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The 2020 FIFA World Cup was an international football tournament contested by men's national teams and took place between 19 June and 20 July 2020 in Mexico. It was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, a worldwide football tournament held once every four years. Mexico became the first country to host the tournament three times.

The finals involved 32 teams, of which 31 came through qualifying competitions, while as the host nation Mexico qualified automatically. Of the 32, 19 had also appeared in the 2016 event, while both Cape Verde and Burkina Faso made their first appearances at the World Cup. 64 matches were played in 12 venues across 11 cities.

Host selection
The bidding procedure to host the 2016 and 2020 FIFA World Cup tournaments began in January 2009, and national associations had until 2 February 2009 to register their interest. Initially, nine countries placed bids for the 2020 FIFA World Cup, but Russia later withdrew from the proceedings, and Indonesia's bid was rejected by FIFA in February 2010 after the Indonesian government failed to submit a letter to support the bid. During the bidding process, the three non-UEFA nations (Australia, Japan, and the United States) gradually withdrew from the 2016 bids, and thus were ruled out of the 2020 bid. As such, there were eventually four bids for the 2020 FIFA World Cup, two of which were joint bids: England, Mexico, Netherlands/Belgium, and Portugal/Spain.

The 22-member FIFA Executive Committee convened in Zürich on 2 December 2010 to vote to select the hosts of both tournaments. Mexico won the right to be the 2020 host in the second round of voting. The Portugal/Spain bid came second, and that from Belgium/Netherlands third. England, which was bidding to host its second tournament, was eliminated in the first round.

The voting results were:

Qualification
For the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, all eligible nations—the 209 FIFA member associations except automatically qualified hosts Mexico—applied to enter the qualifying process. Zimbabwe and Indonesia were later disqualified before playing their first matches, while Gibraltar and Kosovo, who joined FIFA on 13 May 2016 after the qualifying draw but before European qualifying had begun, also entered the competition. Places in the tournament were allocated to continental confederations. The first qualification game, between Timor-Leste and Mongolia, began in Dili on 12 March 2017 as part of the AFC's qualification, and the main qualifying draw took place at the Telmex Auditorium in Zapopan on 25 July 2017.

Of the 32 nations qualified to play at the 2020 FIFA World Cup, 19 countries competed at the previous tournament in 2016. Both Burkina Faso and Cape Verde qualified for the first time, with the latter becoming the smallest country ever to reach the World Cup. Other teams returning after absences of at least three tournaments included: Wales, whose only previous appearance was in 1958; Jamaica and Bulgaria, who both last qualified in 1998.

Notable teams that failed to qualify included: Defending Champions Austria, previous finalist Colombia, and England. No country from the OFC qualified. For the first time since 1982, no Scandinavian country qualified.

Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate positions in the FIFA World Rankings at the time of the tournament.


 * AFC (5)
 * 🇯🇵 japan (28)
 * 🇰🇷 south korea (40)
 * 🇦🇺 australia (42)
 * (67)
 * 🇨🇳 china (76)


 * CAF (5)
 * 🇹🇳 tunisia (27)
 * 🇳🇬 nigeria (31)
 * (35)
 * 🇧🇫 burkina faso (59)
 * 🇨🇻 cape verde (78)


 * CONCACAF (4)
 * 🇲🇽 mexico (11) (host)
 * 🇺🇸 united states (22)
 * (46)
 * 🇯🇲 jamaica (48)


 * CONMEBOL (5)
 * 🇧🇷 brazil (3)
 * (5)
 * 🇦🇷 argentina (9)
 * (17)
 * (41)


 * OFC (0)
 * None qualified


 * UEFA (13)
 * 🇧🇪 belgium (1)
 * 🇫🇷 france (2)
 * (6)
 * (7)
 * 🇪🇸 spain (8)
 * (12)
 * 🇮🇹 italy (13)
 * (14)
 * 🇩🇪 germany (15)
 * 🇵🇱 poland (19)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 wales (23)
 * 🇹🇷 turkey (29)
 * 🇧🇬 bulgaria (59)

Draw
The draw was held on 1 December 2019 at 18:00 CST at the National Palace in Mexico City. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, by selecting one team from each of the four ranked pots.

For the draw, the teams were allocated to four pots based on the FIFA World Rankings of October 2019. Pot one contained the hosts Mexico (who were automatically assigned to position A1) and the best seven teams. Pot two contained the next best eight teams, and so on for pots three and four. Teams from the same confederation were not drawn against each other for the group stage, except that two UEFA teams could be in each group. The pots for the draw are shown below.

Squads
Initially, each team had to name a preliminary squad of 30 players, but in February 2020 this was increased to 35. From the preliminary squad, the team had to name a final squad of 23 players (three of whom had to be goalkeepers) by 4 June. Players in the final squad could be replaced for serious injury up to 24 hours prior to kickoff of the team's first match. These replacements did not need to have been named in the preliminary squad.

