In the era of accelerated development of globalization and hybridization of interstate conflicts, the foreign policy of the leading countries is undergoing significant changesassociated with the expansion of the set of methods and tools to address foreign policy objectives. Soft power mechanisms, the most interesting of which are sports and public diplomacy, constitute the main part of the toolkit. By combining the two concepts, progressive states, thanks to the constructive function of sport and the broaderperspectiveofcross-national communication public diplomacy, achieve great success with sports diplomacy, which in turn helps achieve such global goals as creating the conditions for inter-ethnic dialogue and improving the image of the state. A shining example of achieving these goals through sports diplomacy is the organization and hosting of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.This research details the basics of foreign countries' sports diplomacy, highlights the peculiarities of Russia's sports diplomacy on the example of hosting the domestic Mundial and analyses how the world football festival in Russia has changed the foreign public's perception of the country.
