Yasser Al-Shahrani of Saudi Arabia dribbles against Russia in their Group A match during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow, Russia, 14 June 2018. Ru

Yasser Al-Shahrani of Saudi Arabia dribbles against Russia in their Group A match during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow, Russia, 14 June 2018. Russia has spent the past seven years fretting over every detail of the world's most popular sporting event amid security fears, tense foreign affairs, and the sudden realization that its soccer team might not be very good. Somewhere along the line, the main concern had become avoiding embarrassment at its own World Cup. Russians learned on Thursday, however, that there is an old soccer remedy for nervous hosts. It turns out nothing lifts the mood like a truly abysmal opponent. A million things could yet go wrong here, but Russia will always have its opening-day party to look back on, a 5-0 dismantling of Saudi Arabia.