THE VENUES
A look at the 12 stadiums that will host Cup matches:
Moscow
THE STADIUMS: Luzhniki holds more than 80,000 people and has played host to key moments in Russian sports history, including the 1980 Olympics and the 2008 Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea. Spartak Stadium holds 45,000 and opened in 2014 as the new home for Moscow’s best-supported club. It’s the only one of the 12 World Cup stadiums built without government money — Spartak’s billionaire president Leonid Fedun funded the construction.
Kaliningrad
THE STADIUM: One of the smallest stadiums used at a World Cup since 2002, the simply named Kaliningrad Stadium seats 35,000.
WHAT TO KNOW: Under the name Koenigsberg, the city was a political and cultural center for Germans for hundreds of years.
Yekaterinburg
THE STADIUM: The first thing you will notice about the arena are two temporary stands built high out of the main bowl on towers of scaffolding.
WHAT TO KNOW: Yekaterinburg was a springboard for the Russian Empire’s colonization of Central Asia.
Rostov-on-Don
THE STADIUM: After the tournament, the 45,000-seat arena will be the new home of FC Rostov.
WHAT TO KNOW: The region around Rostov-on-Don is proud of its heritage as the home of many Cossacks — a group who blurred boundaries between colonists and ethnic Russians.
Samara
THE STADIUM: Samara’s 45,000-capacity stadium was tricky to build thanks to its complex domed roof, designed to evoke the majesty of space.
WHAT TO KNOW: The city is perhaps best known for making the rockets used to send Russian cosmonauts into space.
Sochi
THE STADIUM: The 48,000-seat Fisht Stadium was built to host the lavish opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Olympics.
WHAT TO KNOW: Organizers are offering free train tickets to fans, but it will be a stretch, with many services taking more than 30 hours from Moscow.
Kazan
THE STADIUM: The 45,000-seat Kazan Arena has a flowing, elegant design and was Russia’s most modern stadium when it opened five years ago.
WHAT TO KNOW: Kazan wears its religion lightly but has intense pride in the culture of the local Tatar ethnic group.
Nizhny Novgorod
THE STADIUM: Built where the storied Volga River meets the smaller Oka, the roof of the stadium seems to float atop a ring of thin white columns.
WHAT TO KNOW: Traveling to Nizhny Novgorod will take just under four hours from Moscow on a new high-speed route.
St. Petersburg
THE STADIUM: The vast venue was a headache for the Russian government, taking a decade to build as costs soared to 43 billion rubles ($670 million).
WHAT TO KNOW: St. Petersburg’s grandeur is all down to the vision of one man: Czar Peter the Great.
Volgograd
THE STADIUM: The 45,000-seat Volgograd Arena has been designed to blend into its surroundings as much as possible.
WHAT TO KNOW: Volgograd has twice changed its name to reflect Russia’s turbulent political history. It was originally known as Tsaritsyn.
Saransk
THE STADIUM: Saransk has a new 44,000-seat stadium for the World Cup, strikingly decorated in red and orange to echo traditional arts and crafts.
WHAT TO KNOW: Saransk is the capital of the Mordovia region, which is home to the Erzya and Moksha ethnic groups.