More than a million online votes were cast to pick the official mascot. The wolf, Zabivaka, beat alternative options of a tiger and a cat.
The English Premier League accounts for more players (108) than any other league in this World Cup.
Manchester City are the club with the most players (16) at this World Cup – the most from any club. Following them are Real Madrid (15), Barcelona (14), and Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea (12).
Morocco coach, Hervé Renard, becomes the second coach to have coached Cambridge United and a World Cup team. Claude Le Roy, who managed Cameroon at the 1998 World Cup, was the first.
Gareth Southgate will become the fourth Englishman to have played for and managed the Three Lions at the World Cup (after Alf Ramsey, Bobby Robson and Glenn Hoddle).
Before last World Cup, three of the previous four World Cup winners have gone out at the group stage while trying to retain their trophy (France, Italy and Spain).
Nigeria has been drawn against Argentina in the opening group stage in FIVE of their SIX World Cup appearances. Eleven players who faced each other in Argentina’s 3-2 victory at the last World Cup are in their teams for this World Cup.
Thomas Müller is the player with the most number of goals (10) and assists (6) amongst all the players competing in this World Cup.
Brazil have received more red cards (11) than any other nation in the World Cup finals (understandably because they have featured in every World Cup, and so have had more opportunities).
If Essam El-Hadary plays he will earn his 158th cap for Egypt (at 45 years and 5 months) to become the oldest player to feature in a World Cup finals (El-Hadary made his international debut in 1996 – before Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold were born).
Costa Rica squad is the oldest team taking part in Russia with an average age of 29.6 years. Mexico, Argentina and Egypt are the only other teams with an average age of 29 or older. Nigeria’s squad has the youngest average age.
Egypt will have to travel the furthest distance (9,888km) than any other team during the group stages of this World Cup. Egypt’s travel distance is exacerbated because they are based in Grozny in the Chechen Republic while their games are in Moscow, Ekaterinburg and Volgograd.
The number of Nigeria kits for this World Cup pre-ordered, according to the manufacturer Nike, was 3,000,000.
Brazil’s squad has more combined followers (190m) than anybody else.
The total prize money available at this World Cup is $400m (ranging from $8m for teams that go out at the group stage to $38m for the eventual champions).