Russia 2018: World Cup host focuses on youth development
Youth football coaches hope that hosting the World Cup, and Russia’s surprisingly strong performance thus far, will convince the nation’s developing stars that they can compete at the highest level.
World Cup host-nation Russia will play Spain in the last 16, and have been one of the surprise teams at the tournament.
Despite the country’s rich football history, decades of underachievement had followed the team into the finals.
But instead of making an early exit, they became the first team to reach the knockout rounds.
Many Russians first play football on a pitch known as a “korobka”. When translated into English, it means “box”, and this sort of caged playing space is squeezed into small urban spaces all over the country.
Al Jazeera’s Andy Richardson reports from Moscow, Russia.