Russian cosmonauts get their kicks with a WC ball

MOSCOW: If one of the World Cup footballs seems to behave as if there is no gravity it may just be the official ball Russian cosmonauts put through the paces on the International Space Station.

In footage released by the Russian space agency Roscosmos on Thursday, cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Anton Shkaplerov donned official FIFA World Cup T-shirts to kick a ball around the ISS.

Without the constraining factor of gravity, the two were able to make spinning kicks and lunging saves. Roscosmos said the football was an official game ball and would return to earth with the cosmonauts on Sunday. Russia hosts the FIFA World Cup 2018 which kicks off on June 14 in Moscow.