With the World Cup approaching, a whole host of stadiums are being finalised and tested ahead of big event. In April, as many as six World Cup stadiums opened and hosted matches for the first time, all seemingly to a decent level of success.
Rostov Arena
The Rostov Arena in Rostov-on-Don hosted a Premier League match between FC Rostov and SKA Khabarvosk on April 15th. The home side ran out 2-0 winners, with the first goal at the stadium being scored by Icelandic striker Bjorn Sigurdarsson.
Sigurdarsson will be back at the stadium for the World Cup, with his nation Iceland based near to Rostov-on-Don, and also playing against Croatia here in their third group stage match on June 29th, along with fellow Rostov team-mates Ragnar Sigurdsson and Sverrir Ingason.
Everything seemed to go well on the day with security, the pitch and seating, though the attendance was only down at just under 13,000. However, the next time out when Rostov took on Tosno, more of the stadium was open, and 22,000 spectators watched their side win 2-0.
The Rostov Arena will host five games: Uruguay - Saudi Arabia, Iceland - Croatia, Brazil - Switzerland, South Korea - Mexico and one knockout stage game.
Kaliningrad Stadium
The Kaliningrad Arena kicked off with a second tier match between top four rivals Baltika Kaliningrad and Krylia Sovetov on April 11th, which resulted in a 1-0 win for the home side. The only goal of the game was scored by Ivorian striker Senin Sebai from the penalty spot.
With Baltika fighting for promotion, it would be a dream of the organisers if they can make it to the Premier League so that the stadium is not a white elephant after the World Cup. England will play here in the summer, so there was extra attention on the opening match, which saw just the lower tier open to fans, but still attracted almost 15,000 spectators, creating a fine atmosphere. The second match at the stadium, a 0-0 draw with Khimki, attracted a whopping 25,000 spectators.
The Kaliningrad Arena will host four games: Spain - Morocco, Croatia - Nigeria, Serbia - Switzerland and England - Belgium
Ekaterinburg Arena
The Ekaterinburg Arena kicked off with a soft opening against Rubin Kazan on April 1st, with home side FC Ural claiming a 1-1 draw, but the first goal scored by Rubin’s Ivelin Popov. However the stadium’s official opening was two weeks later, when Ural hosted Spartak Moscow, which Ural were able to crown off with a surprise 2-1 victory.
The arena has attracted viral attention ahead of the tournament thanks to a stand behind one of the goals, which juts outward and holds supporters outside the main part of the stadium. This is a temporary solution to the tournament’s seating requirements, and the stand will be removed after as Ural’s home attendances are unlikely to surpass even two-thirds of the full capacity.
According to early reports, the temporary stand is quite exposed to the elements, while from the upper rows there is no visibility of the big screens in the stadium, however the pitch is in full view. Fans also complained that it is a long walk to the nearest toilet from the top rows, but praised the security at the stadium. However, with the Rubin game attracting 18,000 fans and the Spartak game attracting 27,000 fans, it’s a positive start for the Siberian side.
The Ekaterinburg Arena will host four games: Egypt - Uruguay, France - Peru, Mexico - Sweden, Japan - Senegal
Volgograd Arena
The Volgograd Arena kicked off with an FNL tie between Rotor Volgograd and Luch Energiya Vladivostok on April 21st which saw a comfortable 4-2 win for the home team, the first goal being scored by Khyzyr Appaev. Rotor are a far flung outfit from the team who beat Manchester United in the 1995 UEFA Cup, and even after their victory against Luch, are hovering close to relegation.
The arena therefore does have some questionable legacy viability, but with the clubs history it’s possible that the arena will not be a white elephant and continue to attract attendances close to the 17,000 that turned up for their first match. The crowd stirred up a fantastic atmosphere, and produced such noise for an FNL game, which the league may never have heard before.
The Volgograd Arena will host four games: Saudi Arabia - Egypt, Nigeria - Iceland, Tunisia - England and Japan - Poland.
Mordovia Arena
The Mordovia Arena in Saransk kicked off with a third tier (PFL) tie between Mordovia Saransk and Zenit Izhevsk on April 21st which resulted in a 0-0 draw between the sides. The first goal at the stadium is still yet to be scored, but as Mordovia have only conceded three times in 19 matches this season, it’s likely to be a home player who scores it.
Saransk is the host city with the most questions raised around it. A small city with no real travel links, limited accomodation for fans and a stadium situated outside the city centre. Not only that, but Mordovia Saransk are currently playing in the third tier of Russian football, with very questionable legacy. It begs belief that Saransk was picked over Krasnodar or even Yaroslavl, who were the last two cities to be dropped from the list.
However, the first game attracted around 13,500 fans, with only the lower tier open which is impressive, and almost certainly a PFL record. Not only that, but Mordovia do look certain to return to the FNL next season, with an impeccable record in the third tier, so there will be hope for it yet.
The Mordovia Arena will host four games: Iran - Portugal, Peru - Denmark, Panama - Tunisia and Colombia - Japan.
Nizhny Novgorod Stadium
The Nizhny Novgorod Stadium the only stadium which opened with a defeat for the team which will call it their home ground after the tournament. Olimpiets Nizhny Novgorod of the FNL fell to a 1-0 defeat to Zenit-2, the feeder club of Zenit St Petersburg on April 15th. The first goal at the stadium was scored by Zenit striker Andrey Panyukov.
The legacy of the stadium is somewhat of a worry with Olimpiets never having played at the top level of Russian football. However, former Nizhny Novgorod based side Volga NN, who went bankrupt in 2016, played in the Premier League on occasion, so there is some hope for the city at least, and the attendance of around 15,000 is promising. However, Olimpiets are currently hovering precariously close to relegation to the third tier of Russian football with the season coming to a close. RFU president Vitaly Mutko confirmed they would be helping with the running costs of the stadium for two to three years after the tournament.
A worry around the stadium is the pitch quality, which was clearly sub-standard for the opening match. Zenit-2 goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov said “I hope that the pitch for the World Cup will be better. It reminds the situation with the pitch at the Krestovsky in St. Petersburg, when that had only just been laid. Well, maybe a it was a little better.”
In their second match, the pitch did show some improvements, and Olimpiets scored their first goal in the stadium, as Yuri Morozov’s last minute winner in front of 26,000 spectators saw them win 1-0 against Rotor.
The Nizhny Novgorod Stadium will host six games: Argentina - Croatia, Switzerland - Costa Rica, Sweden - South Korea, England - Panama, one knockout round game and one quarter final.
Samara Arena
The final stadium to open ahead of the World Cup was the heavily delayed Samara Arena. After a strong and long winter, there were extreme difficulties in laying the pitch, but it was finally ready, and the opening match saw Krylia Sovetov beat Fakel Voronezh 2-1, the first goal scored by Fakel’s Maxim Kuzmin. An attendance of 14,000, once again mainly limited to the lower tiers, oversaw the match, in the stadium which is mightily impressive to look upon.
It’s design will draw space-age and scientific descriptions, which suits it’s name after the tournament - the Cosmos Arena. Home side Krylia are currently in an automatic promotion spot, so there is a strong possibility of RPL football in the stadium going forward, at least in the near future.
The Samara Arena will host six games: Uruguay - Russia, Denmark - Australia, Costa Rica - Serbia, Senegal - Colombia, one knockout round game and one quarter final.
Author: David Sansun
Arsenal and Rubin Kazan fan. Possibly too optimistic for Russian football which means I’m left disappointed a lot.
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