Russia, who knocked out 2010 World Cup winners Spain from this summer's tournament will face Croatia in Sochi on Sunday (4am AEST).

"In football anything can happen, but the match against Croatia will be more difficult for Russia than the match against Spain, because Croatia play a little differently," Buznikin said..

"Spain counted on the control of the ball, but they were not sharp in attack, and Croatia do not stick to such a total control of the ball, so we'll need to somehow build our game in such a way as to play more openly and go forward."

He added that a lot depended on the players' physical condition and on the coach's choice of tactics for the match.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the final set to be played at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.