Topics: FIFA Confederations Cup, Russia, New Zealand, Fedor Smolov, Michael Boxall
Russia hardly broke a sweat to beat the All Whites in their FIFA Confederations Cup debut, but there's more to it than just the 2-0 scoreline.

Russia and New Zealand ended the wait for competitive football in the European country with an entertaining match in St. Petersburg, where the hosts defeated the All Whites with a 2-0 score.

An own goal by Michael Boxall and a second-half goal by Fedor Smolov sealed the deal for the hosts, who made their way into the tournament's records books, as they secured their first win in the competition.

But that wasn't all that happened in this game. After the first 90 minutes of the competition, there are a few talking points to be noticed.

Oceania's own-goal jinx

Michael Boxall's own goal made its way into history for two reasons. For starters, it was the first time in the tournament's history where an own goal opened up the scoring. Then, Boxall's mishap cemented Oceania's "lead" in the own goal department in this competition.

Russia, off with a bang

Being the host nation isn't easy, and Russia made it past the All Whites in rather calm fashion. A key member for the hosts was Fedor Smolov, who made Russia the 28th different nation to score in the competition. Initially, the honor went to Denis Glushakov, but FIFA's officers used VAR technology to change that ruling.

New Zealand, the worst of the bunch

Oceania's champion has found it hard to win a single match in the competition, and today's game gave us a hint about how that's not going to change. The All Whites have played ten games in the FIFA Confederations Cup, earning only one draw. Those stats cement their status as the worst team to ever play more than one edition of this tournament.

"New Zealand is the only team to play ten games in the FIFA Confederations Cup without winning a single one of them (1 draw, 9 losses)."