Coach Stanislav Cherchesov

Group Fifa rank Rank A 66

The hosts are under pressure to perform but they are one of the lowest-ranked teams at the World Cup and the squad has been depleted by injuries. Read a tactical analysis here.

Star player

Igor Akinfeev

Strengths

Russia have a clear gameplan and have benefited from a switch to a back three, which most players use at club level. There are also a number of good box-to-box players in the squad.

Weaknesses

Russia will sorely miss the injured striker Aleksandr Kokorin while the wing-backs are arguably too old and the centre-backs too young and inexperienced.