World Cup fixtures: The full schedule for Russia 2018

    The FIFA World Cup Trophy

Hosts Russia will kick off the 2018 World Cup.

                                          The draw has been made for next summer's tournament - which takes place from June 14 to July 15 - and now FIFA has confirmed the fixtures in full.Full schedule for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.Five-time winners Brazil will face Switzerland in their first Group E match with Costa Rica and Serbia making up one of the harder groups.European champions Portugal will play neighbours Spain in their first match in Group B, while Argentina were placed in Group D with newcomers Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria.

England will face the other debut nation Panama in Group G, but open against Tunisia before facing the group's top seeds Belgium.

What are the dates for the World Cup fixtures?

            The World Cup will begin on June 14, running until July 15.

            You can begin planning your summer right here with the full fixture list and schedule for England and each of the teams.

See below for the full schedule and fixture list:

Spain can be considered favourites for the 2018 World Cup while Gareth Southgate's England are the fifth most likely to win the tournament, according to research group CIES Football Observatory.

                           Their study looked at the number of matches players were involved in at domestic league level since July 2017 and the profile of clubs that they featured for, with 2010 winners Spain topping the list ahead of Brazil and France.

The 23 players La Roja used most often in the qualification stage played on average 81.1 per cent of domestic league games, the highest figure of all 32 nations who will compete at Russia 2018.

                                       Germany will be hoping to defend the title they picked up four years ago but will face stiff competition from the likes of Spain, Argentina, France and Brazil. England have been growing in confidence under Gareth Southgate but we all know they will be exiting the tournament on penalties in the last 16… so let’s not get our hopes up.

In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know about the tournament:
Fixtures:-

Thu June 14: Russia v Saudi Arabia (Group A) - Moscow (Luzhniki), 4pm

Fri June 15: Egypt v Uruguay (Group A) - Ekaterinburg, 1pm

Fri June 15: Morocco v Iran (Group B) - St Petersburg, 4pm

Fri June 15: Portugal v Spain (Group B) - Sochi, 7pm

Sat June 16: France v Australia (Group C) - Kazan, 11am

Sat June 16: Argentina v Iceland (Group D) - Moscow (Spartak), 2pm

Sat June 16: Peru v Denmark (Group C) - Saransk, 5pm

Sat June 16: Croatia v Nigeria (Group D) - Kaliningrad, 8pm

Sun June 17: Costa Rica v Serbia (Group E) - Samara, 1pm

Sun June 17: Germany v Mexico (Group F) - Moscow (Luzhniki), 4pm

Sun June 17: Brazil v Switzerland (Group E) - Rostov-on-Don, 7pm

Mon June 18: Sweden v South Korea (Group F) - Nizhny Novgorod, 1pm

Mon June 18: Belgium v Panama (Group G) - Sochi, 4pm

Mon June 18: Tunisia v England (Group G) - Volgograd, 7pm

Tues June 19: Colombia v Japan (Group H) - Saransk, 1pm

Tues June 19: Poland v Senegal (Group H) - Moscow (Spartak), 4pm

Tues June 19: Russia v Egypt (Group A) - St Petersburg, 7pm

Wed June 20: Portugal v Morocco (Group B) - Moscow (Luzhniki), 1pm

Wed June 20: Uruguay v Saudi Arabia (Group A) - Rostov-on-Don, 4pm

Wed June 20: Iran v Spain (Group B) - Kazan, 7pm

Thu June 21: Denmark v Australia (Group C) - Samara, 1pm

Thu June 21: France v Peru (Group C) - Ekaterinburg, 4pm

Thu June 21: Argentina v Croatia (Group D) - Nizhny Novgorod, 7pm

Fri June 22: Brazil v Costa Rica (Group E) - St Petersburg, 1pm

Fri June 22: Nigeria v Iceland (Group D) - Volgograd, 4pm

Fri June 22: Serbia v Switzerland (Group E) - Kaliningrad, 7pm

Sat June 23: Belgium v Tunisia (Group G) - Moscow (Spartak), 1pm

Sat June 23: South Korea v Mexico (Group F) - Rostov-on-Don, 4pm

Sat June 23: Germany v Sweden (Group F) - Sochi, 7pm

Sun June 24: England v Panama (Group G) - Nizhny Novgorod, 1pm

Sun June 24: Japan v Senegal (Group H) - Ekaterinburg, 4pm

Sun June 24: Poland v Colombia (Group H) - Kazan, 7pm

Mon June 25: Uruguay v Russia (Group A) - Samara, 3pm

Mon June 25: Saudi Arabia v Egypt (Group A) - Volgograd, 3pm

Mon June 25: Spain v Morocco (Group B) - Kaliningrad, 7pm

Mon June 25: Iran v Portugal (Group B) - Saransk, 7pm

Tues June 26: Denmark v France (Group C) - Moscow (Luzhniki), 3pm

Tues June 26: Australia v Peru (Group C) - Sochi, 3pm

Tues June 26: Nigeria v Argentina (Group D) - St Petersburg, 7pm

Tues June 26: Iceland v Croatia (Group D) - Rostov-on-Don, 7pm

Wed June 27: South Korea v Germany (Group F) - Kazan, 3pm

Wed June 27: Mexico v Sweden (Group F) - Ekaterinburg, 3pm

Wed June 27: Serbia v Brazil (Group E) - Moscow (Spartak), 7pm

Wed June 27: Switzerland v Costa Rica (Group E) - Nizhny Novgorod, 7pm

Thu June 28: Japan v Poland (Group H) - Volgograd, 3pm

Thu June 28: Senegal v Colombia (Group H) - Samara, 3pm

Thu June 28: England v Belgium (Group G) - Kaliningrad, 7pm

Thu June 28: Panama v Tunisia (Group G) - Saransk, 7pm

Last 16:-

Sat June 30: 1C v 2D - Kazan, 3pm (Match 50)

Sat June 30: 1A v 2B - Sochi, 7pm (Match 49)

Sun July 1: 1B v 2A - Moscow (Luzhniki), 3pm (Match 51)

Sun July 1: 1D v 2C - Nizhny Novgorod, 7pm (Match 52)

Mon July 2: 1E v 2F - Samara, 3pm (Match 53)

Mon July 2: 1G v 2H - Rostov-on-Don, 7pm (Match 54)

Tues July 3: 1F v 2E - St Petersburg 3pm (Match 55)

Tues July 3: 1H v 2G - Moscow (Spartak), 7pm (Match 56)

Quarter-finals:-

Fri July 6: Winner match 49 v Winner match 50 - Nizhny Novgorod, 3pm (Match
57)

Fri July 6: Winner match 53 v Winner match 54 - Kazan, 7pm (Match 58)

Sat July 7: Winner match 55 v Winner match 56 - Samara, 3pm (Match 60)

Sat July 7: Winner match 51 v Winner match 52 - Sochi, 7pm (Match 59)

Semi-finals:-

Tues July 10: Winner match 57 v Winner match 58 - St Petersburg, 7pm

Wed July 11: Winner match 59 v Winner match 60 - Moscow (Luzhniki), 7pm

Third-place play-off:-

Sat July 14: St Petersburg, 3pm

When and where is the final?

 The final takes place at 7pm BST (9pm) on 15 July 2018, at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow. The national stadium has a capacity of 81,000 and is owned by the Russian government in – currently no club sides rent the ground, although CSKA Moscow, Torpedo Moscow and Spartak Mascow have done so previously.