World Cup 2018: Opening Ceremony, ITV, review - Robbie Williams plays ringmaster at the circus-style event

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Robbie Williams performs at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Fifa World Cup at Luzhniki Stadium, Russia
Robbie Williams performs at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Fifa World Cup at Luzhniki Stadium, Russia Credit: Sergei Bobylev

England probably won’t win the football tournament but at least a bloke from Stoke-on-Trent was the star of the curtain-raising event. Before a ball was kicked, Robbie Williams worked the crowd and crooned karaoke-style at the Fifa World Cup 2018: Opening Ceremony (ITV). Port Vale 1, Rest of the World 0.

Marking the start of the 21st global football feast, Williams swaggered cockily into Moscow’s 80,000-seat Luzhniki Stadium wearing a red leopardskin suit, as if Morrissey had gone to Las Vegas, and launched into a medley of his hits: Let Me Entertain You (at least its lyrics fitted the occasion), Feel and Angels (the latter two, not so much). Sadly, there was no Party Like a Russian, the 2016...

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