2018 WORLD CUP: STATISTICS OF COUNTRIES AND THEIR GLOBAL RATINGS (PART 1)

Russia's 2018 World Cup National squad.

RUSSIA

The hosts are under pressure to perform but they are one of the lowest-ranked teams at the World Cup and the squad has been depleted by injuries.

STRENGTHS:

Russia have a clear game-plan and have benefited from a switch to a back three, which most players use at club level. There are also a number of good box-to-box players in the squad.

WEAKNESSES:

Russia will sorely miss the injured striker Aleksandr Kokorin while the wing-backs are arguably too old and the centre-backs too young and inexperienced.

Fourteen years have passed since Russia’s No. 1 and captain, arguably the best-known player in the squad, made his international debut. It has been quite a ride and he will hope this summer banishes bad memories of the 2014 World Cup, when he embarrassingly fumbled Lee Keun-ho’s harmless shot into his own net against South Korea. His reputation outside Russia tends to centre on an unwanted record of 43 Champions League games without a clean sheet, which only ended last November when CSKA Moscow beat Benfica 2-0. All of this ignores his enduring quality, though. Akinfeev is stable, confident and frequently saves whole games for CSKA Moscow. If his European record is questionable, he has kept more clean sheets in Russian football than any other goalkeeper. Akinfeev also has a peculiar taste in music – he recorded a couple of songs with the Russian pop group Ruki Vverkh! (“Hands up!”).

Group: A. Fifa rank: 66