Russia have run considerably further than any other team at the World Cup with the hosts covering 118km and 115km in their two wins so far

  • Russia's players have recorded the best running stats at the World Cup so far
  • They collectively covered 118km in their opening 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia
  • The World Cup hosts then ran 115km in Tuesday's 3-1 victory over Egypt
  • The next highest recorded by any team at the tournament is 112kmĀ 
  • Russia have confounded expectations by moving to brink of knockout stageĀ 

Tipped by many pundits to be a laughing stock, World Cup hosts Russia have confounded expectations by handsomely winning their opening two group matches against Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The host nation kicked off the tournament in style last Thursday by thrashing Saudi Arabia 5-0 and took themselves to the brink of the knockout stages with a 3-1 win over Egypt on Wednesday night.

And delving into the statistics has possibly revealed their secret - the Russian players have been running further than not only their opponents on the night, but every other team at the World Cup.

Russia's Denis Cheryshev celebrates scoring their second goal in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Egypt

Russia's Denis Cheryshev celebrates scoring their second goal in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Egypt

Artem Dzyuba (right) celebrates scoring Russia's third goal in the surprise win over EgyptĀ 

Artem Dzyuba (right) celebrates scoring Russia's third goal in the surprise win over EgyptĀ 

In their opening match against Saudi Arabia, the hosts ran 118km over the course of the 90 minutes - a figure that remains the highest in the tournament so far.


And in their victory over Egypt, the Russian players ran a combined 115km - the second-highest return in the World Cup matches completed to date.

By means of comparison, the next-highest figure is the 112km covered by Egypt during their Group A opener against Uruguay.

And Russia's running stats, as recorded by FIFA, are considerably higher than the tournament average so far of around 106km.

Russia's back-to-back victories have caught everyone by surprise after many tipped them as one of the worst host nations ever in the World Cup.

Russian fans celebrates their team's win over Egypt at the Saint Petersburg StadiumĀ 

Russian fans celebrates their team's win over Egypt at the Saint Petersburg StadiumĀ 

Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in their opening match of the World Cup in MoscowĀ 

Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in their opening match of the World Cup in MoscowĀ 

Russian president Vladimir Putin (right) watches the win over Saudi Arabia alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin SalmanĀ 

Russian president Vladimir Putin (right) watches the win over Saudi Arabia alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin SalmanĀ 

Having crashed out of the group stage at Euro 2016 and having seen competitive action only in last summer's Confederations Cup during the last two years, Russia had dropped to No 70 in the FIFA Rankings.

But they have amply compensated for a lack of form with plenty of running and a clinical touch in front of goal.Ā Ā 

England, for their part, ran a total of 105km in their last-gasp 2-1 victory over Tunisia on Monday night.

Harry Kane celebrates scoring England's stoppage time winner against Tunisia on Monday

Harry Kane celebrates scoring England's stoppage time winner against Tunisia on Monday

Group A seems to be the place to go for honest endeavour, with the top four recordings of distance covered coming from that group, including the two Russian returns.

But hard-running doesn't necessarily ensure a positive result - just ask Australia, who covered 111km in their 2-1 defeat to France in Group C.

The only side that collectively have failed to cover 100km were Colombia in their 2-1 defeat to Japan, but this is explained by the fourth-minute sending off of Carlos Sanchez.

RUNNING STATISTICS FOR THE 2018 WORLD CUPĀ 
Team Opponent Group Matchday Distance (km) Result
Russia Saudi Arabia A 1 118 Won 5-0
Russia Egypt A 2 115 Won 3-1
Egypt Uruguay A 1 112 Lost 0-1
Uruguay Egypt A 1 111 Won 1-0
Australia France C 1 111 Lost 1-2
Denmark Peru C 1 110 Won 1-0
Germany Mexico E 1 110 Lost 0-1
Poland Senegal H 1 110 Lost 1-2
Egypt Russia A 2 110 Lost 1-3
Serbia Costa Rica E 1 109 Won 1-0
Switzerland Brazil E 1 108 Drew 1-1
Costa Rica Serbia E 1 107 Lost 0-1
Senegal Poland H 1 107 Won 2-1
Morocco Portugal B 2 107 Lost 0-1
Mexico Germany F 1 106 Won 1-0
Saudi Arabia Russia A 1 105 Lost 0-5
Iceland Argentina D 1 105 Drew 1-1
England Tunisia G 1 105 Won 2-1
Portugal Morocco B 2 105 Won 1-0
Peru Denmark C 1 104 Lost 0-1
Croatia Nigeria D 1 104 Won 2-0
Spain Portugal B 1 103 Drew 3-3
France Australia C 1 103 Won 2-1
Brazil Switzerland E 1 103 Drew 1-1
South Korea Sweden F 1 103 Lost 0-1
Tunisia England G 1 103 Lost 1-2
Portugal Spain B 1 102 Drew 3-3
Sweden South Korea F 1 102 Won 1-0
Belgium Panama G 1 102 Won 3-0
Morocco Iran B 1 101 Lost 0-1
Argentina Iceland D 1 101 Drew 1-1
Nigeria Croatia D 1 101 Lost 0-2
Japan Colombia H 1 101 Won 2-1
Iran Morocco B 1 100 Won 1-0
Panama Belgium G 1 100 Lost 0-3
Colombia Japan H 1 93 Lost 1-2
Source: FIFAĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 

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