Russia beat Egypt 3-1 in their Group A encounter on Tuesday. This means after two matches, the World Cup hosts are on six points and are in with an excellent chance of reaching the knockout stage, where they could face Portugal, Spain, Iran or Morocco.

“Do I want to play against Spain in the knockout stage? There will be no easy opponents for Russia in the Round of 16. We will try and make sure our country can continue celebrating,” Cheryshev said after the game.

Cheryshev scored Russia’s second goal of the match with a good close range finish following an excellent cross by Mario Fernandes. The forward, who plays his club football in Spain, is the tournament’s joint top scorer with three goals.

“We need to think about the next game and not get too excited. We need to aim to beat Uruguay,” Cheryshev said.

Russia will face Uruguay on Monday, June 25 in their final group stage match.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the matches being played in 11 cities across Russia.