MOSCOW -- Russia has chosen a cocky wolf wearing sporty goggles as the mascot for the 2018 football World Cup.
The wolf was chosen in online voting over two other mascot candidates -- a cat and a tiger wearing a space suit.
Check out the final numbers from the voting of the 2018 #WorldCup Official Mascot, Zabivaka pic.twitter.com/1A9W790A9b
- FIFA Media (@fifamedia) October 21, 2016
The announcement was made early Saturday at the end of an hour-long broadcast on state Channel One television. More than 1 million Russians voted in the contest, according to the broadcast.
World Cup matches are to take place in 11 cities in June and July 2018. The venues are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Saransk, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg.