Russia defeated Spain 4-3 in the penalty shootout after being held to a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes and extra time. Akinfeev was named the man of the match.

“The leaders today were Igor Akinfeev and our veteran Sergei Ignashevich. But they all deserved the victory. How far can we go? We already went far! But should keep on moving forward,” Simonyan told journalists.

Russia have reached their first-ever World Cup quarter-finals since the break-up of the Soviet Union and will face the winner of Croatia and Denmark's encounter. The quarterfinal will take place at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi on 7 July.