For players named in the 35-player preliminary squad, there was a mandatory rest period between 21 and 27 May 2018, except for those involved in the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final played on 26 May.

Officiating
On 29 March 2020, FIFA released the list of 36 referees and 63 assistant referees selected to oversee matches. On 30 April 2020, FIFA released the list of 13 video assistant referees, who acted solely in this capacity in the tournament.

Referee Fahad Al-Mirdasi of Saudi Arabia was removed on 30 May 2020 over a match-fixing attempt, along with his two assistant referees, compatriots Mohammed Al-Abakry and Abdulah Al-Shalwai. A new referee was not appointed, but two assistant referees, Hasan Al Mahri of the United Arab Emirates and Hiroshi Yamauchi of Japan, were added to the list. Assistant referee Marwa Range of Kenya also withdrew after the BBC released an investigation conducted by a Ghanaian journalist which implicated him in a bribery scandal.

Video assistant referees
Shortly after the International Football Association Board's decision to incorporate video assistant referees (VARs) into the Laws of the game (LOTG) on 16 March 2020, the FIFA Council took the much-anticipated step of approving the use of VAR for the first time in a FIFA World Cup tournament.

VAR operations for all games were operated from a single headquarters in Mexico City, which received live video of the games and were in radio contact with the on-field referees. Systems were in place for communicating VAR-related information to broadcasters and visuals on stadiums' large screens were used for the fans in attendance.

FIFA declared the implementation of VAR a success after the first week of competition.

Stadiums
Twelve stadiums in ten Mexican cities were renovated for the FIFA World Cup.

Team base camps
Base camps were used by the 32 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament. On 9 February 2020, FIFA announced the base camps for each participating team.


 * Algeria: Ixtapaluca, State of Mexico
 * Argentina: Monterrey, Nuevo León
 * Australia: Texcoco, Mexico City
 * Belgium: Puebla, Puebla
 * Brazil: Los Ramones, Nuevo León
 * Bulgaria: Guadalajara, Jalisco
 * Burkina Faso: El Salto, Jalisco
 * Cape Verde: Ecatepec, State of Mexico
 * Chile: Acapulco, Guerrero
 * China PR: Guadalajara, Jalisco
 * Costa Rica: Ayapango, State of Mexico
 * Croatia: Apaxco, State of Mexico
 * France: Ecatepec, State of Mexico
 * Germany: Hueypoxtla, State of Mexico
 * Italy: Guadalupe, Nuevo León
 * Jamaica: Tlalnepantla, State of Mexico
 * Japan: Mérida, Yucatán
 * Mexico: Oaxaca City, Oaxaca
 * Netherlands: Boca del Rui, Veracruz
 * Nigeria: Mexico City
 * Paraguay: Puebla, Puebla
 * Poland: Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico City
 * Portugal: Mexico City
 * Saudi Arabia: Guadalajara
 * South Korea: Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas
 * Spain: Tijuana, Baja California
 * Switzerland: Monterrey, Nuevo León
 * Spain: Ecatepec, State of Mexico
 * Tunisia: Juarez, Nuevo León
 * Turkey: Guadalupe, Nuevo León
 * Uruguay: Ecatzingo, State of Mexico
 * Wales: Morelia, Michoacán

Budget
At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, the 2018 FIFA event was the most expensive World Cup in history, surpassing the cost of the 2016 FIFA World Cup in Paraguay.

The Mexican government had originally earmarked a budget of around $20 billion, which was later slashed to $10 billion, for World Cup preparations. Half was spent on transportation infrastructure. The biggest item of federal spending was the aviation infrastructure. Construction of new hotels was a crucial area of infrastructure development in World Cup host cities. Costs continued to mount as preparations were underway.

Infrastructure spending
Bajío International Airport in León was upgraded with automated air traffic control systems. Modern surveillance, navigation, communication, control, and meteorological support systems were also installed. El Lencero Airport in Xalapa was upgraded with radio-engineering tools for flight operation and received a second runway. Veracruz International Airport received a new navigation system; two new hotels were constructed in the city as well as few other smaller accommodation facilities. In Monterrey, new tram lines were laid. Tijuana International Airport in was upgraded with radio navigation and weather equipment. Renovation and upgraded radio-engineering tools for flight operations was completed in the Mexico City, Guadalajara, Torreón, Monterrey, Xalapa, and Puebla airports. The last facility commissioned was a waste treatment station in Torreón.

