Arena Baltika
25/06/2018
Kaliningrad, 2018 World Cup Finals
2 Visits
This was my second World Cup adventure, having had an absolute whale of a time in South Africa in 2010 taking in games in Johannesburg, Rustenburg and Cape Town. I made the trip with my good friend Gary and we had tickets to see two matches from the initial group stages, both to take place in Kaliningrad. We were very badly let down by Ryan Air – a cancelled flight and some truly appalling customer service – which meant that we lost a day in Gdansk at the very beginning of the trip. Thankfully there were no more major hassles and we arrived in Kaliningrad, on schedule, on Sunday 24th June. To be honest, it isn’t the most beautiful city in the world, nor does it have lots of major sights for the tourists, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time there mooching around and taking in the atmosphere and, hey, this was the World Cup so it had to be fun and exciting! We were very successful in finding bars with good beer, good food and good large-screen TV provision which meant that we saw every game that it was possible to watch.
КАЛИНИНГРАД
Monday 25th June, our first matchday. The tournament had reached the climax of the group stage so two games were being played simultaneously both in the afternoons and in the evenings. Our touristy content for the day involved a walk around the Fish Village, a trip to the top of the cathedral tower and a walk along the river by the Museum of the Ocean. Once back in the city centre we took up our seats in our favourite bar and watched Uruguay give the host nation a bit of a spanking but both teams were already guaranteed a place in the last 16 so there were no great signs of disappointment amongst the locals. We then spent a bit of time in the square to soak up a bit more of the pre-match atmosphere before getting the free bus out to the stadium. We were on our way to see Morocco v Spain.
Morocco had lost both their first two games and couldn’t qualify for the knockout stages but still their fans were out in big numbers in good voice. A lot of them were making their feelings felt about how the team had been treated in the earlier games against Iran and Portugal with some crucial, and dubious, decisions going against them. Spain already had four points, equal with Portugal, so were almost definitely through. It was a cracking game with Morocco twice taking the lead and Spain leaving it very late to get their second equaliser in the 91st minute. I was chuffed to bits to leave the ground being able to say that I had seen the great Andres Iniesta; top quality player.
For the next three days Gary and I did some more mooching, had a look around the old Baltika Stadium, drank more beers and watched more matches. Two notable highlights were a really fun evening with four American guys watching Nigeria v Argentina and Iceland v Croatia in a bar that was showing both games live at the same time and also seeing Germany get eliminated following a defeat to South Korea.
Thursday 28th June, matchday #2! After breakfast we headed off to the other side of the city to find an exhibition we had seen advertised. We had a bit of palaver finding the right bus stop but we got there, and the fare was no charge with our FIFA passes. It was a lovely little independent gallery displaying a series of photos from Russian non-league and lower league stadia, players and associated stuff. And free. After some tasty refreshments we decided to walk back into the centre following the line of the old city walls.
The bars in and around the main square were already getting busy with England and Belgium fans but, reassuringly, there wasn’t any sense of trouble brewing. We watched the afternoon games with more lovely beers and food and then headed back to the square which was now very full and very noisy. The bus journey was easy again and the atmosphere outside the stadium was really buzzing despite the fact that there was very little at stake; both nations had already qualified for the next round and took the opportunity to select some of their reserves players. Still, it was all good fun and there was no bother, and I can say that I have seen England play in a World Cup finals match. Belgium won 1:0 and would beat us again 16 days later in the 3rd/4th place play-off game in St Petersburg.
Games
| Date | Score | Scorers | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25/06/2018 | Spain 2 Morocco 2 | Boutaib (M), Isco (S), En-Nesyri (M), Aspas (S) | 2018 World Cup Finals, Group B |
| 28/06/2018 | England 0 Belgium 1 | Januzaj | 2018 World Cup Finals, Group G |
