MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. On September 4, the national football teams of Russia and Jordan will play an exhibition at the Lukoil-Arena in Moscow, the Russian football team’s press office announced on Tuesday.
The match at the 45,360-seat capacity stadium is scheduled to kick off at 8:00 p.m. Moscow time (5:00 p.m. GMT).
The Lukoil arena will be hosting a Russian national squad match for the first time since September 7, 2021, when Russia defeated Malta in qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
This year, Russia has played against Grenada (5-0), Zambia (5-0), Nigeria (1-1) and Belarus (4-1). Russia is currently 35th in FIFA World Rankings.
On September 7, the Russians will play Qatar in the Middle East. On October 10, Russia will play versus Iran in Volgograd, and on October 14 they will meet with the Bolivian team in Moscow.
In November, Russia will play friendlies against Peru and Chile. The match against Peru is scheduled to be played on November 12 in Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg at the 67,800-seat capacity Gazprom Arena. Three days later, on November 15, the Russian side will welcome the national team of Chile in the Black Sea southern city of Sochi at the almost 45,000-seat capacity Fisht Stadium.
Russia’s football ban
The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on February 28, 2022, that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from participating in FIFA tournaments.
In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision regarding the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.
Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.