PHOTO COURTESY: INSTAGRAM/FIFA
The wolf, unveiled to the public early Saturday after a month of online voting, prevailed over a cat and a tiger dressed in a space suit after receiving more than half the votes.
48-team World Cup faces test at FIFA meet
The mascot -- named "Zabivaka", which in Russian means "one who scores" -- was presented on a popular late-night show on Pervy Kanal state television.
More than one million people voted in the contest following what FIFA said was "the most engaging creative process" for selecting an official mascot in its history.
FIFA extends Chile ban for homophobic chants
Russia is set to host the 2018 World Cup in 11 cities including Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Sochi.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