The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Russia on Thursday 14th June. This is the first World Cup held in Europe since 2006 and the first ever to be held in Eastern Europe. It’s time for football vocabulary to enter the EFL classroom again and as the World Cup also coincides with Wimbledon, it’s going to be a sporty month! 

 

The World Cup Russia 2018 Groups

The World Cup Russia 2018 involves 32 national men’s teams, including the automatically qualifying host team (which this year is Russia). During the competition, there will be a total of 64 matches, which will be played across 12 different venues, located in 11 cities in European Russia.

The World Cup Final will take place on 15th July at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The group stage is now over and all the teams have battled it out to decide on the top two winning countries in each group.

Here are the groups – which group was your country in?

The Knock-Out Stage

At the end of the group stage, the top two teams in each group go through to the knock-out stage. This stage contains the last sixteen teams and the loser from each of the remaining matches will be eliminated (i.e. ‘knocked out’).

The knock-out stage is when it starts to get nail biting as there must always be a winner in every game. This means matches can go to ‘extra time’ and penalty shootouts become a possibility!

After the ‘last sixteen’ comes the quarter finals (including the last 8 teams), followed by the semi-finals (the last 4 teams) and then the big final on 15th July, which will decide the winner of the World Cup Russia 2018!

The World Cup 2018 is another chance to use football in the EFL classroom. We have looked before at footy vocab and phrases during the FA Cup and Women’s Euros, including some interesting historical information about these competitions. We’ve also explored the history of women’s football.

We have a page of general football vocabulary which can be useful for discussing any soccer competition or football matches in general.

 

World Cup Opening Ceremony 

The special aspect to the World Cup 2018 is that it is being held in Russia. The country that plays host to the World Cup always gives the competition an individual flavour.

From the music on the television before each game, to the quirky opening ceremony that is a staple of every World Cup, the host country is always an important part of the competition.

Russia surprised viewers by holding quite a short opening ceremony lasting just fifteen minutes with performances from British pop star Robbie Williams and Russian opera singer Aida Garifullina.

Other interesting elements of the opening ceremony this year included giant footballs, jugglers, a giant bird made out of crepe paper, representatives from each country in colourful dress, dancers with footballs on their heads and a brief performance from a harpist.

There was also a short speech from President Putin, who welcomed World Cup visitors to an ‘open, hospitable and friendly’ Russia.

Visiting Russia for the World Cup

Football fans visiting Russia for the World Cup will find a huge selection of hotels to choose from, though many hotels in the cities hosting the group matches might already be booked up.

Visitors can expect the Metro to run like clockwork (i.e. smoothly) across six of the cities in the group stage. There are trains rolling into stations every few minutes, so the metro is a great mode of transport for getting around the cities quickly.

Russian Food and Drink

The World Cup Russia 2018 is a great time to explore Russian food and drink. Some interesting Russian foods include golubtsy (stuffed cabbage) and borscht (beetroot soup, usually served with sour cream).

There are many buffet chains specialising in Russian cuisine along with some interesting restaurants serving traditional Russian food. There are also a number of craft breweries and of course, Russians are known for their excellent vodka.

Georgian food is also delicious and includes cheesy khachapuri and adjaruli (with a fried egg in the middle), shashlik, and khinkali (giant soup dumplings). Georgian wines are also known for their high quality and intense flavours.

Whenever there is a cultural event taking place in a new country or city, it’s a great time to try out some foods from that country as part of the celebration.

Russian World Cup Cities

For football fans following England’s World Cup matches, the Russian cities hosting these games during the group stage are Volgograd, Kaliningrad and Nizhny Novgorod.

Visitors to Volograd can see The Motherland Calls, which is the tallest statue in Europe, standing at an incredible 280ft. The statue commemorates the sacrifices of Soviet soldiers in the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II.

In Kaliningrad, the Museum of the World Ocean is a great opportunity to explore ships, sea planes and submarines. The museum is currently running a special offer for football fans until August 1st – buy two tickets to the museum expositions and get a third ticket free of charge!

Nizhny Novgorod is located on the Volga River in Western Russia. The Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum is well worth a visit is you are lucky enough to be in this city. This imposing building contains some wonderful Russian and European paintings.

World Cup Russia 2018 EFL Lesson

The tension is sky high now we are nearing the end of the World Cup Russia 2018. After the shock of Germany‘s early departure in the group stage, Spain losing on penalties to Russia in their first knock-out game, and Belgium beating Brazil in the quarter finals, France has been leading the pack at the bookies.

After Croatia beat England and France triumphed over Belgium in the semi-finals, we are now waiting for the France vs Croatia final on Sunday! Who do you think will win?

There are lots of ways to bring the World Cup into the EFL classroom. Students can use football vocabulary and phrases in writing exercises, for example, students could produce written reports on the matches.

Advanced students could write an essay on World Cup Russia 2018, including their own thoughts and opinions on the atmosphere, social significance, individual matches and television coverage of the event. A World Cup Russia 2018 essay plan could include paragraphs covering all the main aspects of the competition, from the group stage through to the final.

Students could also interview each other about the matches, listen to commentary on exciting parts of the games, and read World Cup players’ interviews and match reports.

 

For lessons that don’t use the football aspect so much, students can read content about Russia, the important cities in the country and historical discussion about Russia. This takes the World Cup Russia 2018 lesson and adds more general cultural aspects for a less sporty focus.

An EFL lesson inspired by the World Cup Russia 2018 could also talk about the experiences of travelling football fans and move on to talk about sport in general, such as the treatment of different sports in the media and how this can affect the public’s attitudes and appreciation of sport.

There is also all the food and drink of Russia to explore, along with the art and culture of the country. The World Cup can act as a springboard to an EFL lesson about Russia in general or use the theme to discuss a grammar point that is relevant to the class.

Wimbledon is running at the same time as the World Cup from 2nd July until 15th July, so this could be another opportunity for a sporty lesson! Check out our Wimbledon EFL Lesson for tennis vocabulary and lesson ideas.

Share your thoughts on the World Cup Russia 2018

How will you use the World Cup in the EFL classroom?

What would you include in an essay plan about the World Cup?

Have you ever visited Russia? Where did you go and what did you do?

Do you have any favourite Russian foods?

Which country have you been supporting in the World Cup – is your country in the final?

Share your thoughts on the World Cup and Russian culture in the comments and vote in our poll for your World Cup winner!

Update:

Congratulations to France!

France beat Croatia 4-2 in the final of the World Cup Russia 2018! The penalty and free kick that gave France their first two goals were controversial – do you think they should have been given? Were France the better team or were they lucky to triumph over Croatia? Vote in our poll for which team you think deserved to win the World Cup final.