All Quiet on the Russian Front: World Cup 2018 Russia

All Quiet on the Russian Front: World Cup 2018 Russia

Well, it's all quiet on the Russian Front right now. There is minimal new information coming out of Russia about the plans for the World Cup in 2018, so there is not a lot for me to report on. I am waiting until this year’s Confederations Cup tournament to be completed before I expect to see any further information about tickets, ticket sales phases, and city fan-zone details.

Looking at the details of the Confederations Cup is usually a good pointer for the way things are going to run for the actual World Cup in 2018.  The Ticket Sales Phases for the Confederations Cup are as follows:

• VISA Pre-Sale
• Random Selection Draw
• First Come First Served
• Last Minute Sales

The above breakdown is very similar to previous World Cups so I would expect that the VISA Pre-Sale to kick off in November this year, with the Random Selection phase running from December through January 2018. The First Come/First Served phase I expect to happen in March & April, with the Last Minute phase from April thru July.

An extra step required for this World Cup will be the requirement to get a Russian issued “Fan-ID”, which they are trialling for the Confederations Cup.

The “Fan-ID” is a personalised visitor card, required by Russian legislation, that we will need in addition to our tickets. This identity card is issued for each visitor and is obligatory for all ticket owners. For foreigners, the “Fan-ID”  also gives a right to visa-free entrance to Russia as well. The “Fan-ID” may also give us free transport options on match days. To get a “Fan-ID” you first need to buy valid tickets for the world cup from the FIFA website and receive a confirmation, after which you can apply for a “Fan-ID” and either pick it up, or get it delivered in the mail.

On the planning front, the latest idea is to spend 2-3 weeks in St. Petersburg, and then 2-3 weeks in Moscow, which will allow us to see up to 8 matches including the Final, (subject to getting tickets of course). I like the idea of Staying in Finland and then travelling to the games in St. Petersburg, but in the end it would be inconvenient to get back to Finland from the evening games, meaning that would probably have ended up staying in the city on those days anyway. Fiona & I may spend a week or so in Finland before we meet up with Yates in St. Petersburg, so we won’t be missing out.

In terms of our teams qualifying for the World Cup in Russia, England continue to flatter themselves with another win to keep them the top of their group in the European qualifiers. It is always the same, England do very well in the qualification stage, but never seem to get it together in the actual competition, will this time be any different...? The USA on the other hand, have had a lousy qualification so far, but they did manage a draw against Panama to get them into 4^th place, but they will need to step-it-up if they want to be in the top 3 to get that automatic qualification place. New Zealand are on the top of group A in their qualification battle in the Oceania

group, which gives them a playoff against whoever wins Group B, and then a playoff against the 5^th best team in the South American group, which is currently Argentina…!!! If it’s not Argentina, then it could be either Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador, or Peru, either way, I don’t hold out too much hope…. 

Come on you All Whites…