Russia has unveiled the 10 candidates for the 2018 World Cup mascot and they are, um, interesting.
According to a release from FIFA, the mascots, which were chosen by an online vote of Russian citizens (FIFA does not specify how many of these citizens are named Vladimir Putin), are "an Amur Tiger, Bogatyr (a legendary medieval Russian figure), a wolf, a Far Eastern leopard, a firebird, an alien, a cosmonaut, a cat, a bear and a robot."
If that doesn't get you pumped for the 2018 World Cup, nothing will.
They are shown in the video below, which FIFA will not let us embed on our site, but if you click on it you can watch it on Youtube. The word I would use for the video is "whimsical."
We are now infinitely more excited for Russia 2018. The official mascot will be unveiled sometime in 2016.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
