Sunday 18 March 2018, 09:14

88 days to go: Gotze enters the fray

The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ is getting closer - 88 days to go!

In less than three months – on 14 June, to be precise – the 21st FIFA World Cup kicks off at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium as the hosts take on Saudi Arabia.

That leaves us plenty of time to enjoy a countdown. Between now and the start of the World Cup, we will take a closer look at a different statistic from the history of the tournament each day.

88 - "Show the whole world that you’re better than Messi! Show them that you can decide the match." With these words, Germany coach Joachim Low sent Mario Gotze – a player who had yet to convince at the tournament – into the 2014 World Cup Final against Argentina in the 88th minute. The scores were still locked at 0-0 as the man they call Super Mario replaced newly crowned World Cup record goalscorer Miroslav Klose at the Estadio Maracana. Low’s words clearly had the desired effect, as just 25 minutes later it was Gotze who fired the Germans to their fourth World Cup title.