 September 2012. The number of cities was reduced further to 11 and the number of stadiums to 12 as Krasnodar and Yaroslavl were dropped from the final list. Of the 12 stadiums used for the tournament, three (Luzhniki, Yekaterinburg and Sochi) had been extensively renovated and the other nine were brand new; $11.8 billion was spent on hosting the tournament.

Sepp Blatter had said in July 2014 that, given the concerns over the completion of venues in Russia, the number of venues for the tournament may be reduced from 12 to 10. He also said, "We are not going to be in a situation, as is the case of one, two or even three stadiums in South Africa, where it is a problem of what you do with these stadiums".

Reconstruction of the Yekaterinburg Central Stadium in January 2017

In October 2014, on their first official visit to Russia, FIFA's inspection committee and its head, Chris Unger, visited St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan and both Moscow venues. They were satisfied with the progress. On 8 October 2015, FIFA and the local organising committee agreed on the official names of the stadiums to be used during the tournament. Of the twelve venues, the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and the Saint Petersburg Stadium—the two largest stadiums in Russia—were used most; both hosted seven matches. Sochi, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara each hosted six matches, including one quarter-final match each, while the Spartak Stadium in Moscow and Rostov-on-Don hosted five matches, including one round-of-16 match each. Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Yekaterinburg and Saransk each hosted four matches, but did not host any knockout stage games.

Stadiums

Exterior of Otkrytie Arena

in Moscow

Twelve stadiums in eleven Russian cities were built or renovated for the FIFA World Cup. Between 2010 (when Russia were announced as hosts) and 2018, nine of the 12 stadiums were built (some in place of older, outdated venues) and the other three were renovated for the tournament.

• Kaliningrad: Kaliningrad Stadium (new). The first piles were driven into the ground in September 2015. On 11 April 2018 it hosted its first match.
• Kazan: Kazan Arena (new). The stadium was built for the 2013 Summer Universiade. It has since hosted the 2015 World Aquatics Championships and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. It serves as a home arena for FC Rubin Kazan.
• Moscow: Luzhniki Stadium (renovated). The largest stadium in the country, it was closed for renovation in 2013. It was commissioned in November 2017.
• Moscow: Spartak Stadium (new). This stadium is the home arena to its namesake FC Spartak Moscow. In accordance with FIFA requirements, during the 2018 World Cup, it was called Spartak Stadium instead of its usual name Otkritie Arena. It hosted its first match on 5 September 2014.
• Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod Stadium (new). Construction of this stadium commenced in 2015 and was completed in December 2017.
• Rostov-on-Don: Rostov Arena (new). The stadium is located on the left bank of the Don. Construction was completed on 22 December 2017.
• Saint Petersburg: Saint Petersburg Stadium (new). Construction commenced in 2007 after the site, formerly occupied by Kirov Stadium, was cleared. The project was officially completed on 29 December 2016. It has hosted 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup games and will serve as a venue for UEFA Euro 2020.
• Samara: Samara Arena (new). Construction officially started on 21 July 2014 and was completed on 21 April 2018.
• Saransk: Mordovia Arena (new). The stadium in Saransk was scheduled to be commissioned in 2012 in time for the opening of the all-Russian Spartakiad, but the plan was revised. The opening was rescheduled to 2017. The arena hosted its first match on 21 April 2018.
• Sochi: Fisht Stadium (renovated). This stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Afterwards, it was renovated in preparation for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 World Cup.
• Volgograd: Volgograd Arena (new). The main Volgograd arena was built on the demolished Central Stadium site, at the foot of the Mamayev Kurgan memorial complex. It was commissioned on 3 April 2018.
• Yekaterinburg: Ekaterinburg Arena (renovated). The Central Stadium of Yekaterinburg had been renovated for the FIFA World Cup. Its stands have a capacity of 35,000 spectators. The renovation project was completed in December 2017.

Moscow		Saint Petersburg	Sochi
Luzhniki Stadium	Otkritie Arena (Spartak Stadium)	Krestovsky Stadium (Saint Petersburg Stadium)	Fisht Olympic Stadium (Fisht Stadium)
Capacity: 78,011	Capacity: 44,190	Capacity: 64,468	Capacity: 44,287
Volgograd			Rostov-on-Don
Volgograd Arena			Rostov Arena
Capacity: 43,713			Capacity: 43,472
Nizhny Novgorod			Kazan
Nizhny Novgorod Stadium			Kazan Arena
Capacity: 43,319			Capacity: 42,873
Samara	Saransk	Kaliningrad	Yekaterinburg
Samara Arena	Mordovia Arena	Kaliningrad Stadium	Central Stadium (Ekaterinburg Arena)
Capacity: 41,970	Capacity: 41,685	Capacity: 33,973	Capacity: 33,061

Team base camps

Base camps were used by the 32 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament. On 9 February 2018, FIFA announced the base camps for each participating team.

