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Russia’s goalkeeper Akinfeev named Man of the Match after Russia’s win over Spain

Russia defeated Spain 4-3 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 after extra time
Russia’s goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
Russia’s goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev
© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. Russia’s goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev had been named the Man of the Match after the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 game between Russia and Spain, the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) said.

The match was played at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday. Russia defeated Spain 4-3 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 after extra time. Akinfeev saved two penalties.

In the quarterfinals, Russia will face the winner in the Round of 16 match between Croatia and Denmark that is to be played later in the day in Nizhny Novgorod. The quarterfinals match will take place on July 7 at Sochi’s Fisht Stadium.

Russia is staging its first-ever FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow with a spectacular opening show at the Luzhniki Stadium on the night of June 14.

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.

A total of 32 national football teams entered the 2018 FIFA World Cup and only 16 of them proceeded to the knockout phase after the group stage, which kicked off on June 14 and ended on June 28.

According to FIFA’s official statistics, the total number of fans at all stadiums during 48 matches of the group stage came to 2,178,894 people, which carries an average of 45,394 at each match.