Russia have unveiled their mascot for the 2018 FIFA World Cup – Zabivaka the wolf. Zabivaka, whose name means “the one who scores” in Russian is described as “charming, confident and social” and has “always dreamt of becoming a football star”, received 53% of the one million votes in a Fifa poll, beating competition from a tiger who got 27% and cat which collected 20%. He was developed by student designer Ekaterina Bocharova.

ZABIVAKA

• He is charming, confident and social and has always dreamt of becoming a football star.
• His favourite sporting pastime is playing football.
• He is a fair player, values his team members and respects his opponents, and he plays with skill and purpose.
• He is always fun to be around – as the joker in the pack, he knows how to make others laugh.
• He has taken to wearing cool sports glasses when he’s in action; he believes they give him special targeting powers on the pitch. And he loves to pose for photos.

2018 FIFA WORLD CUP

• The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the 21st FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA.
• It is scheduled to take place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018,
• The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War.