MOSCOW — Russia extended their winless streak to seven matches with a 1-1 home draw against Turkey on Tuesday in their last warm-up game just nine days before the World Cup kick-off.

German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg midfielder Yunus Malli came off the bench at half-time to cancel out Spartak Moscow right winger Alexander Samedov's 35th minute opener and deny Russia a first win in eight months.

Turkey, who are rebuilding after failing to make it into the World Cup finals in Russia, started in a lively fashion seeking an early opener but failed to create any serious threat in the opening quarter-hour.

Russia, spurred by the capacity 30,000 crowd at VTB Arena, CSKA Moscow's home ground, soon took over the initiative pinning the visitors back but Turkey defended stoutly stifling the hosts' attacks into poorly targeted crosses.

The hosts broke the deadlock in the 35th minute when they intercepted the ball just outside the visitors area and CSKA playmaker Alan Dzagoev found Samedov in the area and he kept his cool to send the ball into the net with an angled close-range shot.

After the break Mircea Lucescu's side poured forwards in attack in search of an equalizer and Malli pulled the scores level beating Russian 'keeper Igor Akinfeev with a low shot from 25 yards out just before the hour mark.

Krasnodar forward Fyodor Smolov, Russia's top scorer in 2016-17 and second this year, missed a chance to restore the hosts lead in the 72nd minute when he sent the ball just inches wide of the right post with a 12-yard shot.

Russia now have five wins, six draws and 10 defeats since Stanislav Cherchesov took over in August 2016. Russia kick off their World Cup campaign against Saudi Arabia in Group A at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 14 and also face Egypt in St Petersburg on June 19 and Uruguay in Volgograd on June 25.

Iran first World Cup team to arrive in Russia

Iran became the first team Tuesday to arrive in Russia for the World Cup, a month-long celebration of Football that kicks off in Moscow's historic Luzhniki Stadium on June 14. Playing in their fifth finals and ranked 36 by FIFA, Iran begin their campaign against Group B rivals Morocco on June 15 in Nizhny Novgorod.

They then travel to Kazan for a June 20 clash against former World Cup winners Spain, before concluding their group stage matches against Portugal on June 25. The three-time Asian Cup winner easily qualified for their second successive World Cup, going unbeaten in 10 matches in their Asian group.

Iran lost 2:1 to Turkey in their last friendly on May 28, and have one last World Cup warm up against Lithuania on June 8. Coached by Portugal's Carlos Queiroz, who has also managed his national side, Iran are long-shots to make their first knockout stage of a World Cup.

European bookmakers put their odds of winning the whole thing at 500 to 1. They will be based at the training facilities of the Russian Premier League club Lokomotiv Moscow, on the Russian capital's southwestern outskirts. Grouping 32 nations, the World Cup concludes in Moscow on July 15. — AFP