Since its start in 1992, no Confederations Cup winner has gone on to win the following year's World Cup.
The
tournament pits the winners of each of world governing body FIFA's six
continental tournaments against the previous World Cup Finals winners,
and future hosts -- in this case Russia -- a year before its showcase
tournament.
This year's cup boasts
two of the biggest stars on the planet in Cristiano Ronaldo and Alexis
Sanchez, but will also field 94th ranked New Zealand, who could struggle
just to keep their matches competitive.
Russia has been grouped with
European champion Portugal, New Zealand and Mexico, while World Cup
titleholder Germany heads the other group featuring Chile, Cameroon and
Australia.
The
tournament will showcase four of the 12 stadiums built or refurbished
for next year's World Cup, and will take place in Moscow, St.
Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi.
Over
time, the tournament has been a chance for host countries to work
through teething problems ahead of the World Cup. Based on violence displayed by some Russian fans,
who clashed with England supporters, at the Euro 2016 tournament in
France, quelling any repeat will be a top priority for Russian
organizers.
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