From the Russian team at the home world soccer championship we should not expect high results, but one of the real winners in advance can already be called the president of Russia Vladimir Putin. This is written in the online edition Quartz professor of public administration at Wesleyan University (Connecticut, USA) Peter Rutland. According to him, half a million football fans will come to Russia for the championship. More billions of people around the world will watch the 2018 World Cup on TV. Brazil and Germany are favorites of the championship in the fight for the most prestigious trophy. "But we already know one person who will be victorious: Vladimir Putin," said the American professor. As the Russian leader understands the opportunity provided by the sport to awaken a sense of national pride, he repeatedly used sporting events to increase his popularity among the citizens of the country. In particular, we are talking about the Olympics in Sochi in 2014. According to the author, now the position of the Russian Federation in the world is at an extremely low level, but the actions of the head of state are aimed only at one audience: their compatriots. "In a country experiencing economic stagnation and international ostracism, Putin uses sports mega events such as the Olympic Games and the World Cup to show ordinary Russians that their country is still the main protagonist in the international arena while simultaneously enhancing their sense of national pride" , Emphasizes the professor. The Russian team is unlikely to provide an excuse to celebrate the victory at the end of the 2018 World Cup, but the main source of national pride will be the very fact of holding this event. Among the negative points for the Russian leader, the mundialya Rutland notes that public attention has been drawn to corruption, ineffective governance and violations of human rights in Russia. "The World Cup, I hope, will pass without incident. Fans around the world can enjoy football and cope with the agony of defeat, because one by one their favorite teams will be eliminated from the competition. But whoever has become the winner in the finals, the 2018 World Cup is likely to become another political victory of Vladimir Putin, "the author of the article.