More than 20,000 applications from individuals wishing to become volunteers at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup were registered withing the first 24 hours of the campaign, an outstanding number when compared to previous events held in Russia. In total, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) has registered 31,558 applications before 23:59 on 6 June.

Applications are open until December by visiting FIFA.com/volunteers.

"I have to admit that the initial results for applications from prospective World Cup volunteers are a pleasant surprise," revealed the Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee Chairman and Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko. "This tells you how much interest there is in this competition among the active population of our country. It's a clear indication that volunteering in Russia is moving in the right direction”.

"I call upon everyone who is passionate about the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Confederations Cup, or even those who wish to take part in the organisation of this historic event, to take advantage of this unique opportunity and join the Russia 2018 volunteer team."

A great interest in the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup volunteer recruitment campaign was shown by foreign candidates, with 9 per cent of all the applications having come from 150 countries of the world. So far, the biggest number of foreign applicants comes from China and Mexico – the latter being the CONCACAF representatives at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 in Russia.

In Russia the most applications were received by the volunteer centres in Moscow (7,783 applications) and Saint Petersburg (3,926). Also in the top five were Rostov-on-Don (2,253), Sochi (1,745) and Nizhny Novgorod (1,744).

65 per cent of the candidates at the moment are women. 81 per cent of the applications came from candidates in the 16 to 25 age range, 13 per cent of the candidates are aged between 26 and 40, and up to 3 per cent of the applications came from candidates aged between 41 and 60, and the same is true for those aged 60 and older.

So far, the most popular positions applied for by the volunteer candidates are in team services (those wishing to help the organisers in this respect have submitted 5812 applications), for the ceremonies (3135 applications), and language services (2273 applications).