Russia beat Malta 2-0. The winner had to work for it: 2 from 20 shots. Best on the pitch was Fyodor Smolov, rated 7.9.

1. 0'
   ⚽Kick-off
   World Cup Qualifiers — UEFA
   RUS 4-3-3·3-4-2-1 MAL
   Coach: V. Karpin · D. MangiaReferee: A. Palabıyık📍 Otkritie Bank Arena
2. 1. First half
   2. 10'
      

      RUS
      GOOOAL!Fyodor Smolov
3. 1. Second half
   2. 46'
      

      RUS
      Substitution
      ▲Z. Bakaev▼A. Zakharyan
   3. 46'
      

      RUS
      Substitution
      ▲R. Zobnin▼A. Erokhin
   4. 50'
      

      RUS
      Yellow card
      Anton Miranchuk
   5. 58'
      

      RUS
      Substitution
      ▲I. Samoshnikov▼Anton Miranchuk
   6. 66'
      MAL
      Substitution
      ▲Alexander Satariano▼L. Montebello
   7. 66'
      MAL
      Substitution
      ▲T. Caruana▼S. Pisani
   8. 68'
      MAL
      Yellow card
      Steve Borg
   9. 71'
      

      RUS
      Substitution
      ▲A. Zabolotny▼Fyodor Smolov
   10. 75'
       MAL
       Substitution
       ▲Shaun Dimech▼C. Attard
   11. 79'
       

       RUS
       Substitution
       ▲R. Zhemaletdinov▼Aleksei Ionov
   12. 82'
       MAL
       Yellow card
       Ryan Camenzuli
   13. 84'
       

       RUS
       GOOOAL!Z. BakaevPenalty
   14. 86'
       MAL
       Substitution
       ▲Kurt Shaw▼Andrei Agius
   15. 86'
       MAL
       Substitution
       ▲N. Muscat▼Teddy Teuma