• Argentina: Bronnitsy, Moscow Oblast
• Australia: Kazan, Tatarstan
• Belgium: Krasnogorsky, Moscow Oblast
• Brazil: Sochi, Krasnodar Krai
• Colombia: Verkhneuslonsky, Tatarstan
• Costa Rica: Saint Petersburg
• Croatia: Roshchino, Leningrad Oblast
• Denmark: Anapa, Krasnodar Krai
• Egypt: Grozny, Chechnya
• England: Repino, Saint Petersburg
• France: Istra, Moscow Oblast
• Germany: Vatutinki, Moscow
• Iceland: Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai
• Iran: Bakovka, Moscow Oblast
• Japan: Kazan, Tatarstan
• Mexico: Khimki, Moscow Oblast
• Morocco: Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast
• Nigeria: Yessentuki, Stavropol Krai
• Panama: Saransk, Mordovia
• Peru: Moscow
• Poland: Sochi, Krasnodar Krai
• Portugal: Ramenskoye, Moscow Oblast
• Russia: Khimki, Moscow Oblast
• Saudi Arabia: Saint Petersburg
• Senegal: Kaluga, Kaluga Oblast
• Serbia: Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast
• South Korea: Saint Petersburg
• Spain: Krasnodar, Krasnodar Krai
• Sweden: Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai
• Switzerland: Togliatti, Samara Oblast
• Tunisia: Pervomayskoye, Moscow Oblast
• Uruguay: Bor, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

Preparation and costs

Budget

Scale model of the Volgograd Arena whose construction began in 2015.

At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion as of June 2018, the 2018 FIFA event was the most expensive World Cup in history, surpassing the cost of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The Russian government had originally earmarked a budget of around $20 billion, which was later slashed to $10 billion, for World Cup preparations. Half was spent on transportation infrastructure. As part of the program to prepare for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a federal sub-program—"Construction and Renovation of Transport Infrastructure"—was implemented with a total budget of ₽352.5 billion (rubles), with ₽170.3 billion coming from the federal budget, ₽35.1 billion from regional budgets, and ₽147.1 billion from investors. The biggest item of federal spending was the aviation infrastructure costing ₽117.8 billion. Construction of new hotels was a crucial area of infrastructure development in World Cup host cities. Costs continued to mount as preparations were underway.

Infrastructure spending

Platov International Airport in Rostov-on-Don was upgraded with automated air traffic control systems. Modern surveillance, navigation, communication, control, and meteorological support systems were also installed. Koltsovo Airport in Yekaterinburg was upgraded with radio-engineering tools for flight operation and received a second runway. Saransk Airport received a new navigation system; two new hotels were constructed in the city—the Mercure Saransk Centre (Accor Hotels) and Four Points by Sheraton Saransk (Starwood Hotels) as well as few other smaller accommodation facilities. In Samara, new tram lines were laid. Khrabrovo Airport in Kaliningrad was upgraded with radio navigation and weather equipment. Renovation and upgraded radio-engineering tools for flight operations was completed in the Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Volgograd, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Kazan and Sochi airports. On 27 March, the Russian Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector of reported that all communications within its area of responsibility had been commissioned. The last facility commissioned was a waste treatment station in Volgograd. In Yekaterinburg, where four matches were hosted, hosting costs increased to over ₽7.4 billion, exceeding the ₽5.6 billion rubles originally allocated from the state and regional budget.

Volunteers

Volunteer flag bearers on the field prior to Belgium's (flag depicted) group stage match against Tunisia

Volunteer applications to the 2018 Russia Local Organising Committee opened on 1 June 2016. The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Volunteer Program received about 177,000 applications, and engaged a total of 35,000 volunteers. They received training at 15 Volunteer Centres of the local organising committee based in 15 universities, and in volunteer centres in the host cities. Preference, especially in key areas, was given to those with knowledge of a foreign language and volunteering experience, but not necessarily to Russian nationals.

Transport

Free public transport services were offered for ticketholders during the World Cup, including additional trains linking host cities, as well as services such as bus services within them.

Schedule

Launching of a 1,000 days countdown in Moscow

The full schedule was announced by FIFA on 24 July 2015 without kick-off times, which were confirmed later. On 1 December 2017, following the final draw, FIFA adjusted six kick-off times.

Russia was placed in position A1 in the group stage and played in the opening match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 14 June against Saudi Arabia, the two lowest-ranked teams of the tournament at the time of the final draw. The Luzhniki Stadium also hosted the second semi-final on 11 July and the final on 15 July. The Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg hosted the first semi-final on 10 July and the third place play-off on 14 July.

Opening ceremony

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony

Soprano Aida Garifullina and pop singer Robbie Williams singing "Angels" at the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony took place on Thursday, 14 June 2018, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, preceding the opening match of the tournament between hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia.

At the start of the ceremony, Russian president Vladimir Putin gave a speech, welcoming the countries of the world to Russia and calling football a uniting force. Brazilian World Cup-winning striker Ronaldo entered the stadium with a child in a Russia jersey. Pop singer Robbie Williams then sang two of his songs solo before he and Russian soprano Aida Garifullina performed a duet. Dancers dressed in the flags of the 32 competing teams appeared carrying a sign with the name of each nation. At the end of the ceremony Ronaldo reappeared with the official match ball which had returned from the International Space Station in early June.

