2 Teams To Represent Caspian In 2018 World Cup

Iran and Russia are the two Caspian region countries that will be sending their national football (soccer) teams to the 21st FIFA World Cup, which will be played in Russia from June 14 – July 15, 2018.

The national team of Iran booked the 2018 World Cup group stage participation back in June this year as they finished Group D of the Asia Football Confederation in first place with 22 points, beating four other teams from Asia, including the Caspian region’s Turkmenistan. Iran’s national team has qualified five times for the FIFA World Cup, in 1978, 1998, 2006 and 2014.

Azerbaijan, a Group C participant in the 2018 qualifying games, failed to build on the perfect start it had made with wins in its matches against teams from San Marino and Norway. Azerbaijan placed fifth in its group of six teams, ending its chances to the 2018 World Cup with 10 points.

Kazakhstan’s team ranked the lowest out of the five Caspian region countries, finishing at the bottom of Group E and coming in with only three points gained in the 10 games it played. Qualifying for the World Cup group stage still remains to be “mission impossible” for the footballers from the eastern Caspian country.

Twelve stadiums in 11 cities throughout Russia will host 2018 World Cup matches. Cities include Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.