England, France among youngest teams at 2018 FIFA World Cup
England and France are joint-second behind Nigeria, in terms of their average squad age, at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
With average ages of 26 each, England and France are among the youngest teams at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, second only to Nigeria’s squad which has an average age of 25.9.
Despite their low average age, France do not lag behind in experience, however, with six players having played more than 40 international games each. England, on the other hand, have just one player with the experience of more than 40 international caps.
Australia’s Daniel Arzani is the youngest player in the tournament and the only one to have been born in 1999. Egypt’s Essam El-Hadary is the oldest with his age of 45.
There are just seven teenagers in the tournament this summer, while El-Hadary is the only player above 40.
Mexican 39-year-old veteran Rafael Marquez, set to play in his fifth World Cup, is the oldest outfield player in the tournament. Russia’s Sergei Ignashevich, 38, and Australia’s Tim Cahill, also 38, are the other two 1970s-born players to be taking the flight to Russia this month.
PANAMA OLDEST
Costa Rica, Mexico and debutants Panama, who have the three oldest squads, are also heavy on experience. Panama, in particular, have six players with the experience of more than 100 international games.
Among the young faces, Nigerian Francis Uzoho is the youngest goalkeeper at the age of 19. England forward Harry Kane, 24, is the youngest player to captain his team in Russia.
Belgium, whose average age of 27.6 is below the mean average age of 27.9, boast of one of the more experienced sides at the World Cup. With 12 players having featured in more than 50 internationals each, the Red Devils may have finally found the necessary balance between talent and experience that could help take them to World Cup glory.
France, Spain, Brazil, Germany and England are the top five teams with highest market value
Neymar and Lionel Messi's market value is a staggering 180 million Euros each
Total market value of all teams at the 2018 FIFA World Cup is 10.3 billion Euros
Football is a multi-million dollar industry today, with the footballers being the most prized commodity. Every four years, the World Cup becomes a frenetic market place. With the top-of-the-shelf star enhancing his worth, the ‘entrant’ is hoping to find a favourable value in the transfer market.
FIFA 2018: What sort of welcome will World Cup visitors get in Russia?
More than a million fans are expected. What’s the infrastructure like? Will language be a big barrier?
FIFA World Cup organisers say the competition will draw more than one million fans to Russia, creating challenges that range from the logistical to the cultural, both for the hosts and their guests.
One million expected
World Cup tickets keep selling. By Thursday, FIFA said that just over 2.4 million had been sold, more than 1.5 million of them outside Russia. FIFA said another 100,000, which had been reserved for its “constituent groups”, were now being offered to fans.
Even though the tickets are often sold in packages including several matches, that's a lot of visiting supporters. The nice round number FIFA has been using is one million.
There will be the clapping Icelanders, the chanting English and the distinctive personalities of the supporters of the other 29 visiting countries.
The differing languages, songs, flags and fan cultures of the world will energise the streets of Russia's host cities until the middle of July.
There won't be an “Oranje” army in Russia, because the Dutch failed to qualify, but the biggest demand, outside the host nation, has come from a country that did not qualify.
FIFA said on Thursday that it had sold 88,825 tickets to customers in the United States. After that came Brazil (72,512), Colombia (65,234) and Germany (62,541). The English broke into the international top ten in the latest figures with 32,362 tickets - just behind Australia.
Russia's objective, organising committee chief Alexei Sorokin said, is to show fans “an unforgettable, colourful Russia”.
$13 billion in infrastructure
Russia has spent a whopping $13 billion (11 billion euros) on infrastructure.
“The airports in six cities have new terminals, 21 new hotels have been built in host cities,” Sorokin said in May, adding that “14 hospitals have been re-equipped for the tournament”.
“Nothing is superfluous,” he said. “We needed them.”
“This fulfils a regional planning objective that is in effect catching up on the lack of investment over the last 20 years,” said Jean-Baptiste Guegan, one of the authors of a book investigating Russian football.
He added that the goal was also to present a “radiant and attractive” image and give visitors the best possible experience so they would go home and recommend Russia as a tourist destination.
Free transport and Fan ID
FIFA president Gianni Infantino told AFP this week: “I have never seen a country that has done so much to welcome the fans.” They will certainly be able to get between the host cities on trains, although in reality the vast majority who benefit will be Russian nationals. Sorokin said 700 additional trains would be laid on.
