Volgograd at the World Cup 2018

Russia is planning to hold an outstanding event at the highest possible level. In this article, we are going to get you acquainted with the places of interest of Volgograd, the way its citizens are going to meet football fans including those who wish to rent a car.

Game schedule

Volgograd is going to host four group matches for 11 days (18 to 28 June).

The first to come to Volgograd will be the national teams of Great Britain and Tunisia. This game is scheduled for the 18th of June. A competition between Great Britain (the winner of 1966 World Cup) and Tunisia (the winner of 1978 World Cup) will start at 9 p.m. (21:00) at Volgograd Arena stadium. Both teams are interesting and strong enough, though English players are much more eminent than their competitors by the number of times they made the Championships: Great Britain went to the Championship 14 times against 4 Championships for the Tunisians.

Then a match between Nigeria and Iceland will be held on the 22nd of June. The national team of Iceland ranks number 20 in FIFA ranking. The Vikings made their debut for the large-scale competitions in the 2016 World Cup. The Icelanders made it for the quarter-final where they competed against the host of the tournament — the national team of France. Despite an overwhelming defeat (5 to 2), they made millions of fans from all over the world fall in love with them. The Fifa World Cup 2018 in Russia will be another debut for the team. Nigeria made its debut in the World Cup 1994 in the USA. Thus, it made it for the last sixteen three times in 1994, 1998 and 2014, and missed only one Mundial. This match will start at 6 p.m. (18:00).

The next to compete will be the national teams of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. This match will take place at Volgograd Arena on the 25th of June at 5 p.m. (17:00). Thus, after 28 years, the national team of Egypt will be taking part in the competition. However, once they managed to make it for the semi-final (the first of the African teams). As to Saudi, they participated in the World Cup three times, though they were not successful. The national team of Saudi Arabia made its debut in 1994 in the USA.

Last but not the least will be the national teams of Japan and Poland. This match will be held on the 28th of June at 5 p.m. (17:00). A Polish team is more eminent than a Japanese one. They won bronze twice in the Championships in 1974 and 1982 while Japanese players twice took part at the last sixteen according to the FIFA.

Below you can see a game schedule in a tabular format:

Group	Teams	Date	Day of the week	Start time
G3 – G4	Tunisia – Great Britain	June 18	Monday	9 p.m. (21:00)
D4 – D2	Nigeria – Iceland	June 22	Friday	6 p.m. (18:00)
A2 – A3	Saudi Arabia – Egypt	June 25	Monday	5 p.m (17:00)
H4 – H1	Japan – Poland	June 28	Thursday	5 p.m (17:00)

Volgograd Arena Stadium

Two games in A, D, H and G groups will take place at the new Volgograd Arena Stadium. The cheapest tickets for Russian fans can be bought for ₽1,280. Volgograd Arena is situated in the centre of the city and has a capacity of 45,000 spectators. There are 460 seats for the disabled.

People have named it the heart of football in Volgograd. This international football stadium lies at the feet of Mamayev Kurgan on the banks of the Volga river and can be found on Lenin Avenue 76. The cost of the stadium is 17 billion roubles.

Volgograd Arena is a unique and super contemporary stadium fitted with a canopy and natural field with a heating system. The construction began in 2015. Volgograd Arena was built on site of the dismantled Central Stadium. During the construction of the new stadium, lots of blind shells were found in the ground. After the Battle of Stalingrad, there is almost no plot of land in Volgograd which is left uncovered with metal.

To mount suspended facades and arena roofing, construction workers brought to the site and assembled a giant Liebherr LR-1750 crane with a capacity of up to 750 tons. Volgograd Arena has 44 elements of facade ring (“crown”) 60 tons each. These elements are white multipath steel structures that look like a star. The same way is built a pedestrian bypass bridge. The central staircase of Volgograd Arena is 123 m wide. The cost of construction includes also the measures to strengthen the right bank of the Volga River.

The World Cup 2018 and construction of a new contemporary stadium can inspire Volgograd football team with new life and bring back the spirit of football. It is hard to imagine Volgograd without big matches. When the World Cup ends, Volgograd Arena is going to be a home arena for FC Rotor Volgograd.

What to see in Volgograd

The city originated in 1589 and at that times was known as Tsaritsyn.

The key places of interest refer to the Battle of Stalingrad. Mamayev Kurgan is a vibrant tourist centre of the city. It will take half of the day to walk around the positions of this giant memorial. The main monument here is The Motherland Calls of the monument-ensemble “Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” on Mamayev Kurgan. The statue is also the central part of the triptych which includes “Rear-Front” in Magnitogorsk and “Warrior-Liberator” in Berlin.

This monument is made of prestressed concrete and the sword is made of fluoridated steel. At first, the sword was made of stainless steel with titanium plating.However, this construction made it deform.

The height of the “Mother Calls” statue is 85 metres without a plinth. The length of the sword in the right hand is 33 metres. The construction began in 959 and ended in 1967. The monument was designed by Y. V. Vuchetich and engineer N. V. Nikitin.

The monument is clearly visible in every kind of weather at a distance of some tens of kilometers including the windows of trains travelling through.

