The sporting spectacle that is the FIFA World Cup is upon us. Thirty two teams that fought their way past the qualifying rounds will face off for the most prestigious prize in football. Excitement, nervousness and pride, joy and disappointment await the teams when they take to the field for a month from 14th of June. Preparations will have been intense as the teams look to lay claim to the coveted trophy. It is every player�s dream to represent their country in the World Cup and those that have been chosen to do so have a chance to prove that they belong in the biggest stage of them all. Football fans all over the world will be going crazy celebrating their teams and cheering them on. From passionate fans to casual watchers, football for many, is more than just a sport. It represents a symbol of unity for people from all aspects of life to come together and support a game that they love and adore. That wonderful feeling when you watch your favorite player score or the sadness that encompasses you when your team is on the brink of defeat or the anger and disappointment when your team performs poorly�. the tournament truly brings with itself a rollercoaster of emotions. It�s hard not to feel the rush of adrenaline surging through your body when you watch your team play. People will have marked their calendars to watch and support their favorite teams. Travelling fans will have booked their hotels and tickets to watch the game live. Safe to say, the days leading up to the tournament are almost as exciting as the tournament itself. The Hand of God by Maradona, �that� Ronaldo haircut in 2002, Zidane�s game defining head-butt in the finals of the 2006 World cup, Roger Milla�s famous celebration; the tournament has produced some of the most iconic moments in the game�s history and this summer in Russia should be no different. From the likes of Messi to Ronaldo, you can expect the highest level of football the game has to offer. The World Cup brings with itself an added layer of expectations for the players. The whole world demands the players to perform and most often than not, those expectations are met. Aging players are hoping to cement their names as one of their country�s greats while young and emerging talents, some playing in their first World cup will be determined to prove themselves to the billions watching.

Up until the 1970, the tournament was originally called the Jules Rimet Trophy. It was handed permanently to the then three time winner Brazil after which the trophy was renamed as the FIFA World Cup. This year�s edition is its twenty first and is hosted by Russia. First-time host Russia has been plagued by racism and hooliganism in the sport. They will be under constant scrutiny and will be determined to avoid any form of disturbances outside of the noise levels from the fans. This is also the first World Cup that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be implemented in a FIFA tournament. As always, there are a few teams tipped as the favorites to win and some that are tagged as underdogs. A list of those �favorites and underdogs� are compiled below. Favorites to win Germany As former England international Gary Lineker once famously said, �Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.� Defending champions Germany come into the tournament as favorites and rightly so. They steamrolled their way past their qualifying matches having won ten games out of ten scoring 43 goals in the process, a European record. Toni Kroos will be the man to watch as he keeps the team ticking from the heart of midfield. Germany will definitely be the team to beat this summer.

Portugal Having proven themselves in the international scene by winning the European championship in 2016, Portugal aren�t a team to be taken lightly. The name Cristiano Ronaldo stands out when you hear Portugal, but they have shown they are much more than that. At 33 years of age, this might be Ronaldo�s last shot at winning the World cup. On the back of yet another successful champion�s league campaign, Ronaldo will be aiming to help Portugal and add another trophy to their collection. Brazil Brazil were the first team to book their tickets to Russia. They bowed out in 2014 in a humiliating fashion but will be looking to put on a show this summer. A star studded team with Neymar Jr. at the helm, they will hope to put their 2014 disappointments behind them. Adenar Bacchi will be sweating on the fitness of Neymar Jr. If he can recover and start for Brazil expect them to put on a show. France The Les Blues seem to be a favorite for every tournament that they take part in. A vibrant and dynamic young side backed with plenty of experience, this team can go head to head with any team in the world and can come out on top. But, their lapses in concentration in crucial times has been their downfall. The potential in this team is huge. With the likes of Paul Pogba and Antoinne Griezmann to name a few expect them to hit the ground running this summer in Russia.

Belgium Perhaps the strongest team on paper this summer, but as often as we see, games aren�t won on paper. They have a star studded team with big names in all positions and a bench that could rival any other country�s starting 11. Maybe the biggest enemy is for Belgium are themselves, if they learn to play as a team and not as eleven individuals, they can brush aside even the strongest of teams. Eden hazard, Kevin De Bryune are the biggest names of them all in the team and their match against England will certainly provide fireworks. Argentina This team needs no introduction, with Messi as their captain and leading the attack, this team has a plethora of attacking options. Coach Jorge Sampaoli implements a very attacking style of play and rightly given the talent at his disposal. Having been runners-up in 2014, Argentina will be looking to go one-up this time in Russia. Spain It can be very frustrating to play against Spain. Their possession style of football wears the opponent out, mentally and physically. Under coach Julen Lopetegui, Spain are undefeated in their last 17 games. A mix of youth and experience amongst, Spain can challenge anyone who stands in their way.

