The Amur tiger has made it onto the shortlist of mascots for the 21^st FIFA World Cup to be held in Russia in the summer of 2018. Internet users will be choosing between a tiger, a cat and a wolf. Voting has started on FIFA’s website and will last until 21 October.

The three finalists were chosen last February by a special jury, which included leading Russian athletes, showbiz celebrities and other cultural figures. Students from Russian art colleges drew the characters as they imagined them: a cat dribbling a ball with its tail, a wolf wearing special sports glasses in the manner of Dutch football player Edgar Steven Davids, and a tiger going onto the pitch wearing a space suit as it dreams of becoming the number one football player in space.

The candidate mascots were unveiled at a Circle of Light Festival show on 23 September. The three characters were projected onto the front of the Moscow State University building.

The Amur tiger has been chosen as a mascot for various sports several times. The tiger cub Zhorik was a mascot for the 2012 and 2014 world judo championships. Russia’s largest cat has been sambo’s official mascot since 2015.