Football News

The 10th edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup is about to begin in Russia – the country which is about to host the next World Cup in the summer of 2018.

Eight teams will participate in the 2017 edition of the Confederations Cup. These are the host of the tournament Russia, the current World champion Germany, the new European champion Portugal, Copa America holders Chile, AFC Asian Cup winners Australia, CONCACAF Cup winners Mexico, OFC Nations Cup holders New Zealand and the Africa Cup of Nations champions Cameroon.

For three of the teams it’s going to be a first participation in the Confederations Cup – Russia, Chile and Portugal. The most experienced team in the competition this year is going to be Mexico. This is their 6th tournament so far.

Four cities will host the Confederations Cup this year – Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Sochi and Kazan. The final on July 2 is going to be played at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg.

The eight teams are divided in two groups of four. In Group A there are the host Russia, Portugal, New Zealand and Mexico.

In Group B we can find Germany, Chile, Cameroon and Australia.

The tournament will kick-off with the game between Russia and New Zealand on June 17, Saturday. On the next day we will have the chance to watch two more matches – the European champion Portugal will meet Mexico in a very interesting clash from Group A, while in Group B Chile will start their campaign with a game against Cameroon in Moscow.

The FIFA Confederations Cup was founded in 1992. The first edition was won by Argentina, but the most successful team in the history of the competition is Brazil. They have appeared five times in the final, winning the trophy four times. They are also the current holders of the title, after beating Spain with 3-0 in the final at Estádio do Maracanã four years ago. Brazil have won the tournament three consecutive times in the last 12 years, but now they are not participating in it.

One thing is for sure – we are going to see in action some terrific players. Julian Draxler, Emre Can and Leroy Sane from Germany, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andre Silva and Ricardo Quaresma from Portugal, Chile’s Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal, Mexico’s Carlos Vela, Giovani dos Santos and Javier Hernandez – they all will be there. And many more, of course!