Russia, Saudi Arabia all set for World Cup opener tomorrow

The host Russia will face Saudi Arabia in the FIFA World Cup 2018 opener tomorrow (Thursday) at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Thursday's match will be the only one held on that day to coincide with the opening ceremony, with three group stage fixtures taking place each day until June 28.

Russia are hosting the tournament for the first-time and have qualified automatically to the finals, which will their fourth appearance.

Saudi Arabia's best result at a World Cup was finishing in the last 16 in 1994. The team will be hoping for a better finish in the tournament.

The hosts don't boast a roster of standout players, so they will be relying on the emerging talent of Dzagoev – who is always a key figure for his country during international tournaments.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's three key men are Al-Abed, Al-Muwall and Al-Shehri. Al-Abed netted five times in the qualification stages and remains to be Saudi Arabia's top-scorer en route to the finals, while Al-Mulwall netted the goal that secured his nation's participation in Russia.

Both teams are not seen as favourites to progress through to the last 16 as the two other Group A teams are Uruguay and Egypt – who posses both individual and collective talent – but, as ever, surprises are expected to be in store.

Russia will be looking to impress their fans on home turf when they open the tournament proper, having under performed in Brazil in 2014 after crashing out in the group stages following a loss to Belgium and failure to register victory against South Korea and Algeria.