Volunteers
Volunteer applications to the 2020 Mexico Local Organising Committee opened on 1 June 2018. The 2020 FIFA World Cup Mexico Volunteer Program received about 177,000 applications, and engaged a total of 35,000 volunteers. They received training at 15 Volunteer Centres of the local organising committee based in 15 universities, and in volunteer centres in the host cities. Preference, especially in key areas, was given to those with knowledge of a foreign language and volunteering experience, but not necessarily to Mexican nationals.

Transport
Free public transport services were offered for ticketholders during the World Cup, including additional trains linking host cities, as well as services such as bus services within them.

Group stage
Competing countries were divided into eight groups of four teams (groups A to H). Teams in each group played one another in a round-robin, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage.

All times listed below are local time. All cities lie within the Central Time Zone at UTC-5, with the exception of Tijuana at UTC-7.

Tiebreakers
The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:


 * 1) Points obtained in all group matches;
 * 2) Goal difference in all group matches;
 * 3) Number of goals scored in all group matches;
 * 4) Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
 * 5) Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
 * 6) Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
 * 7) Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
 * 8) Drawing of lots.

Knockout stage
In the knockout stages, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners. If a match went into extra time, each team was allowed to make a fourth substitution, the first time this had been allowed in a FIFA World Cup tournament. Below is the bracket for the knockout round of the tournament, teams in bold denote match winners.

Final ranking
Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-out are counted as draws.

Branding
The tournament logo was unveiled on 28 October 2014 by cosmonauts at the International Space Station and then projected onto Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre during an evening television programme. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said the logo was inspired by "Russia's rich artistic tradition and its history of bold achievement and innovation", and FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated that it reflected the "heart and soul" of the country. For branding, Portuguese design agency Brandia Central created materials in 2014, with a typeface called Dusha (from, ) designed by Brandia Central and edited by Adotbelow of the DSType Foundry in Portugal.

Mascot
The tournament's official mascot was unveiled on 21 October 2016, and selected through a design competition among university students. A public vote was used to select the mascot from three finalists—a cat, a tiger, and a wolf. The winner, with 53% or approximately one million votes, was Zabivaka—an anthropomorphic wolf dressed in the colours of the Russian national team. Zabivaka's name is a portmanteau of the Russian words забияка ("hothead") and забивать ("to score"), and his official backstory states that he is an aspiring football player who is "charming, confident and social".

Ticketing
The first phase of ticket sales started on 14 September 2017, 12:00 Moscow Time, and lasted until 12 October 2017.

The general visa policy of Russia did not apply to participants and spectators, who were able to visit Russia without a visa right before and during the competition regardless of their citizenship. Spectators were nonetheless required to register for a "Fan-ID", a special photo identification pass. A Fan-ID was required to enter the country visa-free, while a ticket, Fan-ID and a valid passport were required to enter stadiums for matches. Fan-IDs also granted World Cup attendees free access to public transport services, including buses, and train service between host cities. Fan-ID was administered by the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, which could revoke this accreditation at any time to "ensure the defence capability or security of the state or public order".

Match ball
The official match ball, the "Telstar 18", was unveiled on 9 November 2017. It was based on the name and design of the first Adidas World Cup ball from 1970. A special red-coloured variation, "Telstar Mechta", was used for the knockout stage of the tournament. The word mechta (Russian: мечта) means "dream" or "ambition".

Goalkeepers noted that the ball was slippery and prone to having unpredictable trajectory. In addition, two Telstar 18 balls popped in the midst of a first-round match between France and Australia, leading to further discussions over the ball's performance.

Merchandise
On 29 May 2018, Electronic Arts released a free update to their video game FIFA 18 that added content related to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The expansion included a World Cup tournament mode with all teams and stadiums from the event, official television presentation elements, and World Cup-related content for the Ultimate Team mode.

Panini continued their partnership with FIFA by producing stickers for their World Cup sticker album. Panini also developed an app for the 2018 World Cup where fans could collect and swap virtual stickers, with five million fans gathering digital stickers for the tournament.

Official song
The official song of the tournament was "Live It Up", with vocals by Will Smith, Nicky Jam and Era Istrefi, released on 25 May 2018. Its music video was released on 8 June 2018.

Other controversies
Thirty-three footballers who were alleged to be part of the Russian steroid programme are listed in the McLaren Report. On 22 December 2017, it was reported that FIFA had fired a doctor who had been investigating doping in Russian football. On 22 May 2018 FIFA confirmed that the investigations concerning all Russian players named for the provisional squad of the FIFA World Cup in Russia had been completed, with the result that insufficient evidence was found to support anti-doping rule violations. FIFA's medical committee also decided that Russian personnel would not be involved in performing drug testing procedures at the tournament, an action taken to reassure teams that samples would not be tampered with.

