Saint Petersburg - Russia has hosted the Confederations Cup 2017 in an efficacious manner with 8 teams playing 16 games across four venues during over the past fortnight and Germany emerging as winners. Now the major challenge comes when the country prepares to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will prove to be a bit bigger challenge to the host nation as it will be participated by 32 nations, who will be aiming at winning the prestigious trophy during a month-long mega activity. But a question arises here that after superbly conducting the FIFA Confederations Cup, which was won by Germany who beat Chile 1-0 in St. Petersburg, is Russia now ready to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the best possible manner?

Russia has learnt some significant lessons from Confederation Cup and if they learn from these lessons, they can host the next year’s mega event in a trend-setting manner. Their stadiums were of the best quality, which were rebuilt within last 5 years, but what they really need to improve is the grass and pitch of some stadiums. Likewise, it was Russian language written everywhere especially in St. Petersburg, with foreigners getting difficulty in understanding the guidelines to their destinations. Although there were many volunteers and even police present at different places to guide the visitors, yet it is must for Russian authorities to replace those mono-lingual board with at least bi-lingual (Russia and English) or multi-lingual boards, which will certainly help the visitors to enjoy their trips to various cities besides enjoying matches at the stadiums.

The best thing Russia has successfully trialed during the Confederation Cup was ‘Fan ID’ system. It was necessary for every visitor to get a Fan ID, which enabled them to get a free Russia visa as well as match tickets, while other benefits were free metro, bus and train travel in and between host cities. With this Fan ID, the visitors without tickets will simply not be able to get into matches at the World Cup, so it will not only restrict ticketless fans and also help cut out the inflated reselling of tickets by touts. Now the continuation of this fabulous ‘Fan ID’ system during the world cup will help them accommodate maximum number of genuine fans and journalists in the best possible manner.

The introduction of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) during the Confederation Cup was though confusing yet it was backed by FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, who wants introduce VAR at next year's World Cup following a ‘successful’ trial at the Confederations Cup. VAR involves two assistant referees watching the action remotely while making the match referee aware of any mistakes.

The security was very tight in Russia as they adopted zero-tolerance approach to the fans during the Confederation Cup and this approach during the world cup will prove very lethal for them, barring the fans from creating any kind of trouble in 2018 and also help in showing the country's determination to project a strong and secure image.

Police were everywhere in the streets and in each host city while they were also deployed at bus and metro stations, in and outside the stadiums, but even their ever-visible presence, it did not feel intimidating or overbearing, as fans were free to take photographs everywhere. There was also a big security operation at metro stations and stadiums with ID scans and bag searches.

All the stadiums were glittering and sparkling, while innovative arenas were built within the last five years. The Confederation Cup games were played at four venues including St. Petersburg's Krestovsky Stadium, Moscow’s Spartak Stadium, Kazan Arena and Sochi's Fisht Stadium.

Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, which will host the World Cup final, is ready after a three-year rebuild and is due to stage its first game in November. There are some hitches, with worries over the problematic pitch in St. Petersburg, but nothing which threatens to cost the city the right to stage games. There are also some issues over the progress of new stadiums in Rostov, Samara and Saransk, but it is being hoped that these issues will be addressed well before the World Cup.

Russia has invested heavily on improving their infrastructure and to larger extent, they have succeeded in doing so. The state-of-the-art metro systems in St. Petersburg and Moscow enable the visitors easy access to all the match venues. But one issue worthy to be addressed well before 2018 is the signage on both metro networks, because, while there are some signs in English, they are too few and poorly positioned. Trains come in time and the transport system is very good, so it will surely help the visitors in reaching their destinations well in time.

The weather was sunny with almost 26 degree Celsius in St. Petersburg and Moscow, but the a few hours daily-basis rain keep the climate cool and pleasant. Just before one of the Confederation Cup final in St. Petersburg, it was heavy rain and strong winds, which made the final glorious and gratifying. With freak weather and heavy rain in 2017, the month of 2018 World Cup can also be expected as unpredictable.

One of the biggest problems the host nation has been facing is the poor performance of their team, which was eliminated in the group stage of the Confederations Cup after defeats against Portugal and Mexico, which followed a solitary win against New Zealand.

Russia football manager Stanislav Cherchesov has a huge task ahead of him to make his team competitive next summer. Every World Cup needs a vibrant host nation to prosper on the field, for the sake of the atmosphere within the country. It will need Russia to land a favourable group, when the draw takes place in the Kremlin in December. They are seeded, at least, but Russia will still need a decent portion of good fortune if they are to make an impression on this World Cup.

With all positives and negatives, Russia seems to be well-prepared for hosting the mega 2018 World Cup and ready to deal with the huge influx of overseas visitors. It is hoped that they will learn from the lessons, and improve the remaining grey areas to make their World Cup hosting deal a great success.