An opinion poll by state-run pollster VTsIOM, which found that most of the population planned to watch Saturday's game on TV, showed that Russians were quietly confident.

It found that 56 per cent of Russians expected their country to win the match and that 14 per cent thought Russia would go on to win the tournament.

That would be a spectacular turnaround for a country that began the tournament as the lowest-ranked team and were mocked and despised by their own fans for not winning a match in eight months.

As tournament hosts, Russia qualified automatically, but expectations among home fans were extremely low.Wins against Saudi Arabia and Egypt propelled them to the knockout stage for the first time in post-Soviet history however, and to fans' surprise and joy, Russia did not stop there.

Last week they beat Spain, the 2010 World Cup winners, coming out on top in a nerve-racking penalty shoot-out at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium to delight the nation.

The Russian team have pledged to do their utmost for the fans against Croatia.