FIFA World Cup 2018 – How Is Russia expected To Perform

FIFA World Cup is round the corner and Russia couldn’t have had a better draw in the upcoming tournament. People constantly hear about the challenges Russia face off the field, which often eclipses the obstacles they face on it. The team will start an uphill battle to qualify for World Cup’s second stage when they kick off the tournament on June 14^th this year.

Talking about how they’re faring in the off-line and online betting market, at reputed bookmakers such as Sbat, they are expected to get through in second place behind Uruguay, at odds of 2.50. But that’s mostly because the edge they have being the host nation. Although they’re not expected to pose a big threat to the favourites, their going price of 48.00 to go on and win the World Cup is actually shorter compared to teams like Denmark, Poland or Columbia for instance!

Second-lowest ranking in the tournament

The Russian football team currently stands at 63^rd position in the FIFA world rankings, which not many people pay heed to. The fact that they haven’t played any competitive matches since almost 2 years doesn’t help their cause much. Only Saudi Arabia is ranked lower than them, who to Russia’s advantage, are in their group only. What more, they play Saudis in the tournament opener, giving themselves an excellent chance to begin the tournament on a positive note.

The Russian team goes up against Egypt next in Saint Petersburg, before facing Uruguay in Samara. Everyone knows that Cherchesov has a solid job on his hands and needs all the luck he can get.

Squad hasn’t really been tested

Russians were last seen in a major competition in Euro 2016, which was mostly talked about because of Russian fans’ transgressions and their team’s terrible display. Many consider them lucky to have scored one point from their game against England.

Cherchesov is considered a solid coach by many. He played a key role in helping Legia Warsaw winning the title during his previous assignment, and made them the first team to qualify for the Champions League group stages in the past 21 years, before taking up the Russia job. He hasn’t got the best squad or any exceptional talent in the team. It’s mostly an old bunch of players, with CSKA’s Alexandr Golovin being the only exception.

Shallow talent pool, with signs of return to form

Russians have struggled in developing quality domestic football talent over the past few years, which is well evident in recruitment of players like Konstantin Rausch and Roman Neustadter, combined with the naturalisation of Guilherme and Mario Fernandes. The only ray of hope is in the form of Alexandr Kokorin, the 26 year old player returning to form just at the right time. The Zenit striker scored 16 goals this season (all competitions combined). He’s peaking at a very good time, considering that the World Cup is not too far away.

Russia’s defence isn’t anything that can be talked about. If the team somehow manages to stay enthusiastic and reaches the second round, perhaps they could then be viewed as a cash out candidate.