"I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all the volunteers who helped with hosting the FIFA World Cup," Putin said at the Moscow Urban Forum.

Earlier in July, FIFA President Gianni Infantino also said he was grateful to the volunteers for their help, calling them "the heart and the smile" of the World Cup.

According to FIFA, a total of 17,040 volunteers worked at this summer's tournament in 20 different capacities, assisting fans, journalists and medical staff across Russia.

Russia hosted its first World Cup from June 14 to July 15 with the games played in 11 cities  - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, and Sochi.