[2018 FIFA World Cup Guide] Mascot and Official match ball

SBS Korean Program’s the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Special Series launch with a panel of five soccer experts. David Lee in Melbourne talks about the World Cup guide relating to the official mascot and official match ball.

Wolf Zabivaka, the official mascot of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, seen by the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner's trophy. Source: Dmitry Serebryakov\TASS via Getty Images

SBS Korean program presents the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Special Series with five soccer expert nightly 9PM right after the Korean news bulletin.

Today, David Lee in Melbourne talks about the World Cup guide relating to the official mascot and official match ball.

The 2018 World Cup mascot 'Zabivaka' in Moscow's Manezhnaya Square. Source: AAP

The official mascot for 2018 FIFA World Cup is Zabivaka™ meaning “the one who scores” in Russian. The wolf will not only promote the event and entertain crowds at the stadiums, but also become an ambassador for Russia and a worldwide ‘celebrity’.

Source: Twitter (@adidasfootball)

Telstar 18 is the official match ball of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The original Telstar used in the 1970 FIFA World Cup was the first football to show a black and white pattern.

The final tournament will involve 32 national teams, which include 31 teams determined through qualifying competitions and the automatically qualified host team.

2018 World Cup Groups. Source: SBS

The United States is not playing in Russia. A change in coaches and the lack of a consistent lineup led to a ragged qualifying period for the team, and an October loss to Trinidad and Tobago (and Honduras’ win over Mexico) sealed its fate.

Italy and the Netherlands, perennial football superpowers, did not qualify this year, either. Other than that, all the big teams are here: Germany, Spain, France, Argentina, Brazil and England, which has not made much noise in international football for several decades.