2018 FIFA WC: English fans to spend a whopping sum to watch their Group League matches in Russia

England fans face costly FIFA World Cup 2018 trip to Russia

XtraTime Web Desk: England fans can face a major hit to their bank balance to watch their side playing at the stadium in the upcoming FIFA World Cup. Not only the English fans but also Uruguay supporters, who must make the longest trip for their opener.

England will lock their horns against Tunisia for the first match on June in Volgograd. They will play their next two reaming group league matches in Nizhny Novgorod against Panama on June 24 and finally in Kaliningrad v Belgium on June 28. If England manages to qualify for the next round they will play either in Moscow or in Rostov.



According to research carried out by Virgin Media and the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), England fans could end up spending five thousand pounds ($6,638.50) and traveling more than 3,400 miles (5,472 km) by air to watch the group fixtures.

That would make a total flight time of about 12 hours and 15 minutes, ranking them 22nd among the 32 teams in Russia.

Uruguay fans will, however, spend 25 hours and 39 minutes on three different flights just to travel from Montevideo to Ekaterinburg to watch Luiz Suarez and his South American teammates take on Egypt on June 15.



Fans of Peru wanting to watch their team play at Saransk, Ekaterinburg and Sochi in the group stage will spend about 36 hours — the most time among those traveling by plane to first reach Russia then watch the matches.

Uruguay and Peru fans will spend nearly five times more time traveling throughout the tournament compared to their counterparts from world champions Germany, who are expected to spend about seven hours and five minutes in the air.

“England fans are renowned for their fantastic support at tournaments, and even across the vast distances between Russian cities, the die-hard fans will be there, following the Three Lions,” FSF chief executive Kevin Miles said in a statement.

“Whether by road, rail or air, thousands will be there every step of the way supporting Gareth Southgate’s men this summer, hopefully, all the way to the final in Moscow on July 15th.”

But a majority of England fans in Russia will struggle to ask locals for directions, having not bothered to learn the language, with 95 percent of respondents saying they had practiced only a couple of words or none at all for their trip.