<P> The opening ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup took place on Thursday, 14 June 2018, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia at 3: 30 (BST), about a half hour before the opening match which Russia won 5--0 over Saudi Arabia . </P> <P> Former Brazilian World Cup - winning striker Ronaldo walked out with a child wearing a Russia 2018 shirt . English pop singer Robbie Williams then took centre stage with a rendition of "Let Me Entertain You" before Russian soprano Aida Garifullina was carried out on to the pitch on the back of a "firebird" float . Williams sang a section of "Feel" before he and Garifullina performed a duet of "Angels" as performers emerged, dressed in the flags of all 32 teams and carrying a sign bearing the name of each nation . Ronaldo returned with the official ball--the Adidas Telstar 18--which was sent into space with the International Space Station crew in March and came back to Earth in early June . Williams then sung "Rock DJ" in an encore as the pitch was being cleared for the first match . </P> <P> During the encore, Williams accidentally "gave the finger". He stated on This Morning, "I was under a lot of pressure because there was one minute left, and I didn't know how I was gonna do half a minute . So I just did a one - minute countdown ..." Fox in the US apologised for the incident . The incident was not shown on ITV in the UK who had cut away prior to the encore . </P>

Who sang at the world cup opening 2018