Saudis will play without fear in opener, says coach Pizzi

Russia play Saudi Arabia in a Group A match in Moscow on Thursday.

Where: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Capacity: 80,000
When: Thursday June 14, 1800 local (1600 BST/ 1100 ET)
Referee: Nestor Pitana (Argentina)

- Hosts Russia enter the World Cup as the lowest-ranked of the 32 teams participating in the tournament as they sit 70th in the FIFA rankings while Saudi Arabia are three spots above in 67th.

- Russia last progressed past the World Cup group stage in 1986, when they were part of the Soviet Union national team, while Saudi Arabia's sole appearance in the last-16 came in 1994. Since then they have lost seven and drawn two of their matches in three World Cups.

- Saudi Arabia won two warm-up matches before losing three in a row, the last being a 2-1 defeat by World Cup holders Germany.

- Russia last won an international match in October 2017, when they beat South Korea 4-2 in a friendly.

Previous meetings: The teams have played each other once before - in a friendly in 1993, with Saudi Arabia winning 4-2.