“It's a good system but what they are offering is insufficient and the vast majority of trains are already reserved,” said Ronan Evain, head of Football Supporters Europe (FSE), an umbrella organisation of supporters in 40 countries.
Accommodation concerns
This could be a concern because some owners of apartments in host cities have sharply increased their prices. Some owners have cancelled bookings, and are now demanding higher prices than they originally advertised. Many fans complained of similar tactics in the Ukrainian capital Kiev in May when Liverpool played Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Evain said: “In Moscow, things are starting to balance out because there is an enormous choice of accommodation, but in cities which are not as used to having tourist visitors, like Saransk and Nizhny Novgorod, prices are shooting up.”
Language barrier and human rights
The question of how foreign visitors will be received in Russia remains to be seen. “A lot has been done to train volunteers and the security forces to avoid racism,” said Sylvia Schenk, of Transparency International, who also sits on a FIFA committee on human rights.
But in a country where black footballers are still occasionally subjected to monkey chants, there is an obvious risk of racist incidents.
A 2013 law in Russia makes homosexual “propaganda” a criminal offence if it is distributed to young people. FIFA has succeeded in negotiating with Russian authorities so that the rainbow flag, the symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride, can be displayed in stadiums during the tournament.
“The rainbow flag will be allowed in stadiums for example. Is it solving all the issues of Russia with gay people? No, but it is a step,” Infantino told AFP.
Schenk, from Transparency International, said: “There will also be a 'House of Pride' in Moscow run by Russia NGOs and FIFA, and the authorities have confirmed that no-one will be prosecuted.”
In terms of the training of volunteers, “many have not been given any training in English”, Evain said.
“It won't necessarily be a problem unless there is a problem like an illness or a specific request from an elderly supporter, for example, bearing in mind that security measures mean spectators might have to walk several kilometres to the stadium.”
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England, France among youngest teams at 2018 FIFA World Cup
England and France are joint-second behind Nigeria, in terms of their average squad age, at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
With average ages of 26 each, England and France are among the youngest teams at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, second only to Nigeria’s squad which has an average age of 25.9.
Despite their low average age, France do not lag behind in experience, however, with six players having played more than 40 international games each. England, on the other hand, have just one player with the experience of more than 40 international caps.
Australia’s Daniel Arzani is the youngest player in the tournament and the only one to have been born in 1999. Egypt’s Essam El-Hadary is the oldest with his age of 45.
There are just seven teenagers in the tournament this summer, while El-Hadary is the only player above 40.
Mexican 39-year-old veteran Rafael Marquez, set to play in his fifth World Cup, is the oldest outfield player in the tournament. Russia’s Sergei Ignashevich, 38, and Australia’s Tim Cahill, also 38, are the other two 1970s-born players to be taking the flight to Russia this month.
PANAMA OLDEST
Costa Rica, Mexico and debutants Panama, who have the three oldest squads, are also heavy on experience. Panama, in particular, have six players with the experience of more than 100 international games.
Among the young faces, Nigerian Francis Uzoho is the youngest goalkeeper at the age of 19. England forward Harry Kane, 24, is the youngest player to captain his team in Russia.
Belgium, whose average age of 27.6 is below the mean average age of 27.9, boast of one of the more experienced sides at the World Cup. With 12 players having featured in more than 50 internationals each, the Red Devils may have finally found the necessary balance between talent and experience that could help take them to World Cup glory.
A Terrific View
The World Cup 2018 stadiums from the air – in pictures
https://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2018/jun/07/world-cup-stadium-russia-2018-in-pictures
FIFA World Cup 2018 Venue Guide: Luzhniki Stadium
https://khelnow.com/news/article/fifa-world-cup-2018-venue-guide-kazan-arena
FIFA World Cup 2018 Venue Guide: Kazan Arena
I am free now and will continue preview from tomorrow
FIFA World Cup 2018: It's a rich man's Cup
HIGHLIGHTS
Football is a multi-million dollar industry today, with the footballers being the most prized commodity. Every four years, the World Cup becomes a frenetic market place. With the top-of-the-shelf star enhancing his worth, the ‘entrant’ is hoping to find a favourable value in the transfer market.
