World Cup 2018 opening ceremony: Robbie Williams's middle finger and giant fire bird feature in snappy show
The World Cup got under way this afternoon in a short and sweet opening ceremony, with Robbie Williams dominating the centre of the park with a medley of his hits.
He did not play 'Party Like A Russian'.
Where previous ceremonies have featured lengthy performance-art projects about the environment, the football family and children being the future, this Russian effort was snappy: long on energy, and short on tree-hugging.
Williams was excellent, there were representatives from the competing countries, and a giant fire bird made out of crepe paper. There was, naturally, juggling, and the obligatory giant footballs.
Somebody played a harp, but not for long.
Robbie Williams gave middle finger to the world #WorldCupRussiapic.twitter.com/tsuCjUVVPg
— riyadh ali egeli (@RiyadhEgeli) June 14, 2018
Ronaldo (the Brazil one) did some mucking about with a penalty shootout and the mascot, and that was about it.
There were no speeches during the ceremony segment, although President Putin did give a welcome before the match itself.
World Cup 2018 opening ceremony, in pictures
Now: Football!
Get yourself over to our live blog of the World Cup opening match and join Rob Bagchi for Russia vs Saudi Arabia here
Here are the best pictures from the ceremony...
....can be found here.
Putin
"Football is truly loved here and it is called love at first sight, since our first offical match here in 1897.
"I hope fans and teams enjoy their stay in Russia, an open, hospitable and friendly country with people who have the shared values.
"Football brings us altogether in one team, we are united by this spectacular game."
Crikey he's going on a bit. Well, you wouldn't want to be the one to tell him, would you?
Now Infantino is doing a bit. He's trying out a variety of languages to say hello in. Like a toddler who has got hold of Google translate on an iPad.
And that's it!
Short and sweet. Williams was excellent, there was just enough performance art / puppetry / unusual instruments to keep the purists happy. There were representatives from each nation. An acceptable level of juggling.
Good old Ronaldo (the real one)
He'll turn up to anything you want as long as he gets a clear run at the buffet, he's doing a bit of crowd work with a mascot and a child.
A representative from each country.
And here's the ceremonial football
representing the football family no hang on wait this is just an actual football.
LOVE
Williams is absolutely bossing this
Tremendous chops on the lad. Now he's doing a duet of Angels with the singing lady. Aida Garifullina is her name.
Now some women dancing together
in what looks suspiciously like rainbow colours. For God's sake don't let Putin see that.
This is more like it
A harp! Warbling! A giant papier mache bird. This is what they've come to see, not a fat dancer from Take That (copyright Noel Gallagher)
Bird lady
The bird representing something or other, as well as acting as an Uber for the singer Aida Garifullina, who will now do a turn.
Robbie centre stage
A pitch with a giant football on it. Dancers with footballs on their heads. Foxy ladies in red jump suits with footballs on their heads. And, of course, people in huge football costumes.
And it's Clive!
Clive Tyldesley. "No Danny Boyle production, just ten minutes, and Robbie Williams will be singing for most of them. According to the Fifa hand out, he's from the home of football: Stoke on Trent. And Port Vale went down..."
Gary Neville
"The Germans always book their hotel for the final. Call it arrogance, but they know how to get through tournaments. True story: in the Euro 1996 we wanted to book a hotel for the final and the Germans had already got there!"
ITV are bossing this!
This looks so cool. Well done to all concerned.
Ooh.... neon
The stage is set... for Robbie, not football... #worldcup#russia2018pic.twitter.com/1RCg643F6Q
— Ossian Shine ���� (@ossianshine) June 14, 2018
It's not too late
to print out a handy World Cup calendar, y'know.
Telegraph newshound Ben Rumsby is in place.
It’s all kicking off... pic.twitter.com/s71X8MHbdN
— Ben Rumsby (@ben_rumsby) June 14, 2018
Openers, from the mouthwatering to the stomach-churning
Ranking #WorldCup curtain-raisers from bottom to top going back to 1930 https://t.co/52lckt632apic.twitter.com/R94C3kwI0R
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) June 14, 2018
Who'd be a live TV presenter, eh?
Imagine how stressful it must be having people scrutinise your every stumbled word. (Column coming later)
World Cup hasn’t even kicked off and it’s already ruined. Who the hell are Saudia Arabe? pic.twitter.com/oNYEMzzwLD
— Rhys James (@rhysjamesy) June 14, 2018
Slaven Bilic on Russia
"I do not know why they cannot find players. They have been looking for six years for a centre half." He reckons that the preponderance of foreign players in their league, and that they do not play abroad, might be factors. Sounds familiar!