The Underdogs England England have been historically known to fail in the international stage. They have no shortage when it comes to talent. Yet, they have always crumbled to pressure when it has mattered the most. Their captain and talisman Harry Kane will be hoping to lead the team to international glory. Switzerland Ranked 11 in the world for reason, Switzerland can give any team a run for their money. Like England, they have a talented squad with plenty of potential. This team can upset any team on any given day. Uruguay Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani will lead this team from the front and between them they have got goals in them. For the former, he will certainly be looking to put his 2014 nightmare behind him and earn his team the recognition they deserve. Every great sporting event brings with itself the opportunity to indulge in all those food habits you have been avoiding. Friends and family with some good food and beverages are perhaps the best ways to enjoy a game. Whether you watch your team win or lose, there is no denying that eating your favorite snack or meal in the process isn�t satisfying. Unless of course, you made a bet with your friend and just lost. Food brings happiness and maybe even another incentive to watch the beautiful game.

All Eyes on Russia

Hosting sports events of such scale surely promote the image of the host country. The preparation and organization of a world-class tournament traditionally boost the development of the sports, transport and social infrastructure. The eleven cities that host the event are Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Samara and Sochi. To arrange the World Cup, the hosting country has to raise sizable funds.�The upcoming tournament in Russia will be the most expensive for a host country in the entire history of the competition.�Total cost is estimated to be USD 13bn (70% covered from the various levels of public budgets and 30% by private investors).

30% of the total budget (USD 4.1bn) has been allocated to the construction of sport infrastructure, 50% (USD 6.8bn) has been spent on transport improvement and the rest of the money (USD 2.1bn) has been channeled towards support activities.�So,�the preparation of the 2018 World Cup�was more about�enhancing the transport infrastructure in Russia than upgrading sport facilities. World Cup-related spending was rather evenly distributed over the period from 2013 to 2017, with annual spending of around USD 2bn.�Though a non-negligible sum of money, it corresponds to just around 1% of the total annual fixed investments and 0.2% of GDP.�However, given that infrastructure investments have indirect multiple effects, the total contribution to the Russian economy may be much higher in reality. Russian officials believe that the World Cup will have a positive impact on the country�s tourism industry and also the economy on a whole. In fact, sporting events such as the World Cup creates a lot of employment opportunities as well. During the preparation for the 2014 World Cup, around 14 million job opportunities were created according to the Getulio Vargas Foundation Brazil. Given the total number of tickets sold the event will presumably attract about 500,000 foreign tourists excluding non-cup related travels.�The economic effect of the World Cup in June-July will be most visible for retailers/restaurants/hotels. Experience of previous championship hosts shows that visitors who come to support their national teams spend up to twice as much money than usual sightseers. Keeping in mind the cost of accommodation, food & beverage, souvenirs etc, it is estimated that a World Cup�s visitor will spend from USD 5,000 to 8,000 in total,�which is more or less equal to pay-and-go packages offered by travel agents in different countries. The World Cup generates a lot of excitement and interest. It brings with itself a massive influx of tourists to the host country. People are also presented with another excuse to travel around the world. A large number of travelling supporters visit the host nation resulting in a huge boost to the county�s overall economy. It was estimated by FIFA that 310,000 tourists visited South Africa during the World Cup in 2010. Brazil in 2014 had hoped to welcome around 600,000 tourists during the course of the World Cup but the actual figure accounted to 1 million. This summer in Russia, those numbers are expected to rise even more. According to the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, Russia expects at least 1.5 million tourists over the course of 1 month. Sputnik news on 12th March 2018 reported that FIFA had already confirmed the sale of more than 1.3 million tickets for the tournament. In the 2010 World Cup, of the 310,000 tourists that entered South Africa, 10 percent of those tourists also visited other African nations. A lot of tourists would want to visit the neighboring countries as well. Their experience exposes that beauty of otherwise unexplored countries. The World Cup has a ripple effect around the world too. Business establishments like hotels, restaurants and bars profit a lot when big events like these come around. Since a lot of these places show the games live these days, friends and family flock to these places and enjoy cheering their team on. These places are also a nice way of meeting and interacting with new people. With games being played almost every day, these establishments generate a lot of revenue. Relating this mega sporting activities to economic contribution firstly, it can be assumed an increase consumption thereby increasing in retail sales & secondly a positive impact by the creation of extra jobs in the service, transport and trade sectors. Traditionally, there had been an increase in temporary employment in the World Cup year. The significant amount of foreign currency expected to inflow into the country & the local market, as for the impact on the balance of payments, it would have a moderate positive impact for the reason of being a huge economic size of Russia. Adapted from Article by�Denis Davydov�and�Tatiana Evdokimova, https://e-markets.nordea.com