Along with Saransk, Kaliningrad is the most unexpected 2018 World Cup host. Bordering Poland and Lithuania, the exclave has a population of around 430.000, only 130.000 more than Saransk. It’s a city that’s pretty much cut off from the rest of Russia and wasn’t even part of the Russian Federation until World War II. Before that it was known as Königsberg and belonged to Germany.
Originally built in 1255, nowadays, the city mashes the old Prussian/German culture with the more contemporary Soviet/Russian one. If you ask the director of the city’s airport, though, Kaliningrad is more European than Russian:
“The mentality in Kaliningrad is different to the rest of Russia. People are more smiley, open and friendly here,”
That’s good news for the fans of the eight teams that have World Cup games scheduled in the brand new Kaliningrad Stadium. Especially for the six European nations, as their followers will not need to make long trips deep into Russian territory. Instead, they can simply fly to nearby Gdansk and then take a bus to Kaliningrad.
World Cup fixtures in Kaliningrad:
16 June – Croatia vs. Nigeria (Group D)
22 June – Serbia vs. Switzerland (Group E)
25 June – Spain vs. Morocco (Group B)
28 June – England vs. Belgium (Group G)
Many spectators will travel directly to Khrabrovo airport, which is expected to double its usual traffic during the next period, something that pleases the airport’s director. According to him, progress in the airport’s expansion was a welcomed sight:
“Before, it was very slow progress,”
“So we’re very glad for the World Cup.”
Other than choosing Kaliningrad over Krasnodar, a city with a perfectly fine World Cup-ready stadium, there is another reason why selecting the Baltic city was a strange one. It doesn’t have a football fanbase, with second league’s FC Baltika the closest to a reasonable football club. A couple of thousand gameday fans during home matches at the Baltika Stadium is the maximum club officials can pull off gathering. Before FC Baltika was promoted to the second division, the stadium was utilized for car sales. European cars would be lined up right on the football pitch and people travelled from all over Russia to buy them, because they were cheaper in Kaliningrad.
The hope is that FC Baltika will take over the new Kaliningrad Stadium after the World Cup and that it will attract crowds (perhaps a new sponsor as well) who’ll help push the team to new heights. The stadium itself opened in May this year and has a capacity of 35.212 seats.
One thing’s for certain. Fans can be relaxed when visiting the World Cup’s westernmost host city.