Group stage

Competing countries were divided into eight groups of four teams (groups A to H). Teams in each group played one another in a round-robin, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage. Ten European teams and four South American teams progressed to the knockout stage, together with Japan and Mexico.

For the first time since 1938 Germany, the reigning champions, did not advance past the first round. No African team progressed to the second round for the first time since 1982. The fair play criteria came into use for the first time when Japan qualified over Senegal because the team had received fewer yellow cards. Only one match, France versus Denmark, was goalless. Until then there were a record 36 straight games in which at least one goal was scored.

All times listed below are local time.

Tiebreakers

The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:

1. Points obtained in all group matches;
2. Goal difference in all group matches;
3. Number of goals scored in all group matches;
4. Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
5. Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
6. Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
7. Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match): Template:Unordered list
8. Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pre-match ceremony prior to the opening game, Russia v Saudi Arabia

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group A

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Group B

Iran v Portugal

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group B

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Group C

Australia v Peru

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group C

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Group D

Iceland v Croatia

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group D

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Group E

Brazil v Costa Rica

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group E

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Group F

Germany v Mexico

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group F

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Group G

Belgium v Tunisia

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group G

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Group H

Japan v Poland

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group H

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Knockout stage

Russia v Croatia

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners. If a match went into extra time, each team was allowed to make a fourth substitution, the first time this had been allowed in a FIFA World Cup tournament. Below is the bracket for the knockout round of the tournament, teams in bold denote match winners.

Bracket

{{#lst:2018 FIFA World Cup knockout stage|bracket}}

Round of 16

{{#lst:2018 FIFA World Cup knockout stage|r16-1}}

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Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

{{#lst:2018 FIFA World Cup knockout stage|sf1}}

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Third place play-off

{{#lst:2018 FIFA World Cup knockout stage|tpp}}

Final

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Final

{{#lst:2018 FIFA World Cup Final|final}}

Statistics

Further information: 2018 FIFA World Cup statistics

Goalscorers

{{#lst:2018 FIFA World Cup statistics|Goalscorers}}

Discipline

{{#section-h:2018_FIFA_World_Cup_statistics|Discipline}}

Awards

Luka Modrić accepting the Golden Ball award from Vladimir Putin

Kylian Mbappé receiving the World Cup best young player award from Emmanuel Macron

Croatia players after the 2018 World Cup Final against France

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. The Golden Boot (top scorer), Golden Ball (best overall player) and Golden Glove (best goalkeeper) awards were all sponsored by Adidas.

Golden Ball	Silver Ball	Bronze Ball
Template:Fbicon Luka Modrić	Template:Fbicon Eden Hazard	Template:Fbicon Antoine Griezmann
Golden Boot	Silver Boot	Bronze Boot
Template:Fbicon Harry Kane (6 goals, 0 assists)	Template:Fbicon Antoine Griezmann (4 goals, 2 assists)	Template:Fbicon Romelu Lukaku (4 goals, 1 assist)
Golden Glove
Template:Fbicon Thibaut Courtois
Best Young Player
Template:Fbicon Kylian Mbappé
FIFA Fair Play Award
Template:Country data ESP

Additionally, FIFA.com shortlisted 18 goals for users to vote on as the tournaments' best. The poll closed on 23 July. The award was sponsored by Hyundai.

Goal of the Tournament
Goalscorer	Opponent	Score	Round
Template:Fbicon Benjamin Pavard	Template:Country data ARG	2–2	Round of 16

Dream Team

As was the case during the 2010 and 2014 editions, FIFA did not release an official All-Star Team, but instead invited users of FIFA.com to elect their Fan Dream Team.

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Template:Fbicon Thibaut Courtois	Template:Fbicon Marcelo Template:Fbicon Thiago Silva Template:Fbicon Raphaël Varane Template:Fbicon Diego Godín	Template:Fbicon Kevin De Bruyne Template:Fbicon Philippe Coutinho Template:Fbicon Luka Modrić	Template:Fbicon Harry Kane Template:Fbicon Kylian Mbappé Template:Fbicon Cristiano Ronaldo

FIFA also published an alternate team of the tournament based on player performances evaluated through statistical data.

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Template:Fbicon Thibaut Courtois	Template:Fbicon Andreas Granqvist Template:Fbicon Thiago Silva Template:Fbicon Raphaël Varane Template:Fbicon Yerry Mina	Template:Fbicon Denis Cheryshev Template:Fbicon Philippe Coutinho Template:Fbicon Luka Modrić	Template:Fbicon Harry Kane Template:Fbicon Antoine Griezmann Template:Fbicon Eden Hazard

Prize money

Marketing

Branding

Mascot

Ticketing

Match ball

Merchandise

Official song

Other controversies

Response to Skripal poisoning

Critical reception

Broadcasting rights

Sponsorship