Russia's involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine had also prompted calls for the tournament to be moved, particularly following the annexation of Crimea. Issues included the level of racism in Russian football, human rights abuses by the Russian government, and discrimination against LGBT people in wider Russian society. The choice of Russia as host was controversial. The voting results were: 2018 FIFA bidding (majority 12 votes) England, which was bidding to host its second tournament, was eliminated in the first round. The Portugal/Spain bid came second, and that from Belgium/Netherlands third. Russia won the right to be the 2018 host in the second round of voting. The 22-member FIFA Executive Committee convened in Zürich on 2 December 2010 to vote to select the hosts of both tournaments. As such, there were eventually four bids for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, two of which were joint bids: England, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium, and Portugal/Spain.
During the bidding process, the three remaining non- UEFA nations (Australia, Japan, and the United States) gradually withdrew from the 2018 bids, and thus were ruled out of the 2022 bid. Initially, nine countries placed bids for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but Mexico later withdrew from the proceedings, and Indonesia's bid was rejected by FIFA in February 2010 after the Indonesian government failed to submit a letter to support the bid. The bidding procedure to host the 20 FIFA World Cup tournaments began in January 2009, and national associations had until 2 February 2009 to register their interest. It features an image of Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin. The 100- ruble commemorative banknote celebrates the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It has been estimated that more than three million people attended games during the tournament. Belgium's Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove, awarded to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets. England's Harry Kane won the Golden Boot as he scored the most goals during the tournament with six. France won the match 4–2 to claim their second World Cup.Ĭroatian player Luka Modrić was voted the tournament's best player, winning the Golden Ball. In the final, France played Croatia on 15 July at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Host nation Russia was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Germany, the defending champions, were eliminated in the group stage. 64 matches were played in 12 venues across 11 cities. Of the 32, 20 had also appeared in the 2014 event, while both Iceland and Panama made their first appearances at the World Cup. The tournament phase involved 32 teams, of which 31 came through qualifying competitions, while as the host nation Russia qualified automatically. At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it was the most expensive World Cup to date.
It was the eleventh time the championships had been held in Europe, and the first time they were held in Eastern Europe. It was the 21st FIFA World Cup, a worldwide football tournament held once every four years. The 2018 FIFA World Cup was an international football tournament contested by men's national teams that took place between 14 June and 15 July 2018 in Russia.