page_title: 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony
section_title: Mascots
hierarchical_section_title: 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony / Mascots
caption_attribution_description: English: Ronaldo
context_page_description: The 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony took place on Thursday, 14 June 2018, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia at 3:30, about a half hour before the opening match which Russia won 5–0 over Saudi Arabia.
context_section_description: Zabivaka™ (English: "The one who scores"), was the official mascot for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and was voted for by a 53% margin. The design is of a wolf who represents fun, charm, and character. Former world cup winning, Brazilian striker Ronaldo was another mascot of the tournament. Ronaldo was the intended man to deliver the ceremonial first kick of the tournament but instead, he gave that honor to the child mascot who passed the official match ball to Zabivaka™ in order to start the tournament. The match ball (an Adidas Telstar 18) was sent into space with the International Space Station crew in March and came back to Earth in early June.
caption: Zabivaka™ (left) and Ronaldo (right) were mascots for the opening ceremony.
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