FIFA WORLD CUP 2018 (Kaliningrad)

Saturday 16th June 2018
FIFA World Cup Group D
Kaliningrad Stadium
Croatia 2-0 Nigeria
Attendance: 31,136

You are here!

For months now people who know me well have been asking whether I would be going to Russia for the World Cup. I explained that I, and a few others, would be going over for just the one game, the match taking place in the Kaliningrad Oblast, the most westerly of all the host cities. Then, when I was asked whereabouts in Russia that actually was, that's when things got interesting!

Ticket. Check!
Fan ID. Check!

Kaliningrad is both a city and an oblast (meaning a state) in Russia but it is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic coast. The area was part of East Prussia, a unified German state, for 700 years before being annexed by the Soviet Union at the end of World War 2.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and the neighbouring states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus gained independence, the Kaliningrad Oblast became an enclave, geographically separated from the rest of Russia.

Kaliningrad city is the administrative centre of the region and, when part of Germany, the city was known as Königsberg. It was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 in memory of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Mikhail Kalinin, with the majority of the remaining German population removed one way or another.

The plans for this trip were sown late last year when discussions over a pint (or three) took place to see who was up for a game at the World Cup. We all agreed that a trip to Russia would be expensive but would be doubly so for the World Cup.

The idea of just going to Kaliningrad was put forward as, obviously, this is not your normal destination when thinking of a visit to Russia, hence the appeal, plus costs could be slightly reduced by crossing the border via Poland. It was all agreed and we successfully applied for match tickets and then booked flights to Gdansk, where we would base ourselves for the weekend.

Our party of seven arrived in the city on the Friday, where there just happened to be a beer festival on (The Hevelka Craft Beer Fest) in the Gdansk Shipyard Centre. That got the weekend off to a flying start. I am sure Mr Wałęsa would have approved!

In order to get to Kaliningrad, one of our party, through Polish contacts, sorted out a mini-bus and driver who looked after us for the day.  We departed Gdansk around 8.45am and arrived at the border crossing (pictured below) around 10am. We had been warned by the car hire firm when we booked that this could take time. They weren't kidding!

It was a long and laborious process involving plenty of, what appeared to us, unnecessary bureaucracy. The border consisted of two checkpoints, a Polish and a Russian. It took about an hour to get through the Polish border then another two hours to get through the Russian border. Documents must have been checked about 5 times and even after being allowed through we were pulled over on the roadside for another check, just for good measure. Our Polish driver said this is the normal process the only difference is that today the Russian border officials were smiling!

We arrived in the centre of Kaliningrad around 2pm (after yet another check on the outskirts of the city) and we were dropped off by the Cathedral on Kant Island, which is all there is to see of the original city that was totally destroyed during the war. We walked along the river, where the fishing village is is located, towards the 'House of Soviets' which is a huge, and unfinished, concrete block built on the site of what was Konigsberg Castle. The adjacent square was being used as the Kaliningrad Fan Zone.

 

The final pre-match hour or so was spent in the wonderful Yeltzins Bar, where they had 20 different beers to sample plus some interesting cheese bar snacks. From there it was a short walk to Victory Square, where buses were waiting to take you to the ground. Within 10 minutes you were at the ground. The approach to the stadium reminded me of past visits to The Riverside in Middlesbrough.

Kaliningrad Stadium was purpose built for the World Cup on Oktyabrsky Island. When the tournament is over it will be the new home of FC Baltika Kaliningrad. The selection of Kaliningrad as a host city prompted the local authorities to develop the island, which for many centuries has been an untouched wilderness and was a natural habitat for wildlife.

After the 2018 World Cup, a new residential development will be built around the stadium, with parks, quays and embankments alongside the Pregola river. However, the stadium sunk in February, and could possibly sink again in the future, so the long term fate of these plans and indeed the ground could be in doubt, there is talk the ground could be knocked down after the tournament.

The stadium’s project manager was convicted of tax fraud, fraudulent conduct, and squandering billions of roubles meant for the construction of the stadium. This resulted in cost cutting and thus a thinner layer of soil beneath the stadium, which could be one of the reasons for the sinking. It is a case of what and see what happens post tournament.

When the tickets were applied for the draw for the tournament had not been done, so it was literally down to the luck of the draw that we ended up with tickets for Croatia against Nigeria. This was to be the first competitive game at the Kaliningrad Stadium. It is safe to say the Croatian support easily outnumbered the Nigerian support.

There was airport style security in order to enter the stadium surrounds, where my ticket and fan-id were scanned. This was an efficient process and allowed plenty of time to pick up some souvenirs, a tournament programme and spend ones leftover roubles on "the official urine of the FIFA World Cup" oh well, any port in a storm!

The game itself however turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. Croatia had far too much quality for Nigeria, though they really didn't have to get out of first gear to beat the lacklustre 'Super Eagles'. Ivan Perisic blazed over early on before Croatia opened the scoring on 32 minutes when a Mario Mandukic diving header was flicked into his own goal by Oghenekaro Etebo.

Both teams failed to register a shot on target in the opening half, giving you some idea of the standard of play.

The second half was marginally better with Nigeria managing to get near the Croatian area but chances were still difficult to come by. However it was Croatia who should have scored again when a Perisic cross was blazed over the crossbar by Ante Rebic, who was unmarked inside the box, when it looked easier to score.

Croatia did finally get their second goal after 72 minutes when Mandukic was fouled in the area and (my man of the match) Luka Modric stepped up to blast the penalty home.

After the match there were plenty buses to transport us back to where our mini bus was parked. We left Kaliningrad just after midnight and, after a repeat performance at the respective borders, we were back at our hotel around 5.30am.

Despite the tribulations, it was a very worthwhile trip. I am certainly now regretting not visiting more cities and grounds in this World Cup.

Cheers!