1990 World Cup winner Lothar Matthäus described it as one of the best World Cups he had seen in 40 years.
Italy were not present, having failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958.
The Netherlands were not present, having failed to qualify for their second straight major tournament. It was their first absence from a World Cup since 2002.
The decision to award the World Cup to Russia as hosts was criticized by some human rights groups and campaigners such as Peter Tatchell. The British Member of Parliament Ian Austin said that he was "very concerned that Putin [Vladimir Putin] will use the World Cup in the same way that Hitler [Adolf Hitler] used the 1936 Munich Olympics, as a public relations exercise for a brutal dictatorship".