By Andrew Warshaw
October 10 – They’ve done it again. All predictions that Iceland would be one-hit wonders after their sensational appearance at Euro 2016 have been well and truly crushed after they became the smallest nation ever to reach a World Cup finals.
October 10 – How quickly emotions change in football. Having reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 against all odds, Wales’ 60-year wait for a place at the World Cup continues as they were beaten 1-0 by the Republic of Ireland in a winner-takes-all showdown for a playoff place for Russia.
October 9 – Mohamed Salah’s dramatic injury-time winner against Congo ended Egypt’s 28-year exile from the World Cup, sending the football-mad country into a massive celebration.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 6 – A FIFA technical team led by director of competitions Colin Smith has completed the latest inspection to Russia’s World Cup sites and reports that although preparations are on course a “significant” amount of work is still to be done over the next few months.
October 4 – In a significant intervention over organisation of the World Cup, Russian president Vladimir Putin has expressed concern over delays to preparations but says they are not yet “critical”.
August 25 – Samara’s World Cup stadium has fallen 30 days behind its construction schedule, the contractor of the venue has announced. The venue is set to host six matches, including a quarter-final, during the 2018 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 3 – Defiant as ever, Sepp Blatter says he will travel to Russia for next year’s World Cup despite serving a six-year ban from all football-related activities imposed by FIFA’s ethics committee.
July 3 – The Confederations Cup has been a test of Russia’s organisational skills and a credible warm-up for 2018. Alexey Sorokin, chief executive of the Organising Committee for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, in an exclusive interview with Samindra Kunti talks about the learnings from the tournament, Russia’s expectations for 2018, and his bid for a seat on FIFA’s Council.
By Samindra Kunti
June 9 – Dick Advocaat begins his third reign as Netherlands coach with the mission of taking Oranje to the World Cup in Russia. Holland lie in fourth position in their World Cup qualification group and play Luxembourg on Friday.
May 26 – A report by Britain’s Guardian newspaper claims FIFA knew about North Korean workers being employed in dire conditions in the construction of a 2018 World Cup site in St Petersburg.
By Samindra Kunti
May 17 – Zenit St. Petersburg have been forced to play tonight’s (Wednesday) league match with FC Krasnodar at another ground after the pitch at the Krestovsky stadium was deemed to be too poor for the fixture.
By Paul Nicholson
May 10 – Issues of racism and discrimination have been thrust into the spotlight again with the Sulley Muntari case sadly showing that football has a lot more work to do on the issue. FIFA’s response has been depressingly ambivalent; of the “it’s not nice but what do you expect us to do” variety. So what about Russia, the World Cup and the widely documented issues facing that country as it prepares to welcome the world in 2018.
By Samindra Kunti
April 24 – Saint Petersburg’s 69-000 all-seater Krestovsky Stadium has opened two months before the Confederations Cup, but concerns remain over the venue’s readiness.
April 20 – A US Democrat Senator has urged FIFA to consider stripping Russia as hosts of next year’s World Cup over its alleged complicity in the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria.
April 17 – Amid concerns over disruption at next year’s World Cup, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a federal law that will toughen penalties for “gross violations” at sporting events by both Russian and visiting fans.