In preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, that will kick off on Saturday 14th June, the Ekaterinburg Arena in southeast of the host country is to be expanded. The plans are for the stadium to be expanded from a capacity of 27,000 to 36,000. This expansion is sure to make for a great experience in the stadium’s opening game of the competition, Egypt vs Uruguay on 15th June.
Discover our latest podcast
To accomplish this expansion of 9,000 seats, two stands will be added outside the existing arena, providing an incredible view into the stadium. This creative piece of engineering will be in place for four group stage games before returning to its original capacity. While England won’t play any games in this stadium, they will play in front of a similar crowd size in Kaliningrad. On 28th June this they will play their final group match against Belgium there.
There other two group stage matches will be played in front of crowds of around 45,000 people. The Volgograd Arena has a total capacity of 45,568 supporters and is where England will play their first game of the competition against Tunisia on 18th June. Similarly, the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium holds 45,331 fans and is where England will play against Panama on 24th June.
