Here’s what happens when soccer collides with art.
FIFA revealed the official poster for the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday in Moscow. Russian artist Igor Gurovich designed the poster, which portrays legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin in his traditional uniform and also celebrates to the country’s achievements in space exploration.
“The Official Poster of the 2018 FIFA World Cup is a true reflection of Russia’s artistic and football heritage,” FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura said. “We are very proud of this beautiful landmark asset that portrays such an important icon and celebrates the coming tournament on Russian soil.”
The Russian artistic movement of constructivism inspired Gurovich’s World Cup poster design.
“The style of Soviet post-Constructivist posters from the 1920s and 1930s, their unique visual language, a new, fresh poetry of figurative images, became one of the most important and revered elements of Russian culture,” Gurovich said. “This language is unquestionably thought of as Russian throughout the world. Therefore, in my work on the poster, I really wanted to make this language modern and relevant once again.”
Yashin is perhaps Russia’s best-ever soccer player and is widely considered among the greatest goalkeepers of all time.
“It was very important for us to portray Russia as the host country in the official poster,” Russia 2018 organizing committee chairman Vitaly Mutko said. “That’s why we chose Lev Yashin, a symbol of Russian football, as the main figure. I’m sure that the poster will become one of the most memorable symbols of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and that fans and participants alike will approve of it.”
Check out some of FIFA’s previous official World Cup posters.
FIFA will conduct the draw for the 2018 World Cup on Friday in Moscow. As one can tell from the 2018 official poster, the tournament will take place next summer throughout Russia.
