When Russia won the right to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the football community did not know what to do. Stanislav Cherchesov opted for the traditional principle of choosing the best players at this particular point in time. Igor Akinfeev has been the best goalkeeper for many years. Defenders include Ilya Kutepov from Spartak Moscow, who graduated from the legendary Konoplyov Academy, as well as Igor Smolnikov, a seasoned player from Zenit St. Petersburg, and Mário Fernandes, a versatile defender from CSKA Moscow.

Among the midfielders are future European level stars: Spartak Moscow’s Roman Zobnin who has a deep understanding of his position and great field vision, advanced tackling skills and a powerful strike; brothers Anton and Alexei Miranchyuk, who won the national title this year with Lokomotiv, can easily avoid any tight coverage; and CSKA’s Alexander Golovin has a very quick mind, while his teammate Alan Dzagoev is a master of slicing defenses with his amazing passes. As a forward, Krasnodar’s Fyodor Smolov is a natural scorer and has had an impressive record over the past two seasons. He is the hope of the Russian national team.