The hosts won the opening match of Group A at the Krestovsky Stadium in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg.

An own goal from Kiwi defender Michael Boxall and Fyodor Smolov's second-half strike gave the hosts the perfect start to the campaign as they prepare to host the 2018 World Cup.

Russia were denied a penalty after 14 minutes when New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic appeared to bring down forward Dmitry Poloz.

Colombian referee Wilmar Roldan signalled to play on, without consulting the Video Assistant Referee.

The scoring was, however, eventually opened on 31 minutes.

New Zealand tried to play the ball out of defence but gave it away, and a couple of quick passes from Aleksandr Yerokhin and Poloz allowed Denis Glushakov to run through on goal.

He lobbed it over the keeper and was involved in a race with two defenders as the ball bounced slowly towards the net.

They all slid in at the same time but the ball dribbled into the net and was awarded to Boxall as an own goal.

Smolov then doubled his country's lead after starting and finishing a free-flowing move in the 69th minute. 

After winning possession in the middle of the pitch, he ran to within 25 yards of goal before playing a pass wide to Aleksandr Samedov, who slid a low first-time ball across goal.

Boxall once again made a mess of his attempted clearance and Smolov stabbed the ball into an open net at the far post to seal the three points.

The tournament is traditionally used as a warm-up for the following year's World Cup and features the home nation, the winners of six continental tournaments and the reigning FIFA World Cup holders.

Action is due to continue with two matches tomorrow.

Portugal face Mexico at the Kazan Arena while Cameroon and Chile will meet at the Otkritie Arena in Moscow.