The Russia World Cup 2018 is just hours away and the excitement is palpable. The teams are arriving, England have posed for their send-off picture and the first whistle is only days away.
Here's our guide on how to watch every second of the action. From this Thursday, we will be in for a feast of pretty much non-stop football.
Last December's draw put England in Group G with Belgium, Tunisia and Panama and the good news is that all three of the games have been scheduled at sociable times. You can hear the sighs of relief from office bosses all around the country.
The full World Cup 2018 fixture schedule is included below, with timings, venues and TV channels included.
All times BST. Local times are BST +2 apart from games played in Kaliningrad (+1), Samara (+3) and Ekaterinburg (+4).
Group stages
Thursday 14 June
Russia vs Saudi Arabia (Group A) - Moscow (Luzhniki) - 4pm - ITV
Friday 15 June
Egypt vs Uruguay (Group A) - Ekaterinburg - 1pm - BBC
Morocco vs Iran (Group B) - St Petersburg - 4pm - ITV
Portugal vs Spain (Group B) - Sochi - 7pm - BBC
Saturday 16 June
France vs Australia (Group C) - Kazan - 11am - BBC
FIFA World Cup 2018: The entire schedule
It's time to mark your dates as TOI brings you a lowdown of how the action will unfold in Russia over the next month.
With just one day to go, football fans all over the world are waiting with bated breath for the FIFA World Cup 2018 to get underway. While it’s safe to say the World Cup is the pinnacle for all footballers, not all matches are actually worth watching. At times, the quality on display fails to enthuse viewers. No offence to the likes of Russia and Saudi Arabia but that’s hardly the ideal game to kick-off the World Cup. The group stage matches are bound to throw some drab affairs but there are some eye-catching fixtures as well.Here we list out 7 group stages matches which you shouldn’t miss:In Mo Salah, Egypt have one of the most exciting players in the world. Salah, who suffered a late injury but has recovered for the World Cup, will be eager to make his mark on the biggest stage. And his first test will come against South American heavyweight Uruguay who too have their own superstars in Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez. It’s a straight shootout between Uruguay’s strikers and Mo Salah which is what makes this match one to watch out for.Quite possibly the tastiest matchup in the group stages. Both teams have stars all over the pitch including Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta, among others. The winner of this match will make their life easier in qualifying for the next stage. No one wants to lose their first match of the World Cup and certainly not when the opponents are your Iberian rivals.While on paper this looks like an easy game for Germany but it has the potential to be a banana skin. Mexico certainly won’t be pushovers for a talented Germany squad as they have players who can trouble their opponents. Add to it that the World Cup has a history of defending champions not doing well in their opening matches, it will be interesting to see how Germany open their defence of the trophy.Another game to watch out for as Croatia are a team that can go far in the tournament. Argentina certainly won’t find it easy against the midfield maestros of Croatia – Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic – and will need to be on top of their game to emerge victorious. The Messi factor could be critical for Argentina – not just in this game though – and how the Argentine wizard performs might just influence the result of this match.Come to think of it, Germany have landed themselves in a really tough group. Apart from Mexico, they have South Korea and Sweden. While the Swedes will be without their talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic, they still have certain pedigree and are known to cause an upset or two in the World Cup.The Serbs for sure aren’t there to be tourists and have some really experienced players in their squad. Nemanja Matic, Alexander Kolarov, Dusan Tadic add steel and trickery to the Serbian team and Brazil won’t be taking them lightly at all. It could be the perfect game for attack vs defence and the Serbs are known to have a mean defence while Brazil have the likes of Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Philippe Coutinho.Is this the battle of perennial underachievers? Both teams – England more so – have often flattered to deceive but boast of household names all over the pitch. Belgium have talent scattered all over their squad while England might lack star names but boast of some quality players in Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling. It has all the ingredients for a World Cup classic.
THE World Cup is so close.
