Wait is over ... it’s time for kick-off
FIFA World Cup 2018: Opening Ceremony
STV, 2.30pm
FOR non football fans, the fortnight or so since the domestic and European campaigns ended probably seem an inadequate break from the beautiful game. However, for most of us, the wait is now finally over for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and we can now bask in a 31-day long feast of football.
The 21st staging of the tournament gets under way today, but before the action kicks off on the pitch, there is the customary opening ceremony at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull were headline acts at the 2014 curtain-raiser in Brazil but details of who will top the bill of this extravaganza has yet to be unveiled.
However, we do know that opera singer Placido Domingo – who famously soundtracked Italia 90 as one of the Three Tenors alongside Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras – will be on stage, alongside Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez.
As will pianist Denis Matsuev, and Russian opera stars Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eivazov, Ildar Abdrazakov, Aida Garifullina and Albina Shagimuratova.
The official World Cup song Live It Up, which features Will Smith, Nicky Jam and Kosovar Albanian singer Era Istrefi, will also be performed.
Alongside the music, there will be around 500 dancers, gymnasts and trampolinists performing in an extravaganza that will pay homage to all things Russian, and the show will close with a spectacular firework display.
In addition, there will be a concert held in the city’s Red Square concurrently with the opening ceremony.
Then, after all that, it’s time to get down to business, as the world’s most prestigious football tournament begins.
As is usually the case, the host nation get the ball rolling, with Russia taking on Group A rivals Saudi Arabia. Russia go into the draw as the lowest-ranked of the tournament’s 32 teams, having failed to advance past the group stage since 2008.
However, hosts tend to do well at these types of events, so there is still a glimmer of hope that Stanislav Cherchesov’s charges can at least reach the knockout stages. This afternoon’s match should be an interesting way to start the tournament, and it’s the first game of 13 to whet England fans’ appetites before Gareth Southgate’s men get their campaign underway on Monday.
Perhaps by then, everyone’s appetite for football will have returned and the excitement will be at fever pitch – at least in one part of the home nations.