2018 FIFA World Cup Group A

Group A of the 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place from 14 to 25 June 2018.^[1] The group consists of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Uruguay. The top two teams will advance to the round of 16.^[2]

Teams

Draw position	Team	Pot	Confederation	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA Rankings
									October 2017[nb 1]	June 2018
A1	Russia	1	UEFA	Hosts	2 December 2010	11th[nb 2]	2014	Fourth place (1966)[nb 3]	65
A2	Saudi Arabia	4	AFC	AFC Third Round Group B runners-up	5 September 2017	5th	2006	Round of 16 (1994)	63
A3	Egypt	3	CAF	CAF Third Round Group E winners	8 October 2017	3rd	1990	First round (1934), Group stage (1990)	30
A4	Uruguay	2	CONMEBOL	CONMEBOL Round Robin runners-up	10 October 2017	13th	2014	Winners (1930, 1950)	17

Notes

1. The rankings of October 2017 were used for seeding for the final draw.
2. This is the 4th appearance of Russia at the FIFA World Cup. However, FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the Soviet Union, who qualified on 7 occasions.
3. Russia's best result is group stage in 1994, 2002, and 2014. However, FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the Soviet Union.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uruguay	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Russia (H)	3	2	0	1	8	4	+4	6
3	Saudi Arabia	3	1	0	2	2	7	−5	3
4	Egypt	3	0	0	3	2	6	−4	0

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host

In the round of 16:

• The winners of Group A will advance to play the runners-up of Group B.
• The runners-up of Group A will advance to play the winners of Group B.

Matches

All times listed are local time.^[1]

Russia vs Saudi Arabia

14 June 2018 (2018-06-14)

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Russia	5–0	Saudi Arabia
Cheryshev  43', 90+1' Gazinsky  12' Dzyuba  71' Golovin  90+4'	Report

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 78,011^[3]

Referee: Néstor Pitana (Argentina)

Russia[4]

Saudi Arabia[4]

GK 1 Igor Akinfeev (c) RB 2 Mário Fernandes CB 3 Ilya Kutepov CB 4 Sergei Ignashevich LB 18 Yuri Zhirkov CM 8 Yury Gazinsky CM 11 Roman Zobnin RW 19 Aleksandr Samedov  64' AM 9 Alan Dzagoev  24' LW 17 Aleksandr Golovin  88' CF 10 Fyodor Smolov  70' Substitutions: MF 6 Denis Cheryshev  24' MF 7 Daler Kuzyayev  64' FW 22 Artem Dzyuba  70' Manager: Stanislav Cherchesov

GK 1 Abdullah Al-Mayouf RB 6 Mohammed Al-Breik CB 3 Osama Hawsawi (c) CB 5 Omar Hawsawi LB 13 Yasser Al-Shahrani DM 7 Salman Al-Faraj CM 14 Abdullah Otayf  64' CM 17 Taisir Al-Jassim  90+3' RW 18 Salem Al-Dawsari LW 8 Yahya Al-Shehri  72' CF 10 Mohammad Al-Sahlawi  85' Substitutions: FW 19 Fahad Al-Muwallad  64' MF 9 Hattan Bahebri  72' FW 20 Muhannad Assiri  85' Manager: Juan Antonio Pizzi

Man of the Match: Denis Cheryshev (Russia)[5] Assistant referees:[4] Hérnan Maidana (Argentina) Juan Pablo Bellati (Argentina) Fourth official: Sandro Ricci (Brazil) Fifth official[broken anchor]: Emerson de Carvalho (Brazil) Video assistant referee: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy) Assistant video assistant referees: Mauro Vigliano (Argentina) Carlos Astroza (Chile) Daniele Orsato (Italy)

Egypt vs Uruguay

The two teams have only played each other once, in a friendly game back in 2006 won by Uruguay 2–0.

