The winning entry was entitled Zabivaka, which is claimed to hint at "the one who scores", in Russia, received 53 per cent of the public votes on FIFA’s website, with over one million claimed to have been cast during the process.

Produced by student designer Ekaterina Bocharova, the wolf mascot saw off competition from a tiger and a cat, which received 27 and 20 per cent of the vote respectively.

"To get to the stage of seeing the wolf chosen today, we first collected the preferences of Russian kids through an online poll," said Fatma Samoura, FIFA secretary general.

"Based on those ideas, university students submitted their designs and now the public have chosen their favourite character from among the final three.

"Eighteen months after kicking-off this project, we are extremely happy that the 2018 mascot is the result of a team effort where the Russian people demonstrated their creative flair and their strong commitment to putting on a successful FIFA World Cup."

The wolf, whose personality was claimed to be charming, confident and social, was unveiled during a live show on Russia’s Channel 1.

Zabivaka was also claimed to be the "joker in the pack" and wears "cool sports glasses" when playing football.

Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister for Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy and President of the Russian Football Union, predicted the mascot will be remembered in the same way as Mishka, the mascot from the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.

"The mascot is very important from the point of view of promoting the country and the championship," he told Russian news agency TASS.

"This is a memory.

"Do you remember how everyone cried when Misha flew away in 1980?"

Mutko, also overseeing preparations for the tournament as the head of the Russia 2018 Organising Committee, asserted that the country will host the World Cup to the highest possible standard.

His claim comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin and FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino were forced to reassure the public that stadium construction for the 2018 World Cup was on track in June, following reports of delays and rising costs.

"The World Cup will involve almost half of the country," said Mutko.

"Eleven cities will host matches, and twenty cities in total be involved.

"A lot of infrastructure is being built.

"Such a project cannot be prepared without any problems, but everything is resolvable.

"We will hold the championship at the highest level.”

Russia’s preparations will be put closer under the microscope when they host next year’s Confederations Cup - an eight-team tournament comprised of the host nation, the current World Cup holders plus the six continental champions.

The 32 team FIFA World Cup is then take place from June 14 to July 15 in 2018.