VLAD ALL OVER

I’M in Russia working at the Confederations Cup but one of the things I want to make sure I do is experience it as a fan.

That way I’ll have an idea of what, exactly, the travelling England supporters can expect when the World Cup finals kick off next summer.

Early impressions are the Russians are getting it spot-on. They’re rolling out the Fan ID like they did in Germany – it doubles as your visa, gets you into stadiums and gives you access to free matchday travel.

On top of that, it took just five minutes to collect from an office where all the volunteers spoke English and couldn’t have been more helpful, so it’s a big thumbs-up so far.