Response to Skripal poisoning
In response to the March 2018 poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, British prime minister Theresa May announced that no British ministers or members of the royal family would attend the World Cup, and issued a warning to any travelling England fans. Iceland diplomatically boycotted the World Cup. Russia responded to the comments from the UK Parliament claiming that "the West are trying to deny Russia the World Cup". The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced Boris Johnson's statements that compared the event to the 1936 Olympics held in Nazi Germany as "poisoned with venom of hate, unprofessionalism and boorishness" and "unacceptable and unworthy" parallel towards Russia, a "nation that lost millions of lives in fighting Nazism".

The British Foreign Office and MPs had repeatedly warned English football fans and "people of Asian or Afro-Caribbean descent" travelling to Russia of "racist or homophobic intimidation, hooligan violence and anti-British hostility". English football fans who did travel have said they have received a warm welcome from ordinary citizens after arriving in Russia.

Critical reception
At the close of the World Cup, Russia was widely praised for its success in hosting the tournament, with Steve Rosenberg of the BBC deeming it "a resounding public relations success" for Putin, adding: "The stunning new stadiums, free train travel to venues and the absence of crowd violence has impressed visiting supporters. Russia has come across as friendly and hospitable: a stark contrast with the country's authoritarian image. All the foreign fans I have spoken to are pleasantly surprised."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino stated: "Everyone discovered a beautiful country, a welcoming country, that is keen to show the world that everything that has been said before might not be true. A lot of preconceived ideas have been changed because people have seen the true nature of Russia." Infantino has proclaimed Russia 2018 to be "the best World Cup ever", as 98% of the stadiums were sold out, there were three billion viewers on TV around the world and seven million fans visited the fan fests.

However, the tournament was called a distraction from the international isolation and economic difficulties Russia has been facing.

Broadcasting rights
FIFA, through several companies, sold the broadcasting rights for the 2018 FIFA World Cup to various local broadcasters. After having tested the technology at limited matches of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup (via private tests and public viewings in the host city of Rio de Janeiro), the 2018 World Cup was the first World Cup in which all matches were produced in 4K ultra high definition. Host Broadcast Services (HBS) stated that at least 75% of the broadcast cut of each match would come from 4K cameras (covering the majority of main angles), with instant replays and some camera angles being converted up from 1080p high definition sources with limited degradation in quality. These broadcasts were made available from selected rightsholders and television providers.

In February 2018, Ukrainian rightsholder UA:PBC stated that it would not broadcast the World Cup. This came in the wake of growing boycotts of the tournament among the Football Federation of Ukraine and sports minister Ihor Zhdanov. Additionally, the Football Federation of Ukraine refused to accredit journalists for the World Cup and waived their quota of tickets. However, the Ukrainian state TV still broadcast the World Cup, and more than four million Ukrainians watched the opening match.

Broadcast rights to the tournament in the Middle East were hampered by an ongoing diplomatic crisis in Qatar, which saw Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates cut diplomatic ties with Qatar—the home country of FIFA's Middle East and Africa rightsholder beIN Sports—in June 2017, over its alleged state support of terrorist groups. On 2 June 2018, beIN pulled its channels from Du and Etisalat, but with service to the latter restored later that day. Etisalat subsequently announced that it would air the World Cup in the UAE, and continue to offer beIN normally and without interruptions. In Saudi Arabia, beIN was banned from doing business; as a result, its channels and other content have been widely and illegally repackaged by a broadcaster identifying itself as "beoutQ". While FIFA attempted to negotiate the sale of a package consisting of Saudi matches and the final indirectly, they were unable to do so. On 12 July 2018, FIFA stated that it had "engaged counsel to take legal action in Saudi Arabia and is working alongside other sports rights owners that have also been affected to protect its interests."

In the United States, the 2018 World Cup was the first men's World Cup whose English rights were held by Fox Sports, and Spanish rights held by Telemundo. The elimination of the United States in qualifying led to concerns that US interest and viewership of this World Cup would be reduced, noting that "casual" viewers of U.S. matches caused them to peak at 16.5 million viewers in 2014, and how much Fox paid for the rights. During a launch event prior to the elimination, Fox stated that it had planned to place a secondary focus on the Mexican team in its coverage to take advantage of their popularity among Hispanic and Latino Americans. Fox stated that it was still committed to broadcasting a significant amount of tournament coverage. Viewership was down overall over 2014; match scheduling was not as favourable to viewers in the Americas as it was in 2014. Many matches aired in the morning hours, although Telemundo's broadcast of the Mexico-Sweden Group F match was announced as being its most-watched weekday daytime program in network history.

Unlike previous tournaments, where the rights were bundled with those of South Korea, Korean Central Television acquired rights to the 2018 World Cup within North Korea. Broadcasts only began with the round of 16, and matches were tape delayed and edited for time. In addition, matches involving Japan were excluded from the broadcasts, due to strained relations and campaigns against the country.