News Sports Soccer FIFA World Cup 2018: Full schedule, groups, venues and match timings in IST

FIFA World Cup 2018: Full schedule, groups, venues and match timings in IST

FIFA World Cup 2018, fifa world cup 2018 fixture, Full Schedule, Teams, Groups, 2018 FIFA World Cup match schedule, FIFA World Cup Match Timings in IST, Telecast in India. The 2018 FIFA World Cup will kick-off in Russia on June 14, with the final scheduled to take place on July 15. Here's the Everything you need to know for the World Cup. 

World Cup 2018 schedule: All the groups, fixtures, kick-off time and venues for the tournament in Ru Image Source : GETTY IMAGESWorld Cup 2018 schedule: All the groups, fixtures, kick-off time and venues for the tournament in Russia

The biggest football event in the world - FIFA World Cup is all set to arrive kick-off from 14th June 2018. Called as the ultimate trophy which every team and player wants to get their hands on. Russia will be hosting the 21st edition of the greatest football event. After a long gap of 12 years, FIFA World Cup is coming back to Europe, Germany hosted it way back in 2006. 

In this mega event, 32 teams will battle hard for over period of one month to achieve the ultimate glory. The most prominent teams who are playing in this tournament are Spain, Brazil, Argentina, France, Portugal and Germany. 2006 Champions Italy failed to make the cut in this edition after a poor outing in the qualifiers.

Last time in 2014, Brazil hosted the biggest football extravaganza where Germany emerged as the World Champion by beating the Lionel Messi-led Argentina side by 1-0 in the finals. This time the competition will be a lot tougher as many teams have redeemed themselves from the last edition of the cup. We saw Portugal winning the Euro Cup in 2016, Spain also look confident and eager to bounce back after their poor performance in the last outing of FIFA World Cup. France will also a team to look out for as they have some quality young talent in their squads like Mbappe, Greizmann, Dembele and Umtiti. Brazil are also seeking to take revenge from Germany for their 7-1 humiliation in the semifinal stage of 2014 world cup. Argentina will also be gearing up to win this world cup for their greatest player Lionel Messi who might be playing his last World Cup.

The one-month long tournament will have total 64 matches and the finale will be played on 15th July. All the 32 teams are divided into eight groups which will consist of four teams each. The top two sides from each group will qualify further for Round of 16. 

Here is the list of each group of FIFA World Cup 2018.

Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay  
Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran  
Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark  
Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria  
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia  
Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea  
Group G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England  
Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan 

Fixtures of the FIFA World Cup 2018 (Date and Time in IST):

June 14/6/2018, Thursday

    Russia vs Saudi Arabia  (8:30pm)

June 15/6/2018, Friday

    Egypt vs Uruguay (5:30pm)
    Morocco vs Iran (8:30pm)
    Portugal vs Spain (11:30pm)

June 16/6/2018, Saturday

    France vs Australia (3:30pm)
    Argentina vs Iceland  (6:30pm)
    Peru vs Denmark (9:30pm)
    Croatia vs Nigeria (5:30pm)

June 17/6/2018, Sunday

    Costa Rica vs Serbia (12:30am)
    Germany vs Mexico (8:30pm)
    Brazil vs Switzerland (11:30pm)

June 18/6/2018, Monday

    Sweden vs South Korea (5:30pm
    Belgium vs Panama 8:30pm
    Tunisia vs England 11:30pm

June 19/6/2018, Tuesday

    Poland vs Senegal (5:30pm)
    Colombia vs Japan (8:30pm)
    Russia vs Egypt (11:30pm)

June 20/6/2018, Wednesday

    Portugal vs Morocco (5:30pm)
    Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia (8:30pm)
    Iran vs Spain (11:30pm)

June 21/6/2018, Thursday

    France vs Peru (5:30pm)
    Denmark vs Australia (4:30pm)
    Argentina vs Croatia (11:30pm)

June 22/6/2018, Friday

    Brazil vs Costa Rica (5:30pm)
    Nigeria vs Iceland (8:30pm)
    Serbia vs Switzerland (4:30pm)

June 23/62018, Saturday

    Belgium vs Tunisia (5:30pm)
    Germany vs Sweden (8:30pm)
    South Korea vs Mexico (11:30pm)

June 24/6/2018, Sunday

    England vs Panama (5:30pm)
    Japan vs Senegal (8:30pm)
    Poland vs Colombia (11:30pm)

June 25/6/2017, Monday

    Saudi Arabia vs Egypt (7:30pm)
    Uruguay vs Russia (8:30pm) 
    Iran vs Portugal (11:30pm)
    Spain vs Morocco (10:30pm)

June 26/6/2018, Tuesday

    Australia vs Peru (7:30pm)
    Denmark vs France (7:30pm)
    Nigeria vs Argentina (11:30pm) 
    Iceland vs Croatia (11:30pm)

June 27/6/2018, Wednesday

    South Korea vs Germany (7:30pm)
    Mexico vs Sweden (7:30pm)
    Serbia vs Brazil (11:30pm)
    Switzerland vs Costa Rica (11:30pm)

June 28/6/2018, Thursday

    Japan vs Poland (7:30pm)
    Senegal vs Colombia (7:30pm)
    Panama vs Tunisia (11:30pm)
    England vs Belgium (10:30pm)

Round of 16:

June 30/6/2018, Saturday

    Group C winners vs Group D runners-up (7:30pm)
    Group A winners vs Group B runners-up (11:30pm) 

July 1/7/2018, Sunday

    Group B winners vs Group A runners-up (7:30pm)
    Group D winners vs Group C runners-up (11:30pm)

July 2/7/2018, Monday

    Group E winners vs Group F runners-up (12:30am)
    Group G winners vs Group H runners-up (11:30pm)
    Group F winners vs Group E runners-up (7:30pm)
    Group H winners vs Group G runners-up (11:30pm) 

Quarterfinals:

July 6/7/2018, Friday

    QF1: Winner (Group C winner vs Group D runners-up) vs Winner (Group A winners vs Group B runners-up) (7:30pm)
    QF2: Winner (Group E winners vs Group F runners-up) vs Winner (Group G winners vs Group H runners-up) (11:30pm)

July 7/7/2018, Saturday

    QF3: Winner (Group F winners vs Group E runners-up) vs Winner (Group H winners vs Group G runners-up) (11:30pm)
    QF4: Winner (Group B winners vs Group A runners-up) vs Winner (Group D winners vs Group C runners-up) (12:00am)

Semi-finals:

July 10/7/2018, Tuesday

    Quarter-final 1 vs Quarter-final 2 (11:30pm)

July 11/7/2018, Wednesday

    Quarter-final 3 vs Quarter-final 4 (11:30pm)

Third place playoff: 

July 14/7/2018, Saturday

    Loser of semi-final 1 vs Loser of semi-final 2

Final: 

July 15/7/2018, Sunday

    Winner of Semi-final 1 vs Winner of Semi-final 2 (8:30pm)

Venues for FIFA World Cup 2018

1. Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

2. Saint Petersburg Stadium, Saint Petersburg

3. Fisht Stadium, Sochi

4. Ekaterinburg Arena, Ekaterinburg

5. Kazan Arena, Kazan

6. Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod

7. Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don 

8. Samara Arena, Samara

9. Mordovia Arena, Saransk

10. Volgograd Stadium, Volgograd

11. Spartak Stadium, Moscow

12. Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad

Where to watch FIFA World Cup 2018 in India:

The FIFA World Cup 2018 broadcasting rights have been bought by Sony Sports Network and the matches will be aired live on Sony Ten 2/HD, Sony Ten 3/HD and Sony Liv App.