China does not have a team in the World Cup — it finished fifth in its six-team group in Asian qualifying — but it does have a lot of fans in Russia, where the country’s economic clout has given it a huge presence.
Nearly 43,000 World Cup tickets were sold in China, more than were purchased in 26 countries that did send a team to Russia. Chinese fans purchased less than 11,000 tickets to the last two World Cups combined.
In front of Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, site of the opening and championship matches, Mengniu, China’s second-biggest dairy producer, has products lined up at a sprawling kiosk surround by plastic cows and a cutout of Argentine star Lionel Messi.