FIFA World Cup 2018 Closing Ceremony: Date, Time, Venue and Performers
After an exhilarating, nail-biting and unpredictable one month of football extravaganza, the conclusion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia beckons upon us. France and Croatia will battle it out in the Final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and will lay it out all to grab their hands around the trophy on the final whistle.
France are appearing in their third Final, and will be looking to end a 20-year drought in the quest be to win their second title as head coach Didier Deschamps could create history by lifting the coveted World Cup trophy both as player and manager after Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer.
Meanwhile, Croatia will be making their World Cup final debut following a remarkable journey throughout this tournament where they have won all three of their knockout stage matches in penalties and extra time.
Artists Involved
The closing ceremony precedes 30 minutes prior to kick off and the main attraction involves the trio of Will Smith, Nicky Jam, and Era Istrefi, who will lighten up the crowd with their music and perform the official FIFA World Cup 2018 Song, 'Live It Up.'
The line up for the closing ceremony is followed by K-pop band EXO, a boy band based out of Seoul, South Korea. The band was selected to perform after narrowly emerging victorious of a social media fan poll.
The aim and purpose of the ceremony is to commemorate and pay tribute to the Russian culture. Will Smith said, "This is the biggest sporting event in the world. When I was asked to be a part of it, I didn’t even have to think about it. The World Cup is a magical, global energy. I love being a part of it.
For me, I thought the Croatia and Russia shootout was very memorable. The Croatian goalkeeper was amazing. I love Cristiano (Ronaldo). I love that dude. Seeing the things he does and the way he interacts with people, I think he has impeccable taste and style."
Smith uploaded the following message on his Instagram account to express his delight:
DATE: July 15, 2018
TIME: 17:30 local time, 20:00 IST
VENUE: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
TV Schedule: Sony Ten 2/Sony Ten 2 HD (English)
Sony Ten 3/Sony Ten 3 HD (Hindi)
Sony ESPN (Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu)
Live Stream: Sony LIV, Airtel TV, Jio TV