Footballers!
Safe hands, Iker...
Good debate from these ITV guys
about the different options available to England up front.
Pougers: "I do have some other news about England: they have added Love Island to the TV channels that they can watch in the hotel."
Wright: "I have seen a bit about that. The clip with the girls talking about Brexit. That was... intense." Lol.
Gary Neville on Raheem
"He would never have been able to do that interview four years ago. He has grown up. His character has grown. And he has grown as a player. The discipline from Pep on the pitch has really helped him, the guidance of when to go, where to play."
Ian Wright on Raheem
"It's a familiar story. Tragedy when someone is young. But Raheem has broken through. He gets a lot of stick. But he is 23. What he has done to get here."
Raheen Sterling meets Gabriel Clarke
He has another tat, he says. It's a picture of Wembley Stadium, that he had done on his arm when he was younger. He lived near there when he was young. There's a little figure on it in an England shirt, wearing ten. That's him.
I feel a bit emotional actually. The stuff that lad has been through.
Don't remember seeing that given much coverage in his most recent roasting.
I hope Raheem Sterling absolutely smashes this tournament #WorldCup#England
— Cam (@greiff12) June 14, 2018
Really good feature with Raheem Sterling on ITV. Unsurprisingly Sterling comes across incredibly well, he's so clearly nothing like the tabloids would like you to believe
— Danny Jamieson (@DannyJamieson) June 14, 2018
Good to see the @itvfootball pundits painting Raheem Sterling in the positive light he deserves ��
— cal (@CmH_26) June 14, 2018
I really like how there are portraits
in the columns
England news: Marcus Rashford
Su-su-studio
Wow! Loving the @ITV World Cup studio pic.twitter.com/DBDMY9JyDs
— Ed Chamberlin (@chamberlinsport) June 14, 2018
What do you think of the show so far?
ITV’s opening credits are ok though. Clearly jumping on Greatest Showman bandwagon, but very apt with Russia’s ballet and circus history. If it’s good enough for Hugh Jackman and all that #WorldCup
— George Thorpe (@MrGeorgeThorpe) June 14, 2018
Elegant ITV opening titles. Nice to see they've kept tradition with 'ITV Sport presents'. #WorldCup
— Abdi Moallim (@footexplain) June 14, 2018
Not a bad opening title sequence by ITV. Their best were in 1990 and 1998 (look them up on YouTube if you've forgotten). The more recent ones were forgettable but this was a good effort with a Russian theme #WorldCup#WorldCupRussia2018
— Marcus Stead (@MarcusStead) June 14, 2018
Russia vs Saudi Arabia
is coming up in just over an hour. World Cup 2018: Russia vs Saudi Arabia 4pm kick off, TV channel: ITV1
The ceremony starts at half three
Meantime, here is Mark Clattenburg. Bit overdressed for a truck, perhaps.
He's in an Analysis Truck. Whither Andy Townsend and his Tactics Truck of yesteryear?
Anyway, he is explaining how VAR will be used and when.
Here's the ITV intro
I like it.
The Fifa World Cup is here!
Join us LIVE on @ITV now for the opening ceremony and then the big one:#RUS vs #KSA at 4pm pic.twitter.com/O7hSEvj502— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 14, 2018
Ryan Giggs and Eni Aluko with Jacqui Oatley
"I will be watching for trends, there is always someone who becomes a star of the show," says Ryan Giggs.
"There is a lot of pressure for Russia, their centre halves have both had ACL injuries, they have made changes in their back line," says Aluko.
They are at the Luzhniki Stadium
World Cup 2018 stadium: Luzhniki Stadium
Wrighty thinks Brazil
"Look at how jovial they are in training. Neymar looks ready to go. He's had a couple of years off with PSG (!) so he should be well rested."
Good opening salvo of punditry I'd say. Relaxed, a few jokes, nice feel to it.
Super Slaven Bilic
"For me you have Brazil, then you have Spain. Then France and Germany. And then several teams." By Jove I think he's got it: there are indeed multiple nation states in action. For clarity, I think he is saying that Brazil are the best team, then Spain, and then a gap to France and Germany.
Gurreh Neville
He's got a black silky shirt on, looking vaguely like he might be going to a nitespot.
Tough opener for Lee Dixon
He's asked to put the tournament and the politics of Russia v the West in a social context. Erm, thanks a bunch, Pougatch, Lee is surely thinking.
Bit of a curveball from Pougatch within 10 seconds on ITV: “Lee Dixon, first off let’s touch upon the political situation between the West & Russia....” #Russia2018pic.twitter.com/6MBITf9hCi
— Joe Michalczuk (@joemichalczuk) June 14, 2018
Well, a game effort I think is how we will sum up his reply. "As footballers we live in a bubble" he says before playing safe with a "Russia v Saudia Arabia is sure to be entertaining."
