World Cup Dates – Russia 2018

The 2018 World Cup starts officially starts on the 14th of June with the opening ceremony occurring just before the first match which will include the hosts Russia, up against Saudi Arabia.

The match will be televised by ITV at 16.00 – for the full TV Schedule of the tournament go to our World Cup TV Schedule page.

The group stages of the tournament will last from the 14th of June until the 28th, with the knockout stages due to start two days later on the 30th of June.

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England Group Games

England kick off their World Cup campaign on the 18th of June against Tunisia, followed by Panama on the 24th and finally a potentially crucial match against Belgium is on the 28th.

  • 18th June – Tunisia (won 2-1)
  • 24th June –  Panama (won 6-1)
  • 28th June – Belgium (lost 1-0)

Key Group Game Dates

For the full list of World Cup Fixtures visit our dedicated page – World Cup Fixtures – Russia 2018

The first knockout match in 2014 was Brazil vs Chile, Brazil won on penalties (Getty Images)

Round of 16 Knockout 

1 June 30th  C1 France 4 vs D2 Argentina 3 – Kazan (15.00)

2 June 30th A1 Uruguay 2 vs B2 Portugal 1 – Sochi (19.00)

3 July 1st B1 Spain 1 vs A2 Russia 1 – (Russia progress on penalties) Luzhniki Stadium (15.00)

4 July 1st D1 Croatia 1 vs C2 Denmark 1 – (Croatia progress on penalties) Nizhny Novgorod (19.00)

5 July 2nd E1 Brazil 2 vs F2 Mexico 0 – Samara (15.00)

6 July 2nd G1 Belgium 3 vs H2 Japan 2 – Rostov-on-Don (19.00)

7 July 3rd F1 Sweden 1 vs E2 Switzerland 0 – Saint Petersburg (15.00)

8 July 3rd H1 Colombia 1 vs G2 England 1 – (England progress on penalties) Moscow Spartak (19.00)

Quarter Finals

QF1 July 6th France 2 vs Uruguay 0- Nizhny Novgorod (15.00)

QF2 July 6th Brazil 1 vs Belgium 2 – Kazan (19.00)

QF3 July 7th Sweden 0 vs England 2 – Samara (15.00)

QF4 July 7th Russia 2 vs Croatia 2 – (Croatis progressed on penalties) Sochi (19.00)

Semi Finals 

July 10th France 1 vs Belgium 0

July 11th England 1 vs Croatia 2

Third Place Playoff 

14th July – Belgium 2 vs England 0 – Saint Petersburg (15.00)

Final

15th July – France 4 vs Croatia 2 Moscow Luzhniki (16.00)

The Round of 16 games take place from the 30th of June, up until the 3rd of July, with two games taking place on each day.

The quarter-finals are on the 6th and 7th of July, with the semi-finals following on the 10th and 11th.

The third-place playoff will take place on the 14th of June, and finally the World Cup Final will be on the 15th of June.

Who do you think will be playing in the final match of the tournament?

Also, if you haven’t seen the list already, check out our 500 Most Important Players on the Planet put together in our April 2018 issue.

World Soccer 500 Homepage

At World Soccer we will update you with all the news related to the World Cup on our website. Make sure you know about the Groups, Friendlies, Fixtures, Stadiums, TV Schedule, Qualified Teams by clicking on the highlighted links.

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