FULL-TIME: Russia 5 Saudi Arabia 0. That's the second worst defeat in finals history for Saudi Arabia, second only to the 8-0 hammering they received at the hands of Germany in 2002.

7.55PM: GOAL! Russia score a fifth through Aleksandr Golovin. That's just cruel on the Green Falcons. Pizzi's side haven't played well. but they were not five goals worse than the hosts.

7.51PM: GOAL! Cheryshev rubs salt into Saudi Arabia's wounds with a fourth late on. This has been a horrible opening night for the Green Falcons

7.40PM: Former England striker Dion Dublin: "If this was a five-a-side World Cup tournament, I think Saudi Arabia would do very well, and might even win it. But you cannot play 5-a-side on a full-size pitch."

7.39PM: Russia's Denis Cheryshev was the first ever substitute to score in the opening match of a World Cup. Artem Dzyuba is the second.

7.38PM: Saudi Arabia have actually enjoyed the lion's share of possession, seeing 60 per cent of the ball but they've clearly not been as penetrative as the hosts.

7.37PM: "Saudi Arabi played so pretty strong opposition in the build up to the World Cup but they've been very poor tonight," said former England manager Glenn Hoddle.

7.31PM: GOAL! And game over. Artem Dzyuba scores less than two minutes after coming on with his first touch. That's game, set and match for Russia. 

7.23PM: Saudi Arabia coach has made his move with just under a third of the match remaining, removing defensive midfielder Abdullah Otayf and replacing him with strike weapon Fahad Muwallad.

Salem Al-Dawsari is wearing his Saudi Arabia shirt against Russia.

The 8 has been printed upside down #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/FYtpISVfVg

— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) June 14, 2018

7.19PM: "I just don't think Saudi Arabia have the ability. If they are playing like this against a Russia side that has been criticised in the build-up to the match, then they are going to struggle in this tournament," said former England captain Alan Shearer. "They are just not used to playing at this level with this intensity, and against this physicality."

7.05PM: And we're back underway at the Luzhniki Stadium. Can Saudi Arabia pull a rabbit out of the hat and get back into this one?

7PM: Pizzi will surely look to change things in the second half. On the bench he has Mohamed Kanno, who scored in the friendly win over Greece, and also Fahad Muwallad, who got the equaliser against Ukraine in March.

6.58PM: Saudi Arabia did not have a single shot on goal in the first half while lone striker Mohammed Al-Sahlawi only enjoyed seven touches – and two of those were from kick-off.

6.54PM: "Saudi Arabia are all at sea when Russia counterattack," says former England defender Gary Neville in his role as a pundit for English TV.

6.52PM: Former England captain Alan Shearer fears for the Green Falcons in the second half. "Every opportunity Russia have to hit them on the break, they are far too quick for Saudi Arabia, and they can go and get four or five goals if they want to," he told BBC Sport.

HT: Russia 2 Saudi Arabia 0. Juan Antonio Pizzi will have to give the half-time talk of his coaching career after the Green Falcons gave themselves a mountain to climb.

6.43PM: GOAL! If Saudi Arabia are to win their opening game they are going to have to do it the hard way after Denis Cheryshev makes it two just before half-time. It's a dream 45 minutes for the hosts and the worst possible one for the Green Falcons.

6.42PM: Here's a good stat for you: 39 percent of all goals Saudi Arabia have conceded in World Cup history have been headers.

6.41PM: BBC Sport pundit Jermain Jenas: "That is three or four times Saudi Arabia have been caught two v two or three v three. It is schoolboy stuff from Saudi Arabia."

6.37PM: Saudi Arabia's forward Salem Al-Dawsari vies for possesion with Russia's midfielder Roman Zobnin.

6.32PM: Saudi Arabia have only scored nine goals in 13 games at the World Cup finals and they are going to need to score at least one here to get something out of their opening Group A game.

No hard feelings: Leaders react to Russia’s #WorldCup opening goal against Saudi Arabia pic.twitter.com/ujegs1MFst

— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) June 14, 2018

Saudi had been passing it around quick and confidently before that, although their insistency to play without a holding midfielder is being exposed. Russia getting ball in the dangerous D-area with remarkable ease. Need to tighten up. #RUSKSA

— Gary Meenaghan (@GMeenaghan) June 14, 2018

6.22PM: Glenn Hoddle: "Saudi Arabia just can't get a foothold in this game right now."

6.12PM: GOAL! Russia draw first blood, taking the lead through Iury Gazinsky. It's quite the time for the Russian to score his first goal for his country.

Past #KSA performance in WC.

Won: 2
Draw: 1
Lost: 9
Scored: 9
Conceded: 32
Top scorer: Sami Al Jaber (3)#معاك_يالاخض

— Shuaib Ahmed (@footynions) June 14, 2018

6.09PM: "Al-Sahlawi has started really well," says former England midfielder Glenn Hoddle. "He's playing like a left winger."

A display of unity from Saudi Arabia pre kick-off.

6.05PM: Salem Al-Dawsari will be such a key player for Saudi Arabia tonight. The attacking midfielder played against Cristiano Ronaldo in La Liga last month and scored for his country against Greece.

6.01PM: And we're underway. The first of the 64 games at the 21st World Cup kicks off after the first blast of the whistle of Argentine referee Nestor Pitana.

6PM: No player from either side plays their football outside their home country, with Saudi Arabia fielding seven players from champions Al-Hilal

5.57PM: A reminder of that goal by Al-Owairan.

5.51PM: A reminder that Saudi Arabia are chasing only their third ever win at the finals. Their last victory came in 1994 when they beat Belgium thanks to that goal from Saeed Al-Owairan.

5.47PM: Fahad Muwallad was pushing hard for a start but he has to be content with a place on the bench. Expect Pizzi to call on the Al-Ittihad forward as the game opens up. 

5.41PM: Saudi Arabia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi has decided to go with Mohammed Al-Sahlawi as the lone striker despite going eight games without a goal. He scored 16 goals in qualifying but eight of those game against whipping boys East Timor.

5.10 PM: The team lineups are out...

RUSSIA 
Igor Akinfeev (capt), Mario Fernandes, Ilya Kupetov, Sergey Ignashevich, Iury Gazinsky, Alan Dzagoev, Roman Zobnin, Aleksandr Golovin, Yury Zhirkov, Alexander Samedov, Fedor Smolov
Coach: Stanislav Cherchesov (RUS)

SAUDI ARABIA 
Abdullah Al-Muaiouf, Osama Hawsawi (capt), Omar Hawsawi, Mohammed Al-Burayk, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Salman Al-Faraj, Yahia Al-Shehri, Abdullah Otayf, Taiseer Al-Jassam, Salem Al-Dawsari, Mohammed Al-Sahlawi

5.00PM MOSCOW: So the big kick-off is less than an hour away.
The Green Falcons are set to get their World Cup campaign under way against hosts Russia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
The eyes of the world are on Juan Antonio Pizzi’s players as they seek to cause a shock and get their quest to make the knockout stages for the first time since 1994 off to a great start.
Outside the stadium Arab News reporter Gary Meenaghan met lots of Saudi Arabia fans excited about the clash, one that could determine whether the side makes it through Group A.

This is Saudi Arabia's fifth appearance at the World Cup finals and their first since 2006. The high point was a run to the last 16 in 1994 which was achieved on the back of group wins over Morocco and Belgium, the Green Falcons' only wins at the finals in 13 matches. 

The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup.

The crown prince was greeted at the airport by the Russian FIFA World Cup mascot where he signed a commemorative ball. Putin told the crown prince at their meeting in Moscow that he was happy to see him at the opening of the World Cup.