15 June 2018 (2018-06-15)

17:00 YEKT (UTC+5)

Egypt	0–1	Uruguay
	Report	Giménez  89'

Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg

Attendance: 27,015^[6]

Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

Egypt[7]

Uruguay[7]

GK 23 Mohamed El-Shenawy RB 7 Ahmed Fathy (c) CB 2 Ali Gabr CB 6 Ahmed Hegazi  90+6' LB 13 Mohamed Abdel-Shafy CM 8 Tarek Hamed  50' CM 17 Mohamed Elneny RW 22 Amr Warda  82' AM 19 Abdallah Said LW 21 Trézéguet CF 9 Marwan Mohsen  63' Substitutions: MF 5 Sam Morsy  90+4'  50' FW 11 Kahraba  63' FW 14 Ramadan Sobhi  82' Manager: Héctor Cúper

GK 1 Fernando Muslera RB 4 Guillermo Varela CB 2 José Giménez CB 3 Diego Godín (c) LB 22 Martín Cáceres RM 8 Nahitan Nández  58' CM 15 Matías Vecino  87' CM 6 Rodrigo Bentancur LM 10 Giorgian De Arrascaeta  59' CF 9 Luis Suárez CF 21 Edinson Cavani Substitutions: MF 5 Carlos Sánchez  58' MF 7 Cristian Rodríguez  59' MF 14 Lucas Torreira  87' Manager: Óscar Tabárez

Man of the Match: Mohamed El-Shenawy (Egypt)[8] Assistant referees:[7] Sander van Roekel (Netherlands) Erwin Zeinstra (Netherlands) Fourth official: Milorad Mažić (Serbia) Fifth official[broken anchor]: Milovan Ristić (Serbia) Video assistant referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands) Assistant video assistant referees: Paweł Gil (Poland) Cyril Gringore (France) Clément Turpin (France)

Russia vs Egypt

19 June 2018 (2018-06-19)

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Russia	3–1	Egypt
Fathy  47' (o.g.) Cheryshev  59' Dzyuba  62'	Report	Salah  73' (pen.)

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 64,468^[9]

Referee: Enrique Cáceres (Paraguay)

Russia[10]

Egypt[10]

GK 1 Igor Akinfeev (c) RB 2 Mário Fernandes CB 3 Ilya Kutepov CB 4 Sergei Ignashevich LB 18 Yuri Zhirkov  86' CM 11 Roman Zobnin CM 8 Yury Gazinsky RW 19 Aleksandr Samedov AM 17 Aleksandr Golovin LW 6 Denis Cheryshev  74' CF 22 Artem Dzyuba  79' Substitutions: MF 7 Daler Kuzyayev  74' FW 10 Fyodor Smolov  84'  79' DF 13 Fyodor Kudryashov  86' Manager: Stanislav Cherchesov

GK 23 Mohamed El-Shenawy RB 7 Ahmed Fathy (c) CB 2 Ali Gabr CB 6 Ahmed Hegazi LB 13 Mohamed Abdel-Shafy CM 8 Tarek Hamed CM 17 Mohamed Elneny  64' RW 10 Mohamed Salah AM 19 Abdallah Said LW 21 Trézéguet  57'  68' CF 9 Marwan Mohsen  82' Substitutions: FW 22 Amr Warda  64' FW 14 Ramadan Sobhi  68' FW 11 Kahraba  82' Manager: Héctor Cúper

Man of the Match: Denis Cheryshev (Russia)[11] Assistant referees:[10] Eduardo Cardozo (Paraguay) Juan Zorrilla (Paraguay) Fourth official: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey) Fifth official[broken anchor]: Bahattin Duran (Turkey) Video assistant referee: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy) Assistant video assistant referees: Mauro Vigliano (Argentina) Carlos Astroza (Chile) Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia

20 June 2018 (2018-06-20)

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Uruguay	1–0	Saudi Arabia
Suárez  23'	Report

Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don

Attendance: 42,678^[12]

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

Uruguay[13]

Saudi Arabia[13]

GK 1 Fernando Muslera RB 4 Guillermo Varela CB 2 José Giménez CB 3 Diego Godín (c) LB 22 Martín Cáceres RM 5 Carlos Sánchez  82' CM 15 Matías Vecino  59' CM 6 Rodrigo Bentancur LM 7 Cristian Rodríguez  59' CF 9 Luis Suárez CF 21 Edinson Cavani Substitutions: MF 17 Diego Laxalt  59' MF 14 Lucas Torreira  59' MF 8 Nahitan Nández  82' Manager: Óscar Tabárez

GK 22 Mohammed Al-Owais RB 6 Mohammed Al-Breik CB 3 Osama Hawsawi (c) CB 4 Ali Al-Bulaihi LB 13 Yasser Al-Shahrani DM 14 Abdullah Otayf CM 7 Salman Al-Faraj CM 17 Taisir Al-Jassim  44' RW 9 Hattan Bahebri  75' LW 18 Salem Al-Dawsari CF 19 Fahad Al-Muwallad  78' Substitutions: MF 16 Housain Al-Mogahwi  44' MF 12 Mohamed Kanno  75' FW 10 Mohammad Al-Sahlawi  78' Manager: Juan Antonio Pizzi