Compared to Alan Hansen's "Well South Africa had Apartheid, that was a terrible system, but now they've got the World Cup", this is some JFK level stuff.
ITV mentioning the build up being 'politically charged' and Stalin in the first 30 seconds of their coverage. Unexpected. Lee Dixon shifts in his seat.
— Elis James (@elisjames) June 14, 2018
Look at that studio!
A circus man
A ballerina. The music of Tchaikovsky, I think.
It's live!
Hello World Cup, hello ITV. What have you got for us?
TV Coverage incoming
What will ITV do for their Title sequence?
This from Italia 90 remains the benchmark.
The Pope, no less!
I send my cordial greetings to all those following the World Soccer Championships that begin today in Russia. I hope this sports event may be a positive opportunity for encounter and fellowship.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) June 14, 2018
It's called 'the World Cup' your Holiness.
Lovely piece about Michael Owen
Remembering Michael Owen's wonder goal against Argentina 20 years on
Russia's politicians wasting no time
in claiming this as a political win. (from Reuters)
Russia welcomed the world to the World Cup on Thursday as cheerful fans streamed into Moscow and 10 other cities and President Vladimir Putin's government derided Western efforts to isolate him.
While Western countries chose not to send senior representatives to the opening ceremony, there are no sporting boycotts like the one that marred the 1980 Moscow Olympics, or doping bans of the kind that excluded many Russians from the last two Olympic Games.
"Attempts at a boycott were doomed from the start," Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, a close Putin ally and long-time sports minister, told Izvestiya newspaper. "It shows how foreign politicians are sometimes cut off from real life."
Putin, grappling with Western sanctions since seizing Crimea from Ukraine four years ago, will attend an opening ceremony at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium ahead of the first match of the month-long festival, pitting the hosts against Saudi Arabia.
The president, newly re-elected after 18 years in power, will listen to British singer Robbie Williams with what the Kremlin listed as an array of 15 foreign leaders -- though that included eight from ex-Soviet neighbours as well as two from Russian-backed breakaway regions of Georgia.
Rwanda, Lebanon and Panama were also named along with a senior official from North Korea.
Putin hailed the world soccer governing body FIFA for keeping to a motto of "sport without politics". Speaking on Wednesday, as FIFA chose to host the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the Russian leader spoke of sport's potential to promote "humanity without borders".
"Russia in Centre Field", headlined the state-run newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta. "The main victory is already won," it said, praising an organisation effort that has seen a dozen stadiums built or modernised and a huge security operation put in place.
This man's had a go on our predictor
Remember this tweet. #WorldCupRussia2018#WorldCupPredictionpic.twitter.com/UtnlrRQMEG
— Daniel Vangsgaard (@dkvangsgaard) June 14, 2018
Have you?
World Cup predictor
Quite a stylish poster from ITV
It's finally here...
The #WorldCup starts on @ITV today!
We have The Opening Ceremony followed by #RUSKSA
Join @markpougatch, @GNev2, @LeeDixon2, @IanWright0, Slaven Bilic in the studio from 2.30pm and we have @JacquiOatley pitchside with Ryan Giggs and @EniAlupic.twitter.com/lcPfW3emVI— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 14, 2018
Really enjoying this rundown
by a chap on Twitter. 100 greatest WC players.
20. JAIRZINHO ����
Forward (66, 70 ��, 74) 16 games, 9 goals
Direct running right-winger or forward whose pace and dribbling made him a feared opponent. The only man to score in every game of a World Cup as Brazil won in 1970. pic.twitter.com/qA8sf7aPls— Rob Fielder (@ademir2z) June 13, 2018
Party like Putin
Here's an excellent explainer from our colleagues on the Telegraph Culture Desk about Robbie Williams and his relationship to Russia.
Party like Putin? Inside Russia's love/hate relationship with Robbie Williams
Here's our podcast preview
Good old Fifa
Utterly ridiculous! I’ve just been ordered to peel the sticker off this bottled water at stadium security #WorldCupRussia2018 - apparently it could upset a sponsor! pic.twitter.com/KaTG3MkKot
— Andy Lines (@andylines) June 14, 2018
I'm just worried that we may have peaked too soon
World Cup hasn't even kicked off yet, and we've already published my all-time favourite Telegraph Sport GIF, thanks to @footballcliches here: https://t.co/rsYI7ZyWAhpic.twitter.com/WUSp5ko2m6
— Thom Gibbs (@thomgibbs) June 14, 2018
World Cup opening games
A delicious amuse bouche? Or a dodgy prawn cocktail starter?
