The top team in each UEFA group winds up qualifying for the World Cup next summer while the second place squad must endure a two-legged playoff to get a chance at traveling to Brazil.
Russia will host Luxembourg at Centralniy Stadium in 2014 World Cup qualifying play on Saturday.
The world No. 16 has gone 4-2 in six World Cup qualifying matches so far, posting 12 points. The Russians have defeated Israel and Azerbaijan while going 1-1 against Portugal and Northern Ireland.
Russia is two points behind Group F leader Portugal.
Luxembourg—the world No. 140—has yet to win a match in World Cup qualifying, drawing with Azerbaijan (twice) and Northern Ireland and losing to Israel (twice) and Portugal. The side is on the bottom of the Group F table with three points.
Russia currently occupies second place in Group F with 12 points and trail Portugal by two points; however, Russia has a game in hand on the Iberian squad and only needs a win to pull away from the pack.
The Russians opened their tournament with a 2-0 win against Northern Ireland and destroyed Israel 4-0 in their second match of qualifiers. The winning continued when Russia took down Portugal and Azerbaijan in two straight 1-0 decisions. However, the team was unable to build on this success as it lost 1-0 to Portugal in its fifth qualifier. In its sixth game against Northern Ireland, Russia had a prime chance to leap frog Portugal with two games in hand but flopped miserably in a 1-0 loss against Northern Ireland. While that game is unlikely to do much for Northern Ireland, it could hurt Russia's chances at winning the group.
When: Friday, Sept. 6 at 10:30 a.m. ET
Where: Centralniy Stadium, Kazan, Russia
