For the next thirty days, soccer lovers around the globe will be glued to their television sets watching the goals, the misses, the hisses and the excitement of the 2018 World Cup, which kicked off in Russia, June 14(yesterday).
The host country, Russia, was slated to trade tackles with Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the tournament.
The five African countries taking part in this year’s World Cup include – Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia – with each team vying to become the first continental representatives to get to the semi-final stage of the tournament. The best that any African team had achieved at the World Cup is reaching the last Eight, that is, the Quarter-final stage.
Egypt will be the first African team to hit the pitch when it takes on the South American nation, Uruguay, Friday (today) while Nigeria will play its first match against Croatia on Saturday (tomorrow) at 8pm.
The World Cup, which is holding in twelve stadiums located in eleven Russian cities, will see the debut of the Video Assistant Referees, VAR, which FIFA believes will curb controversies associated with the officiating.
Before getting the chance to kick the ball on the Russian pitch, Nigeria’s Super Eagles had been rated as “the team with the best travelling uniform” in Russia by the BBC.
The rating came a few days after the world fashion magazine GQ selected the Super Eagles jersey as the best among the teams in the 2018 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup failed last Tuesday after the North African nation received only 33% of the vote while the joint bid by three countries – the US, Canada and Mexico – won with 67%.