The Panorama Museum “The Battle of Stalingrad” is situated near the embankment of Volgograd behind Lenin Square. It is the largest exhibition dedicated to one of the key battles of the Great Patriotic War. Along with Mamayev Kurgan it is a part of “The Battle of Stalingrad” memorial estate. It forms a separate museum complex with Pavlov’s House, Gerhardt Windmill ruins and bayonet stele. More than 500,000 tourists visit this place every year.

The museum collection contains more than 3,500 objects including cold and firearms, military uniform, official records and photos, military equipment used during the Battle of Stalingrad, four dioramas describing other stories which are not presented in the main picture.

“Art” Fountain is situated on the upper terrace of the embankment of Volgograd. It is a statue which shows three young ladies standing on granite pedestal dancing Berezka. The fountain is surrounded by flower beds and benches. The Fountain appeared in 1957 and in 1990 it was fitted with lighting.

Before Perestroika, the fountain was known as “The Friendship of Nations”. A new name was given in 1985 when it appeared on a greeting card. The locals, especially the elderly people still use an old name. In 2012, the Fountain was reconstructed: the pattern of water jets has significantly changed. But above all, it has turned into a musical fountain. Today this is a central hardscape element on the embankment and one of its beauties. In the evening, when the music plays there are always many tourists around it. You’d better reach the Fountain from the Heroes Lane to feel its charm.

Old Sarepta Museum was built thanks to the members of the Unity of the Brethren. Sarepta colony was founded by the Moravian Brethren and contributed much to the economic and cultural development of the Bottom Volga region. The museum was founded in 1989. It consists of 27 buildings, most of which are of federal importance and date back to the 18th–19th centuries. Today the majority of these buildings are pavilions with permanent ethnographic and historical exhibitions as well as art and photo exhibitions. Organ concerts take place at Kircha. A German library contains more than 15,000 books in different languages.

Kazan Cathedral in Volgograd (also known as the Chapel of Our Lady of Kazan) is situated in Voroshilovskiy region. It refers to Volgograd and Kamyshin Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the documents, the first church on this site was built at the beginning of the 18th century. Unfortunately, soon it burned down. The cornerstone of the new church was laid in 1896. The church was built for donations of the church people, and in 1899 it was consecrated. After the revolution, most of churchware and valuables were eliminated, however, the church remained open for the parish up to 1939 when the church was closed and converted to the bakery. During the Battle of Stalingrad, Kazan Cathedral was badly damaged. All that remained was given to the church members. The restoration of the church ended in 1948. In the early 1950s, the walls of the church were painted. Then the church was transformed into the cathedral. In 2005-2011 the cathedral was renovated. It received four new domes and renovation of walls. Moreover, the iconostasis and pictorial images were replaced. In the yard, appeared a cosy park with a playground.

These are the major attractions of Volgograd. The city extends along the Volga river for 90 kilometers. Thus, the best way to discover the city is to rent a car.

How to rent a car in Volgograd

You can rent a car in any region of the city. Among the agencies with the best ratings are “The Centre of Car Rental” (“Центр Автопроката”).

Phone numbers: 8 (8442) 50-11-88, 8 (8442) 33-90-20.

Address: Volgograd, Dzerzhinsky region, 129 g Rokossovsky Street (ул. Рокоссовского 129 г).

A landmark: an intersection with Hiroshima Street.

“Nisava” rental agency is situated on 28 Kommunisticheskaya Street, building A. Phone number: 8 (8442) 98-92-08.

All you need to rent a car is your passport and driving license. If you are going to let anyone drive your car, these people should also provide their documents. Sometimes rental agencies require 1+year driving experience or ask for the third identification document (e.g. a military ID).

Most companies in Volgograd take a deposit amount. This sum of money will be blocked on your credit card until the car is returned. The amount of deposit depends on the vehicle class. On the average, it is ₽15-20,000, however, if you are going to rent an expensive car, you will have to pay ₽50-60,000.

Keep in mind that car rental at airports and railway stations will be more expensive.

The cost depends on vehicle class. To rent domestic “economy” class cars, you will have to pay from ₽1,000 per day. Foreign models will cost ₽1,300-1,500 per day. Mid-class vehicles in Volgograd cost ₽1,500-2,000 per day. To rent a business class car, you will have to pay ₽2,500-3,000 per day.

Some companies include insurance in the cost, others add a few hundred of roubles to the rental cost. Hull insurance is a good solution in case of a car accident. In this case, a client does not need to pay.

Other rental agencies issue only third-party insurance and include the renter responsibility for a car accident. If a client is found guilty, he will have to pay for the repair out of his own pocket.

The following clauses should be indicated in the car rental contract:

car model and mileage;
rental cost and deposit amount;
renter responsibility to provide an operational car;
availability of valid insurance.

After the contract is signed, the client gets back his identification documents. The renter is not allowed to ask the client to leave them as a deposit.

Make sure the car is fully operational. Check the information in the contract against the information in registration documents. If there is a malfunction, the rental agency must correct it or provide another vehicle. This rule is valid for the whole rental period.

Sometimes rental agencies include a clause on a limited mileage per day. Then after you return the car, the mileage will be compared. You will have to pay for additional kilometers separately.