Top 15 facts about Russia 2018

1.Russia 2018 is the 21st World Cup.

2.The first World Cup qualifier was played on March 12th 2015 between Mongolia and Timor-Leste. Timor won 5-1 on aggregate.

3.2018 will be the final World Cup with 32 teams.

4.This will be Iceland and Panama's World Cup debuts.

5.Brazil are the only team to have played in every single tournament.

6.Russia's Oleg Salenko holds the record for the most goals in one game, 5 vs Cameroon in 1994.

7.Around 3.2 billion people watched the 2014 World Cup.

8. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in his fourth World Cup.

9.South Korea have qualified for their 10th World Cup,more than any Asian country.

10.Iran qualified for back to back World Cups for the first time in their history.

11.Italy failed to qualify for the first tme since 1958.

12.You'll have to save up to watch the final, a ticket could cost £892.

13.64 matches will be played over the space of a month.

14.Essam El Hadary is the oldest person to play in a World Cup(45).

15.There are 736 players at Russia 2018.