The hosts were the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, but defied low expectations by hammering Saudi Arabia 5-0 and beating Egypt 3-1 in their opening two games to qualify from their group with ease.

They now face Spain in the round of 16.

"We adjusted not because we wanted to, but because circumstances forced us to. We lost three of our core players and had to adjust to that," said Cherchesov.

"We have played in the tournament with these changes and achieved some success. As for Spain, they changed the head coach, I don't exactly know what was the reason, but they changed their game as well in some sense."

Two days before Spain played their first match at the tournament, the team's head coach Julen Lopetegui was sacked and replaced on the same day by Fernando Hierro.

The last time Russia played the 2010 World Cup winners Spain, was in a friendly in November 2017 where they held their opponents to a 3-3 draw.

However, Cherchesov said that last year's friendly and the upcoming match are "two completely different things," and that his team will have "only one shot" at this game.

The match will take place at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium.