DESCRIBED as the greatest show on earth , the
FIFA World Cup Finals kick off to poignant
excitement today with the hosts, Russia , taking on
Saudi Arabia in the opening match . Held every
four years , the World Cup is regarded as the
pinnacle of sports . Thirty - two teams are slugging
it out in 12 venues across 11 Russian cities,
including the 81 , 000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium in
the capital , Moscow , which will stage the opening
match and the final on July 15 . It promises to be a
feast of football , drama , high -octane contests and
tears of joy and pain .
Nigeria ’ s Super Eagles are one of the finalists ,
although Africa is also being represented by
Tunisia , Egypt , Morocco ( all North Africa ) , and
Senegal ( West Africa ) . Thirteen teams come from
Europe, excluding Russia , who qualified
automatically as hosts. South America has five
teams , the same number as Asia . North America
has three representatives , including Panama , who
are making their debut . There will be 64 games
overall, with the video assistant referee
introduced for the first time in World Cup
matches .
The prestigious absentees include the United
States of America, Chile, the Netherlands – beaten
finalists in 1974 , 1978 and 2010 – and Italy, four -
time world champions . Cameroon , the first
African team to grace the World Cup quarterfinals
at Italia ’ 90 , and Ghana , quarterfinalists in South
Africa 2010 , also lost out .
The Eagles , led by Coach Gernot Rohr , are
captained by Mikel Obi, easily Nigeria ’ s most
experienced campaigner. He is the sole survivor
from Nigeria ’ s U - 20 Flying Eagles that lost to
Lionel Messi -inspired Argentina in the 2005 FIFA
World Youth Championships. Nigeria will
campaign in Group D alongside Croatia , Iceland
and two-time world champions Argentina (in that
order) . Interestingly , Nigeria and Argentina are
familiar to each other . Except in France ’ 98 , the
Eagles have always been in the same first round
group with Argentina, starting from their debut in
USA ’ 94 . The Super Eagles have lost all their four
World Cup ties against Argentina.
With the Nigeria Football Federation having
resolved the habitual disputes over bonuses , there
is optimism among soccer fans that the Eagles will
surpass their second round record. The Nigerians
qualified from Africa’ s “ Group of Death , ”
eliminating Cameroon , Algeria and Zambia .
Nigerian fans pin their hopes on some of the
players who achieved that feat , including Wilfred
Ndidi, Victor Moses , Odion Ighalo , William Troost -
Ekong and Leon Balogun .
The Eagles face a daunting challenge when they
kick off on June 16 . In their last two friendly
matches , the team lost in narrow margins to
England and the Czech Republic . Croatia, their
first opponents, have several stars in Luka Modric ,
Ivan Rakitic , Mario Mandzukic , Ivan Perisic and
Dejan Lovren . Debutants Iceland reached the
European Championships 2016 quarterfinals in
France, though it was the tiny nation ’ s first time
in major finals. With Messi , Sergio Agüero , Paolo
Dybala and Angel Di Maria in the mix , Argentina
could be the toughest nut to crack in the group .
For history not to repeat itself in Russia , the
Eagles have to be at their very best .
From inception in 1930 , only a select few – eight in
all – have won the World Cup . However , Brazil ,
who have five titles , have never won at home
despite hosting it in 1950 and 2014 . Pele , their all -
time standout star, is the only player to have won
three titles – first as a 17 - year- old – in Sweden in
1958 ; in Chile ’ 62 and Mexico ’ 70 . Their two other
titles came at USA ’ 94 and Japan/ Korea 2002 .
Germany and Italy have four trophies each . Brazil
are also the only team to have played in all the 20
finals (there was no World Cup in 1942 and 1946
because of World War II , 1939 -1945 ). Argentina (as
hosts in 1978 and in Mexico ’ 86 ) and Uruguay
( inaugural champions and hosts in 1930 , and 1950
in Brazil ) have triumphed twice each . England (as
hosts in 1966 ), France (as hosts in 1998 ) and Spain
in 2010 each wrote their names in gold once .
The smart money this time is that the champions
in Russia are likely to come from among the past
winners . Pundits tip Germany , Brazil or Spain to
lift the 18 -carat gold trophy, which stands 36 . 8
centimetres and weighs 6 .1 kilogrammes . Their
evidence is that , as defending champions ,
Germany , under Joachim Low ( coach ) , retain the
core of their team that humiliated Brazil 7- 1 in the
2014 semifinals and beat Argentina 1 - 0 in the
showpiece match at the Maracanã , Rio de Janeiro .
With a second string team, the DFB - Elf won the
FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 in Russia .
Under Tite as coach , Brazil have not lost since July
2017 . Their rich attack of Neymar , Philippe
Coutinho , Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino will
cause massive nightmares for opposing defenders .
Although Spain were poor in the defence of their
title in 2014, La Roja are blessed with stupendous
talents. Those with an outside chance are France,
Belgium and Argentina. It will be momentous if an
African nation can make it to the semifinals.
Apart from being champions of the world , the
World Cup offers mega riches for the triumphant .
Russia 2018 has a total prize pot of $ 791 million ,
far above what was on offer at Brazil 2014 ( $576
million ) or South Africa 2010 ( $420 million ) . This
time , the champions will take home $ 38 million
and the runners - up , up to $ 28 million . Each
finalist is guaranteed $1 .5 million as participation
bonus and $8 million for playing in the group
stage.
The downside is that racism afflicts Russian
sports . However , the country hosted the Olympics
before so this plague should not be allowed to
dampen the enthusiasm and glamour of the
biggest and greatest sports show on planet Earth .
And for the Super Eagles , only a qualification for
the quarterfinals will satisfy the aspirations of
their numerous fans at home and abroad.
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