World Cup Organizers Suggest Russia's Squad Likely Make It Through Round of 16

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia won their opening two matches at the tournament beating Egypt 3-1 and thrashing Saudi Arabia 5-0 to book their place in the latter stages of the competition for the first time since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Russia should be looking to get to the quarter-finals or even further in the World Cup, the CEO of the Russia 2018 Local Organizing Committee Aleksey Sorokin said on Wednesday.

“I believe that Russia have the potential to go further than the round of 16, at least we hope that will be the case,” Sorokin said.

He added that the national team’s success was important to increase interest in the World Cup among the general public.

“It is important that Russia do well at the tournament as their success attracts interest of people who would otherwise not have been interested. The World Cup is key in getting a new audience,” Sorokin added.

Russia will face Uruguay in their final group A game on Monday. Stanislav Cherchesov’s side will face either Spain, Portugal or Iran in the round of 16.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the matches being played in 11 cities across Russia.