Egypt Match to Be ‘Key' Group-Stage Game for Russia at FIFA World Cup - Coach

11:17 GMT, 4 June 2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Lokomotiv Moscow and former Russia head coach Yuri Semin said that the match against Egypt would be Russia’s “key” group-stage game at this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Sputnik

Russia has been drawn in Group A along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Uruguay.

"It is possible to play with every [Group A] team, but I think the match against Egypt will be the key game. Apparently, it's with them that we will fight for reaching the knockout stage. But these are just forecasts, in fact, everything can turn out differently," Lokomotiv Moscow and former Russia head coach Yuri Semin said as quoted by the RT television channel.

He added that he hoped Russia would face only pleasant surprises at their home World Cup.

FIFA Organizer Reveals How World Cup Will Influence Live of Russian Citizens

31 May 2018, 11:45 GMT

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be held in Russia from June 14 to July 15. The games are set to take place in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, and Sochi.

Russia will take on Saudi Arabia in the World Cup opening match at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on June 14. The hosts will also face Uruguay and Egypt in Group A, on June 20 and June 25 respectively.