FIFA 2018: What sort of welcome will World Cup visitors get in Russia?
More than a million fans are expected. What’s the infrastructure like? Will language be a big barrier?
FIFA World Cup organisers say the competition will draw more than one million fans to Russia, creating challenges that range from the logistical to the cultural, both for the hosts and their guests.
One million expected
World Cup tickets keep selling. By Thursday, FIFA said that just over 2.4 million had been sold, more than 1.5 million of them outside Russia. FIFA said another 100,000, which had been reserved for its “constituent groups”, were now being offered to fans.
Even though the tickets are often sold in packages including several matches, that's a lot of visiting supporters. The nice round number FIFA has been using is one million.
There will be the clapping Icelanders, the chanting English and the distinctive personalities of the supporters of the other 29 visiting countries.
The differing languages, songs, flags and fan cultures of the world will energise the streets of Russia's host cities until the middle of July.
There won't be an “Oranje” army in Russia, because the Dutch failed to qualify, but the biggest demand, outside the host nation, has come from a country that did not qualify.
FIFA said on Thursday that it had sold 88,825 tickets to customers in the United States. After that came Brazil (72,512), Colombia (65,234) and Germany (62,541). The English broke into the international top ten in the latest figures with 32,362 tickets - just behind Australia.
Russia's objective, organising committee chief Alexei Sorokin said, is to show fans “an unforgettable, colourful Russia”.
$13 billion in infrastructure
Russia has spent a whopping $13 billion (11 billion euros) on infrastructure.
“The airports in six cities have new terminals, 21 new hotels have been built in host cities,” Sorokin said in May, adding that “14 hospitals have been re-equipped for the tournament”.
“Nothing is superfluous,” he said. “We needed them.”
“This fulfils a regional planning objective that is in effect catching up on the lack of investment over the last 20 years,” said Jean-Baptiste Guegan, one of the authors of a book investigating Russian football.
He added that the goal was also to present a “radiant and attractive” image and give visitors the best possible experience so they would go home and recommend Russia as a tourist destination.
Free transport and Fan ID
FIFA president Gianni Infantino told AFP this week: “I have never seen a country that has done so much to welcome the fans.” They will certainly be able to get between the host cities on trains, although in reality the vast majority who benefit will be Russian nationals. Sorokin said 700 additional trains would be laid on.
“It's a good system but what they are offering is insufficient and the vast majority of trains are already reserved,” said Ronan Evain, head of Football Supporters Europe (FSE), an umbrella organisation of supporters in 40 countries.
Accommodation concerns
This could be a concern because some owners of apartments in host cities have sharply increased their prices. Some owners have cancelled bookings, and are now demanding higher prices than they originally advertised. Many fans complained of similar tactics in the Ukrainian capital Kiev in May when Liverpool played Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Evain said: “In Moscow, things are starting to balance out because there is an enormous choice of accommodation, but in cities which are not as used to having tourist visitors, like Saransk and Nizhny Novgorod, prices are shooting up.”
Language barrier and human rights
The question of how foreign visitors will be received in Russia remains to be seen. “A lot has been done to train volunteers and the security forces to avoid racism,” said Sylvia Schenk, of Transparency International, who also sits on a FIFA committee on human rights.
But in a country where black footballers are still occasionally subjected to monkey chants, there is an obvious risk of racist incidents.
A 2013 law in Russia makes homosexual “propaganda” a criminal offence if it is distributed to young people. FIFA has succeeded in negotiating with Russian authorities so that the rainbow flag, the symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride, can be displayed in stadiums during the tournament.
“The rainbow flag will be allowed in stadiums for example. Is it solving all the issues of Russia with gay people? No, but it is a step,” Infantino told AFP.
Schenk, from Transparency International, said: “There will also be a 'House of Pride' in Moscow run by Russia NGOs and FIFA, and the authorities have confirmed that no-one will be prosecuted.”
In terms of the training of volunteers, “many have not been given any training in English”, Evain said.
“It won't necessarily be a problem unless there is a problem like an illness or a specific request from an elderly supporter, for example, bearing in mind that security measures mean spectators might have to walk several kilometres to the stadium.”