FIFA World Cup

Russia's defender Ilya Kutepov, Russia's goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and Russia's midfielder Alexander Golovin attend a training session in Novogorsk outside Moscow on June 12, 2018, ahead of the Russia 2018 World Cup football tournament. AFP PHOTO / Alexander NEMENOV

SputnikNews - Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and flight engineer Oleg Artemyev played soccer on board the ISS with a Telstar-18 ball, which will return to Earth on June 3 and open the World Cup 2018 in Russia.

The Saudi Football Federation have banned referee Fahad al-Mirdasi for life over bribery and urged FIFA to remove him from the pool of referees for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Serbs who work in Russia have already marked the main sporting event in the world this year - the football World Cup 2018.

In fact, they already covered it - literally, the daily Vecernje Novosti writes.

The Football Association of Serbia (FSS) has decided that Mladen Krstajic will stay on as head coach of Serbia's national football team.

FSS Sports Director and Deputy Chair of the Expert Board Goran Bunjevcevic announced this on Friday.

Krstajic will remain at the helm "in the coming period, and through" the upcoming FIFA World Cup in the Russian Federation.

A rejuvenated Brazil looking to heal the wounds of home soil humiliation four years ago will lead the South American charge for the World Cup in 2018, but a slew of European powerhouses stand in the way of redemption in Russia.

MOSCOW - The Serbia men's national football team was on Friday drawn to play Brazil, Switzerland and Costa Rica at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Serbia will begin their World Cup campaign against Costa Rica in Samara on June 17 and then face Switzerland in Kaliningrad on June 22 and Brazil in Moscow on June 27.

Today is the day that England and 31 other nations learn their fate as the 2018 World Cup draw takes place in Moscow.

The draw in Moscow is due to start at 5pm BG time.

All 32 teams are divided into 4 groups, according to the odds in the FIFA rankings. The Russian hosted by law takes place in the first urn.

How is in which pots?

FIFA will approve a potential tournament involving national teams that have not qualified for World Cup 2018 in Russia. The idea of ​​such a championship came from the US Football Federation. According to the BBC, FIFA will not interfere with the tournament, which will be presented as an alternative world championship.

A tearful Gianluigi Buffon quit international football as four-time champion Italy sensationally missed out on its first World Cup finals in 60 years after a playoff defeat to Sweden on Nov. 13.