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Russian Football Union confirms FIFA Ranking recognition of Russia-Cuba friendly

The friendly between Russia and Cuba will be held at the Volgograd Arena, in the south of Russia, on November 20 with kick off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Moscow time

VOLGOGRAD, November 20. /TASS/. The Russian Football Union (RFU) confirmed on Monday that a friendly football match between the national teams of Russia and Cuba on Monday night will be officially registered by the world’s governing body of football, FIFA, the RFU press office announced to TASS.

"The [friendly] match with the national team of Cuba will be officially registered by the FIFA World Ranking," the RFU’s press service stated.

Last week, Valery Karpin, the head coach of the Russian national side, told journalists: "There will be six substitutions during the match, therefore this match will be officially counted in the FIFA World Ranking."

The friendly between Russia (currently 39th in FIFA Rankings) and Cuba (169th in FIFA Rankings) will be held at the Volgograd Arena, in the south of Russia, on November 20 with kick off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Moscow time (4:30 p.m. GMT).

The 45,000-seat Volgograd-Arena was built for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and hosted four group stage matches of the world football championship.

Volgograd, formerly known as Stalingrad, has a population of over one million people, situated along the Volga River. The city and the surrounding areas were the scene of the fiercest battles of World War II, including the Battle of Stalingrad, which was widely considered to be the turning point in the war.

The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) announced on February 28, 2022 that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from taking part in FIFA-sanctioned events.

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made the same decision with regard to the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as being the reason for their decisions.

Since sanctions were introduced, the Russian national football squad has played a host of friendlies against other countries, namely against Kyrgyzstan (2-1), Tajikistan (0-0), Uzbekistan (0-0), Iran (1-1), Iraq (2-0), Cameroon (1-0) and Kenya (2-2).

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