American fans will fly to Russia for the 2018 World Cup and become the largest group of foreign supporters despite the fact the United States is not set to feature in the competition, the Russian embassy in the US has said. According to FIFA, fans from the United States bought almost 16,500 tickets for the matches at the beginning of April.
This will be the first World Cup since 1986 that the United States has failed to qualify for, having featured in each of the past seven tournaments.
It’s only between 7,000 and 10,000 England fans that are expected to travel to Russia for the World Cup this summer, according to The Independent. Alexander Kostin of Bonuscodebets.co.uk said: “The low number of British fans coming to the World Cup in Russia this year is due to the fact that England have some key players out injured. It’s also due to the massive British media hysteria around Russia in general. In comparison, there were around 100,000 British fans who traveled to Brazil in 2014.”
England finished at the bottom of their group four years ago and won just a single point while Costa Rica and Uruguay took first and second in Group D, respectively. Now, Gareth Southgate is at the helm and England find themselves challenging Group G favorites Belgium for the pool’s throne, and hopes for the English appears to be lower than it was in Brazil.
A survey of 2,200 citizens from across 11 Russian host cities, conducted by Bonuscodebets.co.uk, found that Sochi and Kazan are the top two most welcoming World Cup locations. Almost two out of three surveyed are expecting peaceful supporters in Russia. Furthermore, more than half of Russians are “calm/without any emotion” toward the LGBT community supporting their country without demonstrating their sexual orientation.
The 2018 World Cup will be held in Russia from June 14 to June 15 and will be staged at 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities. Tips for your travel can be found here.