Man of the Match: Luis Suárez (Uruguay)[14] Assistant referees:[13] Nicolas Danos (France) Cyril Gringore (France) Fourth official: John Pitti (Panama) Fifth official[broken anchor]: Gabriel Victoria (Panama) Video assistant referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland) Assistant video assistant referees: Paweł Gil (Poland) Pawel Sokolnicki (Poland) Daniele Orsato (Italy)

Uruguay vs Russia

25 June 2018 (2018-06-25)

18:00 SAMT (UTC+4)

Uruguay	3–0	Russia
Suárez  10' Cheryshev  23' (o.g.) Cavani  90'	Report

Cosmos Arena, Samara

Attendance: 41,970^[15]

Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal)

Uruguay[16]

Russia[16]

GK 1 Fernando Muslera CB 19 Sebastián Coates CB 3 Diego Godín (c) CB 22 Martín Cáceres DM 14 Lucas Torreira CM 15 Matías Vecino CM 6 Rodrigo Bentancur  59'  63' RW 8 Nahitan Nández  73' LW 17 Diego Laxalt CF 9 Luis Suárez CF 21 Edinson Cavani  90+3' Substitutions: MF 10 Giorgian De Arrascaeta  63' MF 7 Cristian Rodríguez  73' FW 18 Maxi Gómez  90+3' Manager: Óscar Tabárez

GK 1 Igor Akinfeev (c) RB 23 Igor Smolnikov  27'  36' CB 3 Ilya Kutepov CB 4 Sergei Ignashevich LB 13 Fyodor Kudryashov CM 11 Roman Zobnin CM 8 Yury Gazinsky  9'  46' RW 19 Aleksandr Samedov AM 15 Aleksei Miranchuk  60' LW 6 Denis Cheryshev  38' CF 22 Artem Dzyuba Substitutions: DF 2 Mário Fernandes  38' MF 7 Daler Kuzyayev  46' FW 10 Fyodor Smolov  60' Manager: Stanislav Cherchesov

Man of the Match: Luis Suárez (Uruguay)[17] Assistant referees:[16] Djibril Camara (Senegal) El Hadji Samba (Senegal) Fourth official: Bamlak Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia) Fifth official[broken anchor]: Hasan Al Mahri (United Arab Emirates) Video assistant referee: Clément Turpin (France) Assistant video assistant referees: Paweł Gil (Poland) Cyril Gringore (France) Daniele Orsato (Italy)

Saudi Arabia vs Egypt

25 June 2018 (2018-06-25)

17:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Saudi Arabia	2–1	Egypt
Al-Faraj  45+6' (pen.) Al-Dawsari  90+5'	Report	Salah  22'

Volgograd Arena, Volgograd

Attendance: 36,823^[18]

Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)

Saudi Arabia[19]

Egypt[19]

GK 21 Yasser Al-Mosailem RB 6 Mohammed Al-Breik CB 3 Osama Hawsawi (c) CB 23 Motaz Hawsawi LB 13 Yasser Al-Shahrani DM 14 Abdullah Otayf CM 7 Salman Al-Faraj CM 16 Housain Al-Mogahwi RW 9 Hattan Bahebri  65' LW 18 Salem Al-Dawsari CF 19 Fahad Al-Muwallad  79' Substitutions: FW 20 Muhannad Assiri  65' MF 8 Yahya Al-Shehri  79' Manager: Juan Antonio Pizzi

GK 1 Essam El-Hadary (c) RB 7 Ahmed Fathy  86' CB 2 Ali Gabr  45+5' CB 6 Ahmed Hegazi LB 13 Mohamed Abdel-Shafy CM 17 Mohamed Elneny CM 8 Tarek Hamed RW 10 Mohamed Salah AM 19 Abdallah Said  45+7' LW 21 Trézéguet  81' CF 9 Marwan Mohsen  64' Substitutions: FW 22 Amr Warda  45+7' FW 14 Ramadan Sobhi  64' FW 11 Kahraba  81' Manager: Héctor Cúper

Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)[20] Assistant referees:[19] Alexander Guzmán (Colombia) Cristian de la Cruz (Colombia) Fourth official: Ricardo Montero (Costa Rica) Fifth official[broken anchor]: Hiroshi Yamauchi (Japan) Video assistant referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal) Assistant video assistant referees: Tiago Martins (Portugal) Carlos Astroza (Chile) Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)