MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. Nearly three-fourths (72%) of those interviewed by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center anticipate that other countries’ attitudes toward Russia will improve in the wake of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the poll showed on Wednesday.

"After our country hosted the World Cup, 72% of our fellow citizens expect other countries’ attitude toward Russia to improve," the pollster said. A mere 1% said the attitude to Russia would worsen.

 Most respondents (83%) supported such large-scale international sporting events as the FIFA World Cup that was held in Russia. Just 13% said Russia should not host such major tournaments.

According to nearly three-fourths of Russians (71%), the fact that Russia hosted the World Cup did a world of good for the country. Sixty percent of those polled said this event helped boost Russia’s image, other 16% were certain it would accelerate tourism, while another 14% pointed to tourism revenues. Sociologists also noted that more than one half of Russians (60%) believe the World Cup was worth the money that had been spent on it.

On the other hand, 9% of those surveyed said they viewed the tournament in a negative light. Half of them (49%) believe the investment shelled out on it will not pay off, one-third (31%) stressed the funds could have been used for the needs of the country, while every fifth respondent (19%) described the World Cup as an attempt to divert public attention from the country’s real problems.

The poll was conducted on July 16, 2018, with 1,600 people interviewed.

Russia hosted its first-ever FIFA World Cup from June 14 to July 15. Eleven host cities, namely, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara, were selected to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup.

The national football team of hosts Russia managed to make it to the quarterfinals stage of this world tournament, where Croatia edged it out in a 4-2 penalty shootout on July 7 at the Fisht Arena in Sochi.

The FIFA World Cup Trophy went to France, which defeated Croatia 4-2 in the final match.