Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
We'll no doubt have a good look at the grounds being used for the 2018 Russia World Cup in more detail closer to the time.
However, with the full line-up for the next World Cup almost now finalised, now seems like a great time to look at some of the stadia being used. The UEFA play-offs are just round the corner and the final 32 teams will be drawn into eight groups of four on the 1st December this year.
You may well have been to all the main English grounds, from Goodison Park to Glanford Park, from the Emirates to the Etihad and from Moss Rose to Moss Lane. You may even have been to a few around the Europe and the rest of the world.
But do you even know where Saransk or Rostov-on-Don are, let alone what the World Cup stadia there are called? Well, we can help you out with that. Whether you're planning a trip to Russia next summer or not, check out the 12 grounds that will be used for the next global showpiece.
The Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow hosted the 2008 Champions League final and will host seven games at the World Cup, including a semi-final and the final itself. Home to the Russian National side, capacity is 81,000 and it's safe to say the atmosphere will be lively here during any matches featuring the hosts.
The Krestovsky Stadium holds more than 68,000 and will host the first semi-final on the 10th July 2018. It will also host the third placed match and is the home of Zenit Saint Petersburg. Built at a cost of $1bn, the Krestovsky only opened in 2017.
The third largest stadium being used at the 2018 World Cup is in Sochi. Sochi's vastly over budget 2014 winter Olympics weren't a triumph but the Fisht Olympic Stadium is at least getting a little more use here.
The Volgograd Arena is another 45,000+ stadium and remains under construction at the time of writing. Volgograd is in the south of the country and will host four matches at the World Cup.
Rubin Kazan's ground will host six clashes, including a quarter final. It was used in the 2017 Confederations Cup where it hosted the Portugal versus Chile semi-final as well as three group games.
The second World Cup venue in the capital Moscow is the Otkrytiye Arena, Spartak Moscow's home ground. Capable of welcoming more than 45,000 fans, this was also used at the recent Confederations Cup.
Saransk, seeing as you ask, is the capital of Mordovia and is home to around 300,000 people. The Mordovia Arena holds a shade over 45,000 people and will see four Group games next summer.
The Rostov Arena is another of the new stadia being built especially for the World Cup. Rostov-on-Don, a port city in the south, will host five matches at the World Cup.
Samar's Cosmos Arena is under construction and will be ready - everyone hopes! - to host six games, including a quarter-final.
Another new ground, Nizhny Novgorod Stadium will be home to FC Olimpiyets Nizhny Novgorod as well as hosting other sports and concerts. Before all that it will be used for six 2018 World Cup clashes.
You probably could have ventured a guess as to where the Kaliningrad Stadium was. Kaliningrad itself is located away from the main part of Russia and is on the Baltic sea between Poland and Lithuania. If that doesn't impress your friends in the pub, what will?
Last and frankly least, we have Yekaterinburg's Central Stadium. Yekaterinburg will host four group games at its 35,000 seat stadium. Yekaterinburg is actually Russia's fourth largest city but, being the farthest east of the venues, is probably the ground with the most cache for those who like to tick stadia off their list!
Written by Rob. First published on October 24th, 2017.
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