The match started dynamically as in the fourth minute, the Finnish goalscorer from their opening match, Joel Pohjanpalo, sent the ball into the net of Russia's goalkeeper, Matvei Safonov. However, Danny Makkelie from the Netherlands ruled the goal offside as he consulted with VAR.
In the 25th minute, the defender of the Russian national team, Mario Fernandes picked up a knock, and the game was suspended as he was not able to continue playing. Vyacheslav Karavaev replaced him as Russia was forced to make their first substitution in the match.
In the injury time of the first half, Artem Dzyuba found Aleksey Miranchuk in Finland’s penalty area who managed to put the ball in the top left corner, thus opening the scoring for Russia in the first match of the Second Round in the Group Stage.