Stanislav Cherchesov's men will face Egypt in their second match of the home tournament in St. Petersburg on Tuesday after routing Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the World Cup opener on Thursday.

"As far as the tournament strategy is concerned, a draw will be enough for our team. My predictions go as follows: we play out a draw with Egypt, and Saudi Arabia lose to Uruguay. Uruguay get six points and rest their leading footballers for the match with Russia, and we draw the game," Ignatyev said.

Russia are currently top of Group A ahead of Uruguay on goal difference, after Oscar Tabarez's squad toughed out a 1-0 win over Egypt on Friday, but Ignatyev said that the hosts were most likely to finish second with five points to their name.

"But we should be extremely careful about how we play in defense against Egypt and counterattack as quickly as possible," Ignatyev added.

The Russian national team are playing at their fourth FIFA World Cup but have never made it past the group stage, although the Soviet Union claimed fourth place at the 1966 World Cup in England.