Eyes on Russia

> Ex-England star Lineker to host World Cup draw <

THE eyes of the world will turn to Moscow’s Kremlin Palace tomorrow for the group stage draw for the 2018 World Cup.

The teams, almost half of which are European, will be spread out into eight groups after being drawn from four pots of seeds based on the FIFA world rankings from October.

The exception to that order is Russia, who are seeded in the first pot as hosts despite their lowly ranking.

Suspense surrounds which teams will be paired as the countries battle it out for football’s most prestigious title.

England’s Gary Lineker, a legendary striker and 1986’s top scorer, will host the final draw at the Kremlin Palace, often used as a concert hall with capacity for 6,000 spectators.

Lineker will be assisted by popular Russian sports journalist Maria Komandnaya and eight other stars whom FIFA has described as footballing royalty, including 91-year-old Russian football legend Nikita Simonyan.

Simonyan, first vice president of the Russian Football Union, holds the scoring record with Moscow’s illustrious Spartak club, with 160 goals.

France’s Laurent Blanc, a star defender who scored a golden goal on home turf en route to their 1998 World Cup triumph, was ecstatic about participating in tomorrow’s draw.

“It has been almost 20 years since my unforgettable World Cup experience, and taking part in the final draw is an incredible way of feeling closer to the excitement of that tournament again,” Blanc said in a statement carried by FIFA.

The World Cup trophy has been travelling throughout the host country giving more than 220,000 people the chance to see it with their own eyes, FIFA has said.

Next month the golden trophy will begin its global tour, heading to about 50 countries before returning for the tournament, played from June 14 to July 15.

Eleven Russian cities are hosting, with two stadiums used in the capital Moscow.

The country’s budget for building or modernising the facilities has amounted to about US$11 billion (RM45b), averaging US$1 billion (RM4.1b) for each host city.

The host cities will be represented at the final draw by superfans proud to show support for their hometowns.

The youngest of them is six-year-old Misha Smolin from Moscow, “who has been a passionate football supporter for as long as he can remember.”

He “simply cannot wait for the World Cup to get under way so he can wear some of the more than 300 football scarves that his family has been collecting for generations,” FIFA said.

The oldest superfan is 75-year-old Viktor Pautov, a trombonist from Saransk with decades of experience playing at football matches.

He is “looking forward to playing the national anthems of every national team” that comes to his city for the World Cup. – dpa