Up to 60,000 fans are expected at the first match of the FIFA World Cup on Friday in St. Petersburg, the city’s vice governor told reporters.
June 14 (UPI) — Up to 60,000 spectators are expected at the first match of the FIFA World Cup Friday in St. Petersburg, the city’s vice governor Igor Albin told reporters Thursday.
„The national teams of Morocco and Iran will meet here tomorrow. According to forecast of FIFA experts, up to 60,000 fans are expected,“ Albin said.
A newly-built football arena in Saint Petersburg hosted last summer the opening and final matches of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and also serves as the venue for matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The over 67,000-seat capacity stadium designed to host the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches was laid down in the western portion of Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg in 2007. The construction project was amended three times: in 2008,2010 and 2013.
On Wednesday, the first charter plane from Iran touched down at Pulkovo Airport’s Terminal 2, revamped ahead of the World Cup.
Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.
The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 mentioned above cities across Russia.
