What stadiums look like for the 2018 FIFA World Cup right now

Many of us still have fresh memories of large-scale construction before the Olympics in Sochi. I must admit that the Olympic Games ended successfully for us, and Sochi itself turned into quite a real European resort (just tighten up the service a bit).

Now it is the turn of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, for which Russian cities have begun to actively prepare, and somewhere else not very well prepared. Let's see how things are with the stadiums at the moment.

(Total 23 photos)

Kazan

1. Right now

Capacity: 45 thousand

Cost: 14 billion rubles

Delivery plan: August 2014

The stadium, which was built for the 2013 Universiade, is still waiting for the first official match. The lawn was laid last autumn, but he fell ill and was eliminated. The second attempt is being made right now. The debut of the arena in the Premier League is scheduled for August 17, when Rubin will host Lokomotiv. The club will play here until the summer of 2015, when the arena will be converted into a swimming pool for the World Aquatics Championships. The Kazan stadium is universal. In May, it hosted the last bell, and in June, iftar (an evening meal during the holy month of Ramadan) for 3,000 Muslims, during which about a ton of pilaf was cooked.

Moscow, Spartak

2. Right now

Capacity: 42 thousand (at the 2014 World Cup - 44 thousand)

Cost: 15 billion rubles

Delivery plan: September 2014

The opening of the Spartak Arena will take place on September 5 with a friendly match against Red Star. The club is already selling season tickets. The first official game is in the 7th round against Torpedo after six away games. Also on September 5, the Spartak metro station will open. Oleksandr Atamanenko, ex-general director of the Donbass Arena, has been appointed General Director of the stadium.

3. What should happen

Sochi

4. Right now

Capacity: 40 thousand

Cost: 15 billion rubles

Delivery plan: second half of 2016

Sochi "Fisht" worked out the Olympics and is waiting for reconstruction, during which the central part of the roof is being dismantled. The work is planned to be completed by the end of 2016 in order to host matches of the Confederations Cup. The local city hall is going to open the stadium for tours, and they also dream that by the end of the reconstruction, a Premier League team will appear in the city.

5. What should happen

Saint Petersburg

6. Right now

Capacity: 69 thousand

Cost: 35 billion rubles

Delivery plan: June 2016

The troubled times of the arena on Krestovsky Island must be left behind. Officials say the timing and cost will no longer change. They promise to install the first elements of the stadium facade by autumn.

Vitaly Milonov, a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, proposed calling the stadium under construction on Krestovsky Island "Putin Arena". According to Milonov, if the stadium is named after the president, it will become "a monument to the era that the country is now experiencing, an embodied symbol of the zeitgeist of modern Russia."

7. What should happen

Nizhny Novgorod

8. Right now

Capacity: 45 thousand at the 2018 World Cup, 35 thousand after it

Cost: 15 billion rubles

Delivery plan: end of 2016

In Nizhny Novgorod, 2014 is the year of clearing the area for the construction of a new stadium. It started in February and continues to this day. Construction is expected to start at the end of the year. Nizhny Novgorod has two records. Negative: The Accounts Chamber revealed an overpricing of the stadium by 208 million rubles. This is more than in other cities. Positive: Nizhny was the first Russian city to present the concept of territory planning for the 2018 World Cup.

9. What should happen

Moscow, Luzhniki

10. Right now

Capacity: 81 thousand

Cost: 19.7 billion rubles

Delivery plan: May 2017

The main stadium of the country is undergoing a large-scale reconstruction. The tribunes and under-tribune premises were dismantled. The stadium after the renovation will become purely football, will accommodate 81,000 spectators and will receive a natural turf. The chief architect of Moscow promises that it will finally become convenient to watch football there.

Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko: “We have no right to take and give way to Algeria or conditional Jamaica in 2018 at Luzhniki in the presence of 80,000 fans.”

11. What should happen

Ekaterinburg

12. Right now

Capacity: 47 thousand at the 2018 World Cup, 33 thousand after it

Cost: 15 billion rubles

Delivery plan: 2017

In Yekaterinburg, two stadiums are being reconstructed at once for the 2018 World Cup. "Central" - for games, and "Uralmash" - for training teams. While Ural will play home matches in Nizhny Tagil, the builders will give the club's new stadium the image of the Ural Gem.

The mayor of Yekaterinburg, Yevgeny Roizman, was indignant in December last year: “Reconstructing a reconstructed stadium, spending 12-15 billion on this is stupid, mediocre and, I’m not afraid of this word, criminal.”

In March of this year, he nevertheless resigned himself to this: “Reconstruction is painful and insulting, but what to do? We will endure. My task is not to break anything.”

13. What should happen

Samara

14. Right now

Capacity: 45 thousand

Cost: 13 billion rubles

Delivery plan: 2017

Initially, the Samara arena was going to be built in the spit of the Volga and Samara rivers, however, due to the high cost, this plan was abandoned and the construction was transferred to the working area of the city. On July 21, the laying of the stone will take place there. This event could have happened earlier, but the mayor's office did not give the developer a building permit due to problems with documents.

In April, a local deputy suggested calling the Samara stadium "Crimean" in order to "emphasize our patriotic attitude towards the Crimean events."

15. What should happen

Kaliningrad

16. Right now

Capacity: 45 thousand at the 2018 World Cup, 30 thousand after it

Cost: 15 billion rubles

Delivery plan: 2017

In Kaliningrad, the main problem during the construction of the 2018 stadium was marshy soil, which had to be abundantly covered with sand. It was solved with the help of 1 billion rubles. Next should be easier. According to the designer, the stadium is quite simple for the main construction, as it does not contain architectural excesses.

Vitaly Mutko: "This is the very center of Kaliningrad, it is 10 meters from Kant's grave, and we will definitely build it, despite all the difficulties."

17. What should happen

Saransk

18. Right now

Capacity: 45 thousand at the 2018 World Cup, 30 thousand after it

Cost: 13.5 billion rubles

Delivery plan: 2017

The construction of the arena in Saransk had to be interrupted to adjust the project due to the fact that the capital of Mordovia would have to host matches not only in the group stage of the World Cup, but also in the playoffs. At the beginning of the year, the head of the republic reported that the stadium was 15% ready, and the resumption of construction would take place this summer.

19. What should happen

Rostov-on-Don

20. Right now

Capacity: 45 thousand at the 2018 World Cup, 35 thousand after it

Cost: 14.5 billion rubles

Delivery plan: 2017

This year is the start for the construction of many stadiums-2018. The construction of the arena on the left bank of the Don was supposed to begin in June, but it will start in early autumn. The project documentation is currently under revision.

21. What should happen

Volgograd

22. Right now

Capacity: 45 thousand at the 2018 World Cup, 35 thousand after it

Cost: 14.5 billion rubles

Delivery plan: 2017-2018

Volgograd is the most lagging city in 2018 so far. In early July, the stadium project did not pass the state expertise, the designers received about 40 comments. The second attempt was made the other day. If it turns out to be more successful, then in August the old stadium will begin to be demolished, and in November, perhaps, new construction will start. A little about Rotor. In May, the club played the last match at the Central Stadium and, out of grief, voluntarily dropped down to the second league.

23. What should happen