BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

World Cup 2018: Russians don moustaches in support of their team

  • Published
    6 June 2018
Share page
About sharing
Darya Lazareva and her family pose holding up fake moustachesImage source, Darya Lazareva
Image caption,

In 'hirsute' of happiness - it's all in the moustaches for Darya's family

BySherie Ryder, BBC UGC and Social News
and Ksenia Idrisova, BBC Monitoring

As football fans around the world count down to the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a prominent Russian TV host has launched a campaign to support the national football team, with a nod to the head coach's facial hair.

Russian manager Stanislav Cherchesov is renowned for his signature moustache and Ivan Urgant, presenter of the Vercherny Urgant show, urged its viewers and Instagram followers, external to grow their own and post photos using the hashtag #MoustacheOfHope.

This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Instagram
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip instagram post by vecherniy_urgant

Allow Instagram content?

This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of instagram post by vecherniy_urgant

The post, which claims everything is against Cherchesov including "forecasts, weather, the laws of physics, the anatomy of some football players and simple logic as well!", has been liked over 40k times.

Russia coach Stanislav CherchesovImage source, Thinkstock
Image caption,

Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov

Some Russians have been sharing photos of their genuine, external moustaches.

Alexander Kuzmin's photo of shaved his off beard, leaving a moustache.Image source, Alexander Kuzmin
Image caption,

Alexander hopes shaving off his beard will bring the team good luck

Alexander Kuzmin,, external decided to shave off his beard and leave a moustache only to show his support via popular social media network vk.com, saying "I hope this will bring our team luck."

Vladimir Neupokoev and his son have moustaches drawn over their photo togetherImage source, Vladimir Neupokoev
Image caption,

Non-scratch moustaches for Vladimir and son

Others have been faking it, external, including Vladimir Neupokoev , externalwho is hoping his handy pen work will also bring luck to the team, and Irina Kuptsova, who has set her sights on a Russian victory.

Irina Kuptsova making a V sign, wearing a fake moustacheImage source, Irina Kuptsova
Image caption,

Irina Kuptsova is hoping for victory

You might also like:

  • Indian men 'beaten up over moustaches'

  • Monopoly Man upstages Equifax Senate hearing

  • 'All smiles' as Kim Jong-un and Sergey Lavrov meet

Pets have also got in on the act including Inna Kurchkina's dog.

Inna's dog in pig tails, a hair clip and a photo shopped moustache under its noseImage source, Inna Kurochkina
Image caption,

It looks like Inna's dog already had a natural moustache

But not everybody has reacted to the post positively. There are some sceptics calling for the players to perform better rather than relying on online campaigns.

"All hopes pinned on the moustache now," adds Radik Dimukhamedov, external, who wrote that it was the team's only hope.

More on this story

  • Moustaches vie for world title

    • Published
      1 April 2017
    The Handlebar Club
  • Dali's moustache intact, exhumation finds

    • Published
      21 July 2017
    Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali wears a hat shaped like a loaf of bread on his head, 5 November 1958

Around the BBC

  • World Cup - Football - BBC Sport

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to first phase of Gaza peace deal, paving way for ceasefire

    • 13837 viewing14k viewing
  • 'Momentous opportunity': World reacts to first stage of Gaza peace deal

    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • What we know about the 'first phase' of the Gaza peace deal

    • Published
      2 hours ago

More to explore

  • Stars, secrets and slip-ups: Celebrity Traitors is off to a cracking start

    Claudia Winkleman sitting in an armchair in the Traitors castle in Scotland
  • Young children taking knives to school, BBC finds

    Graphic: Knives in foreground, in background children sitting at school desks.
  • 'I'll axe stamp duty' and 'My Maddie hoax agony'

    Newspaper headlines: Tories vow to scrap stamp duty and Madeline McCann's parents give testimony in alleged stalking case
  • 'It was like a movie' - How immigration raid on Chicago apartments unfolded

    Image of law enforcement officer pointing a gun, with sparks in the background
  • Inside the room where Nobel Peace Prize is decided – but will Trump get his wish?

    Members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee and secretary sit around a table in the room where they make their decision
  • 'I cried every day': Victoria Beckham tells of fashion woes in new Netflix doc

    Victoria Beckham in a green dress
  • The battle for Scotland's flag: Why the right has adopted the saltire

    A man raises his fist while standing in front of a group of people waving flags, including saltires and a union flag.
  • How Britain's membership of the ECHR became a political hot potato

    Montage image showing Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer
  • The Upbeat newsletter: Start your week on a high with uplifting stories delivered to your inbox

    A graphic of a wave in the colours of yellow, amber and orange against a pink sky
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Kate warns too much screen time damages family life

  2. 2

    America's top banker sounds warning on US stock market fall

  3. 3

    Have Russians set up a military base in my childhood home?

  4. 4

    'I'll axe stamp duty' and 'My Maddie hoax agony'

  5. 5

    Water bills to rise further for millions after appeal

  6. 6

    Stars, secrets and slip-ups: Celebrity Traitors is off to a cracking start

  7. 7

    Young children taking knives to school, BBC finds

  8. 8

    'I cried every day': Victoria Beckham tells of fashion woes in new Netflix doc

  9. 9

    The battle for Scotland's flag: Why the right has adopted the saltire

  10. 10

    Liberal Democrat membership has halved in 5 years

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Rom-com starring Aimee Lou Wood and Nabhaan Rizwan

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Film Club has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Film Club
  • Exposing a pro-Russian fake news operation

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Global Eye has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Global Eye: Inside a Pro-Russian Fake News Operation
  • Leonardo DiCaprio discusses his new film

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Movies With Ali Plumb has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Movies With Ali Plumb: Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation
  • The rise and downfall of Margaret Thatcher

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Thatcher: A Very British Revolution has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.