Hosts Russia began their FIFA World Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, registering an easy 5-0 victory over minnows Saudi Arabia in a Group A game at the 81,000-seater Luzhniki Stadium here on Thursday.

Yuri Gazinskiy (12th minute), Denis Cheryshev (43rd, 90+1), Artem Dzyuba (71st) and Aleksandr Golovin (90+4) scored for the hosts, who enjoyed a near-perfect first day. They overcame the injury suffered by forward Alan Dzagoev in the middle of the first half. But his substitute Cheryshev scored a brace and young Golovin made two assists and a goal to more than make up for Dzagoev's absence.