2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony - wikipedia 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony Russian soprano Aida Garifullina and pop singer Robbie Williams singing `` Angels '' at the opening ceremony Former World Cup winner Ronaldo Russian President Vladimir Putin, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman Putin and Mohammad bin Salman The opening ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup took place on Thursday, 14 June 2018, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia at 3 : 30 ( BST ), about a half hour before the opening match which Russia won 5 -- 0 over Saudi Arabia. Contents 1 Performance 1.1 Controversy 2 References 3 External links Performance Former Brazilian World Cup - winning striker Ronaldo walked out with a child wearing a Russia 2018 shirt. English pop singer Robbie Williams then took centre stage with a rendition of `` Let Me Entertain You '' before Russian soprano Aida Garifullina was carried out on to the pitch on the back of a `` firebird '' float. Williams sang a section of `` Feel '' before he and Garifullina performed a duet of `` Angels '' as performers emerged, dressed in the flags of all 32 teams and carrying a sign bearing the name of each nation. Ronaldo returned with the official ball -- the Adidas Telstar 18 -- which was sent into space with the International Space Station crew in March and came back to Earth in early June. Williams then sung `` Rock DJ '' in an encore as the pitch was being cleared for the first match. Controversy During the encore, Williams accidentally `` gave the finger ''. He stated on This Morning, `` I was under a lot of pressure because there was one minute left, and I did n't know how I was gon na do half a minute. So I just did a one - minute countdown... '' Fox in the US apologised for the incident. The incident was not shown on ITV in the UK who had cut away prior to the encore. References Jump up ^ Tirkey, Joy ( 13 June 2018 ). `` FIFA World Cup, Opening Ceremony : When And Where To Watch, Live Coverage On TV, Live Streaming Online ''. NDTV Sports. Retrieved 14 June 2018. Jump up ^ `` World Cup 2018 Opening Ceremony : What time will it start and when will Robbie Williams feature ? ''. The Telegraph. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018. Jump up ^ `` Robbie Williams show at World Cup opening ceremony is too short to ever be dull ''. Guardian. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018. Jump up ^ `` World Cup 2018 : Ronaldo and Robbie Williams star in opening ceremony ''. BBC. 14 June 2018. ^ Jump up to : `` Fox apologises for Williams gesture ''. BBC News. 15 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to FIFA World Cup 2018 opening ceremony. 2018 FIFA World Cup Stages Group stage Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Knockout stage Final General information Qualification Bids Broadcasting rights Controversies Discipline Officials Opening ceremony Seeding Squads Statistics Official symbols Adidas Telstar 18 ( ball ) `` Live It Up '' ( song ) Zabivaka ( mascot ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2018_FIFA_World_Cup_opening_ceremony&oldid=851779946 '' Categories : 2018 FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup opening ceremonies Ceremonies in Russia Hidden categories : Commons category with local link different than on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca বাংলা فارسی Français Türkçe Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 24 July 2018, at 15 : 15 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: when is opening ceremony of the world cup
Answer: Thursday, 14 June 2018