And we know ALL of the fixtures for the big tournament in Russia - starting in merely hours -
World Cup 2018 match schedule (all times UK)
Fixtures for the 2018 World Cup finals to be held in Russia from June 14 to July 15 (time BST)
GROUP STAGE
Thursday, June 14 (4pm): Russia v Saudi Arabia ITV
Friday, June 15 (1pm): Egypt v Uruguay BBC
Friday, June 15 (4pm): Morocco v Iran ITV
Friday, June 15 (7pm): Portugal v Spain BBC
Saturday, June 16 (11am): France v Australia BBC
Saturday, June 16 (2pm): Argentina v Iceland ITV
Saturday, June 16 (5pm): Peru v Denmark BBC
Saturday, June 16 (8pm): Croatia v Nigeria ITV
Sunday, June 17 (1pm): Costa Rica v Serbia ITV
Sunday, June 17 (4pm): Germany v Mexico BBC
Sunday, June 17 (7pm): Brazil v Switzerland ITV
Monday, June 18 (1pm): Sweden v Korea Rep ITV
Monday, June 18 (4pm): Belgium v Panama BBC
Monday, June 18 (7pm): Tunisia v England BBC
Tuesday, June 19 (1pm): Colombia v Japan BBC
Tuesday, June 19 (4pm): Poland v Senegal ITV
Tuesday, June 19 (7pm): Russia v Egypt BBC
Wednesday, June 20 (1pm): Portugal v Morocco BBC
Wednesday, June 20 (4pm): Uruguay v Saudi Arabia BBC
Wednesday, June 20 (7pm): Iran v Spain ITV
Thursday, June 21 (1pm): Denmark v Australia ITV
Thursday, June 21 (4pm): France v Peru ITV
Thursday, June 21 (7pm): Argentina v Croatia BBC
Friday, June 22 (1pm): Brazil v Costa Rica ITV
Friday, June 22 (4pm): Nigeria v Iceland BBC
Friday, June 22 (7pm): Serbia v Switzerland BBC
Saturday, June 23 (1pm): Belgium v Tunisia BBC
Saturday, June 23 (4pm): Korea Rep v Mexico ITV
Saturday, June 23 (7pm): Germany v Sweden ITV
Sunday, June 24 (1pm): England v Panama BBC
Sunday, June 24 (4pm): Japan v Senegal BBC
Sunday, June 24 (7pm): Poland v Colombia ITV
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Monday June 25 (3pm): Uruguay v Russia ITV
Monday June 25 (3pm): Saudi Arabia v Egypt ITV4
Monday June 25 (7pm): IR Iran v Portugal BBC
Monday June 25 (7pm): Spain v Morocco BBC
Tuesday, June 26 (3pm): Denmark v France ITV
Tuesday, June 26 (3pm): Australia v Peru ITV4
Tuesday, June 26 (7pm): Nigeria v Argentina BBC
Tuesday, June 26 (7pm): Iceland v Croatia BBC
Wednesday, June 27 (3pm): Korea Rep v Germany BBC
Wednesday, June 27 (3pm): Mexico v Sweden BBC
Wednesday, June 27 (7pm): Serbia v Brazil ITV
Wednesday, June 27 (7pm): Switzerland v Costa Rica ITV 4
Thursday, June 28 (3pm): Japan v Poland BBC
Thursday, June 28 (3pm): Senegal v Colombia BBC
Thursday, June 28 (7pm): England v Belgium ITV
Thursday, June 28 (7pm): Panama v Tunisia ITV 4
ROUND of 16
Match Day Date KO Team/Group Channel
Saturday, June 30 (7pm): 1A v 2B ITV
Saturday, June 30 (3pm): 1C v 2D Pick 2: ITV
Sunday, July 1 (3pm): 1B v 2A Pick 3: BBC
Sunday, July 1 (7pm): 1D v 2C Pick 4: ITV
Monday, July 2 (3pm): 1E v 2F Pick 5: BBC
Monday, July 2 (7pm): 1G v 2H Pick 6: BBC
Tuesday, July 3 (3pm): 1F v 2E Pick 7: ITV
Tuesday, July 3 (7pm): 1H v 2G Pick 8: BBC
QUARTER FINALS
Friday, July 6 (3pm): Winner of Match 1 vs Winner of Match 2 BBC
Friday, July 6 (7pm): Winner of Match 5 vs Winner of Match 6 BBC
Saturday, July 7 (3pm): Winner of Match 7 vs Winner of Match 8 ITV
Saturday, July 7 (7pm): Winner of Match 3 vs Winner of Match 4 ITV
SEMI FINALS
61 Tuesday, July 10 (7pm): Winner QF1 vs Winner QF2 ITV
62 Wednesday, July 11 (7pm): Winner QF4 vs Winner QF3 BBC
THIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF
63 Saturday, July 14 (3pm): Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2 ITV
FINAL
64 Sunday, July 15 (4pm): Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 ITV and BBC
