Russia World Cup 2018 opens with a 30-minute ceremony featuring 500 dancers... and Robbie Williams - 3.30pm BST start
World Cup fantasy football - your last chance to enter here and win prizes worth up to £25,000
World Cup 2018 kits: ranked - Every strip assessed including Peru, Nigeria, England and Panama
WorldCup - newsletter promo - end of article
12:54PM
Who do you think will win the opener, then?
Have a look at this nifty score predictor
World Cup 2018 Simulator Single Game
@media all and (max-width: 730px) { .tmg-custom-embed.world-cup-2018-single-game-simulator { margin-left: -16px; margin-right: -16px; } }
12:44PM
England's big group rivals
We've been doing a series in the build-up to THE WORLD CUP BEING HERE TODAY!!!!!! about the contenders, and Belgium can certainly count themselves on, or at least on the fringes, of that group.Here, Sam Dean takes a look at the team who most people are expecting to battle it out for Group G toppery with England. It's a really good piece, and I learned lots. I am also now part Belgian, on account of having got them in the Office Sweepstake .
There is an air of calmness and confidence around Belgium, but it has not always been this way. And, it should be added, it may not be like this again. A week earlier, they had been whistled off the pitch after drawing 0-0 with Portugal. And a week later, on Monday, they take on Panama knowing that anything but a commanding victory in their first World Cup game will dramatically increase the pressure on this ‘golden generation’ .
World Cup 2018 contenders: Can Belgium's 'golden generation' finally live up to expectations?
12:24PM
Player portraits!
There are some classics in here.
Aron Gunnarsson (Iceland)
What he intended: Ferocious Icelandic passion
What he achieved: Literally being unable to fight his way out of a paper bag
The 20 official World Cup player portraits we have some questions about
12:19PM
So what is on the menu?It takes a certain kind of man with a certain reputation
To alleviate the cash from a whole entire nation
Take my loose change and build my own space station
(Just because you can, man)
Ain't no refutin' or disputin' - I'm a modern Rasputin
Subcontract disputes to some brutes in Louboutin
Act highfalutin' while my boys put the boots in
I mean, yeah, you can see why that might be problematic
12:10PM
Sepp won't be at ceremony, Robbie won't be playing 'Party Like A Russian'
Banned former Fifa president Sepp Blatter has received an open invitation from President Vladimir Putin to attend the World Cup in Russia and intends to take it up, Blatter's spokesman Thomas Renggli said on Tuesday.
Blatter, who led world soccer's governing body for 17 years, was suspended from the sport for six years for ethics violations in 2015 amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake Fifa.
Several officials from the body were indicted by U.S. and Swiss authorities, although Blatter himself was not and he denies any misconduct.
The 82-year-old's attendance at the World Cup could put him in close proximity to his successor, Gianni Infantino, who has sought to draw a line under past scandals.
Fifa did not comment when asked about Blatter's plans.Renggli said the Swiss has not yet decided when he would make his trip to Russia or what game he would attend, but that he would definitely not attend the opening ceremony or inaugural match between Russia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Robbie Williams, who will be performing, said he will not be performing his hit song "Party Like A Russian."
Speaking to Reuters on Tuesday after a rehearsal for the show, Williams said he will be performing "a medley, a smorgasbord of my greatest hits" alongside Russian soprano Aida Garifullina.
"I would love to do 'Party Like A Russian.' Unfortunately I've been asked not to do 'Party Like A Russian," he said.
Williams immediately added: "Actually, it has nothing to do with not being asked. It's about me doing my biggest hits that are the best known."
