Under the governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or just FIFA, the inaugural football World Cup took place in 1930. Despite the success of the 1908 Summer Olympics when football became an official competition. The first World War meant FIFA's plans had to be pushed back and in 1930, under the presidency of Jules Rimet, 13 teams took part in the first ever World Cup.
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The 2018 FIFA World Cup took place in Russia, with the hosts taking on Saudi Arabia in the opening game on June 14, 2018, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Defending Champions Germany will open their campaign against Mexico on the 17th, before taking on Sweden and Korea Republic in their remaining fixtures.
Argentina, who lost to Germany in the final four years ago, have been grouped with Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria, as Lionel Messi looks to finally fire his country to glory on the grandest stage of them all.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal will take on Spain, Morocco and Iran in the group phase, in a group that should see the two European nations being dominant.
Iceland, Morocco and Panama will be participating in their first ever FIFA World Cup, while this edition would also be the first in 60 years without the participation of Italy, who lost to Sweden in the qualifying playoff in November.
This will also be the first World Cup in history to make use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), to help the on-field officials arrive at a decision on contentious calls.
The process to select the host of the 2018 FIFA World Cup started in January 2009. Initially 9 countries put in a bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Out of these, Mexico withdrew, Indonesia’s bid was rejected, and gradually, Australia, Japan, and United States also withdrew.
This meant England, Russia, Portugal/Spain, and Belgium/Netherlands were left. In the first round of the bidding process England were eliminated. In the second round Russia received 13 votes while Spain/Portugal received 7 and Belgium/Netherlands received 2. The criteria for majority votes was 12 and as Russia matches this criteria, Russia was announced as the host for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The matches were held in 11 cities and within 12 different stadiums across Russia. 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.
| Moscow | Saint Petersburg | Sochi, Krasnodar Krai | |
| 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 |
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| Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast |   Moscow Saint Petersburg Kaliningrad Nizhny Novgorod Kazan Samara Volgograd Saransk Sochi Rostov-on-Don Yekaterinburg | Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast | |
| Volgograd Arena | Rostov Arena | ||
| Capacity: 43,713 | Capacity: 43,472 | ||
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| Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast | Kazan, Tatarstan | ||
| Nizhny Novgorod Stadium | Kazan Arena | ||
| Capacity: 43,319 | Capacity: 42,873 | ||
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| Samara, Samara Oblast | Saransk, Mordovia | Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast | Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast |
| Samara Arena | Mordovia Arena | Kaliningrad Stadium | Central Stadium (Ekaterinburg Arena) |
| Capacity: 41,970 | Capacity: 41,685 | Capacity: 33,973 | Capacity: 33,061 |
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France were the winners of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. France was drawn into Group C alongside Denmark, Peru, and Australia. France won their games against Peru and Australia and drew to Denmark, which put them on the top of Group C. France then faced Argentina in one of the most exciting matches of the tournament.
France managed to beat Argentina 4-3 and qualified for the Quarter-finals. France faced Uruguay in the Quarter-finals and settled the match with a comfortable win over their opponent, winning the Quarter-final tie 2-0. In the Semi-finals France faced Belgium, who were having a very good World Cup themselves. They managed to narrowly get past Belgium owing to a 51’ goal by Umtiti.
This led France to the finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. France’s opponents were Crostia, who were having a fairytale run in the 2018 World Cup. No one expected them to get this far but the underdog had managed to reach all the way to the finals. This is however where their fairytale ended. In a ruthless manner France beat Croatia 4-2 to win the game and become the champions of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
AFC (5)     CAF (5)      | CONCACAF (3)   CONMEBOL (5)     
| UEFA (14)              |
England star Harry kane ended up being the top scorer in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Kane scored 5 goals in the group stages, 2 against Tunisia and 3 against Panama. His final goal came in the Round of 16 tie against Columbia. Even though England did not reach the finals, these 6 goals were enough to help Harry Kane win the Golden Boot in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The winners of the 2018 World Cup were awarded The FIFA World Cup Trophy. This trophy, which does not belong to anyone permanently has been passed down from the previous FIFA World Cup winner to the current FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. This was given to France for their post match celebrations before it was taken back into custody to be kept for the winners of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The official ball for the 2018 FIFA World Cup was called the Telstar 18.This ball featured in all the group stage games of the World Cup. After the group stages, FIFA revealed a new ball with a different color scheme called the Telstar Mechta. The Telstar Mechta was used for all the knockout stage games. Both these balls were manufactured by Adidas.
Telstar 18
Telstar Mechta
The official song for the 2018 FIFA World Cup was Live It Up by Nicky Jam featuring Will Smith and Era Istrefi. The link to this song is given below.
Live It Up - Nicky Jam feat. Will Smith & Era Istrefi (2018 FIFA World Cup Russia) (Official Audio)
