The Group of Death

Source: Statista

June 14, 2018 marks the day millions of football-crazy people have been waiting for since 2014. On this day Saudi Arabia challenges hosts Russia in the World Cup’s opening game. Both countries are not renowned for being successful football nations, so it comes as no surprise that their Group, Group A, is the one with the weakest teams overall. Group E, or as fans of Costa Rica’s tam would call it: The Group of Death, is the one with the fiercest competition according to ELO ratings. The ELO-Rating rating system measures the power of a team, taking all the international matches into account for which results could be found. After a match, points will be adjusted according to the outcome of the game, the difference in the ratings and the importance of the game.

World Cup 2018: Key Facts

The FIFA World Cup is just around the corner and we’ve put together an infographic presenting the key information for the tournament. Hosts Russia kick off everything against Saudi Arabia on June 14 in the 80,000 capacity Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, and the final will take place in the same place on July 15. In preparation for the tournament, Russian authorities have invested a reported $9.6 billion (600 billion rubles) in infrastructure – hosting over 3 million spectators is no mean feat, after all.