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#2 Russia eliminated Spain
Hosts Russia were probably the surprise team of the tournament by reaching the quarter-final. The nation had a poor record in their previous ten matches prior to the World Cup.
No one expected them to progress, and fancied Egypt and giants Uruguay to make the cut from Group A. However big wins in their opening match against Saudi Arabia and Egypt instilled some belief into the side.
Eventually, they finished second in the group to set up a last 16 clash against Spain. On paper, this was a David vs Goliath scenario. Spain had won back to back European championships in 2008 and 2012 with a World Cup title in 2010.
They were the odds on favourites to prevail. On July 1st 2018 the two nations squared off at the Luzhiki Stadium. Eleven minutes into the match, it looked like business as usual for the Spanish.
Marco Asensio's free kick from the right flank was turned into his own goal by Russian defender Sergei Ignashevich under pressure from Sergio Ramos.
In the 40th minute, the Russians were handed a lifeline when Gerard Pique handled Artem Dzyuba's header towards goal in the box.
Dzyuba stepped up to score the resultant penalty as the match ended 1-1 in normal and extra time. Russia prevailed 4-3 on penalties to dump out Spain from the World Cup.