Ranking World Cup opening matches from bottom to top
Charlie Eccleshare ranks the World Cup opening matches
Are you doing a Fantasy team?
This looks a really nicely designed and structured example of the species. I am hopeless at these things: no patience for it. But I am doing a team nonetheless.
Portrait of the artist
.@FootballCliches analyses the unintended meaning behind 20 #WorldCup player portraits https://t.co/GfZCguxa0hpic.twitter.com/SM0aBek0aI
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) June 14, 2018
Premier League fixtures, by the way
Not sure if this falls under the category of "not now, guys" but the Premier League fixtures are out today.
Here's Ms Ross
You have to say that's magnificent.
Robbie Williams is hoping he doesn't Do A Diana
Who do you think will win the opener, then?
Have a look at this nifty score predictor
World Cup 2018 Simulator Single Game
England's big group rivals
We've been doing a series in the build-up to THE WORLD CUP BEING HERE TODAY!!!!!! about the contenders, and Belgium can certainly count themselves on, or at least on the fringes, of that group.
Here, Sam Dean takes a look at the team who most people are expecting to battle it out for Group G toppery with England. It's a really good piece, and I learned lots. I am also now part Belgian, on account of having got them in the Office Sweepstake.
There is an air of calmness and confidence around Belgium, but it has not always been this way. And, it should be added, it may not be like this again. A week earlier, they had been whistled off the pitch after drawing 0-0 with Portugal. And a week later, on Monday, they take on Panama knowing that anything but a commanding victory in their first World Cup game will dramatically increase the pressure on this ‘golden generation’.
World Cup 2018 contenders: Can Belgium's 'golden generation' finally live up to expectations?
Player portraits!
There are some classics in here.
Aron Gunnarsson (Iceland)
What he intended: Ferocious Icelandic passion
What he achieved: Literally being unable to fight his way out of a paper bag
The 20 official World Cup player portraits we have some questions about
So what is on the menu?
We have the first match at 4pm, the hotly anticipated clash between everyone's joint second favourite nations, Saudia Arabia and Russia. It's the petrochemical potentate questionable human rights record derby, and it's live at 4pm. Our live blog coverage will begin at 2.30pm.
The Opening Ceremony will be at 3.30pm.
Party Like A Russian lyrics
It takes a certain kind of man with a certain reputation
To alleviate the cash from a whole entire nation
Take my loose change and build my own space station
(Just because you can, man)
Ain't no refutin' or disputin' - I'm a modern Rasputin
Subcontract disputes to some brutes in Louboutin
Act highfalutin' while my boys put the boots in
I mean, yeah, you can see why that might be problematic
Sepp won't be at ceremony, Robbie won't be playing 'Party Like A Russian'
Banned former Fifa president Sepp Blatter has received an open invitation from President Vladimir Putin to attend the World Cup in Russia and intends to take it up, Blatter's spokesman Thomas Renggli said on Tuesday.
Blatter, who led world soccer's governing body for 17 years, was suspended from the sport for six years for ethics violations in 2015 amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake Fifa.
Several officials from the body were indicted by U.S. and Swiss authorities, although Blatter himself was not and he denies any misconduct.
The 82-year-old's attendance at the World Cup could put him in close proximity to his successor, Gianni Infantino, who has sought to draw a line under past scandals.
Fifa did not comment when asked about Blatter's plans.
Renggli said the Swiss has not yet decided when he would make his trip to Russia or what game he would attend, but that he would definitely not attend the opening ceremony or inaugural match between Russia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Robbie Williams, who will be performing, said he will not be performing his hit song "Party Like A Russian."
Speaking to Reuters on Tuesday after a rehearsal for the show, Williams said he will be performing "a medley, a smorgasbord of my greatest hits" alongside Russian soprano Aida Garifullina.
"I would love to do 'Party Like A Russian.' Unfortunately I've been asked not to do 'Party Like A Russian," he said.
Williams immediately added: "Actually, it has nothing to do with not being asked. It's about me doing my biggest hits that are the best known."
In the 2016 track, the Briton sings "it takes a certain kind of man with a certain reputation, to alleviate the cash from a whole entire nation." In the accompanying music video, ballerinas twirl around Williams in a lavish setting.
"'Party Like A Russian'" was a big hit for me, it was like my biggest hit here in Russia, so I'm really pleased," Williams said.
"I didn't mean any disrespect by it at all. It's more of a Monty Python-esque kind of humour. I'm not mocking anybody. It's just a pop record."