"We learned upon arrival in Moscow that our next opponent is Spain... Spain and Portugal are serious opponents... Spain like to own the ball, they have the highest technical level, so we are going to study the opponent in the upcoming days. Of course, we are wary, just like we would be wary of any other opponent. We will prepare [for the game] very carefully," Kuzyaev said.

He added that Spain’s 3-3 draw with Portugal has been of the best games at the tournament so far.

Russia lost 3-0 to Uruguay in their final World Cup group stage game, and finished second in their group. They will play Spain at the 78,000-seater Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday.