Win or lose against Croatia, England will be playing in Russia at the weekend. If Gareth Southgate’s team beat Croatia, then they will play France in the final in Moscow on Sunday. Should they lose, they will play Belgium in St Petersburg on Saturday.
The Independent has the prescription for anyone wanting to be in Russia for the culmination of the 2018 World Cup. But once the semi-final against Croatia kicks off, and it becomes clearer where England will be playing, demand will surge and prices rise. So book by 7pm on Wednesday evening to lock into some excellent prices.
Can I get a ticket to the World Cup final?
Match tickets have been coming onto the market sporadically through the official Fifa site, and have constantly been on sale at prices several times higher on ticketing websites; efforts to stop touting do not seem to have been remotely affected. But with even the official price for a ticket to the final of a minimum £800 or so, many fans will be content to soak up the atmosphere in Russia in a better mood than it’s ever been.
How do I get a visa?
Getting a Russian visa is painfully difficult and expensive. As part of the agreement between Fifa and the Russian government, bona-fide fans do not require visas for visits to the host nation that start up to the day of the final, on Sunday 15 July. Instead, they can travel with a “Fan-ID”, which is issued free in a simple online process. It takes around five minutes and approval is normally almost instant. As well as basic passport information, the application also demands a ticket number or Fifa booking reference. The line has always been that the Fan-ID is electronically locked to a valid match ticket acquired by the person who’s applying for the Fan-ID: buy a ticket first, then get the permit to travel. But I have verified that someone else’s ticket number from a previous game is sufficient to apply successfully for a Fan-ID. And ticket numbers are very easy to find on the internet.
This strategy is not officially condoned, and you could be stopped from boarding a flight to Russia or turned back when you get there. But I am not aware of that happening to anyone as yet.
How much will it cost to get to Russia?
The real pinch is coming back from Moscow on Monday and Tuesday 16-17 July; British Airways has no seats at any price on its Moscow-Heathrow flights, with media and fans keen to get home. So go to St Petersburg instead. Had France been playing in the third-place final, seats would be in strong demand. But the French defeat of Belgium makes it easy. Travelling out on Thursday 12 July, back on Tuesday 17 July, fares on KLM via Amsterdam and/or Air France via Paris are around £400 return, whether you start from Heathrow, Manchester or Birmingham (where Czech Airlines has a good deal via Prague; Bristol and Newcastle are around £100 more expensive).
Enjoy the third-place final here, whether England are playing or not. You may get a ticket for the the northernmost stadium in the World Cup (and by far the most spectacular – it looks like a spaceship that has landed on Krestovsky Island), but the experience in the fan zone will also be excellent.
Reaching Moscow for the final is going to be very easy. St Petersburg to Moscow is by far the busiest route in Russia by rail and air, and it’s a buyer’s market. Even on the day you can find flights for £25 each way, or pay around £100 for a luxurious overnight train (which will save a night’s accommodation) to Moscow, and be in the capital for the final.
Where should I stay?
Before the World Cup I saw hotel rate rises of up to 18,000 per cent for the team’s final group match in Kaliningrad what seems like 100 years ago. But every time, whether it’s the World Cup or the Olympics, the winners are those who refuse to blink and just wait for the prices for beds to plummet.
Every time a big team like Germany or Brazil get knocked out, a tranche of provisional room bookings is cancelled. Add in the fact that Moscow and St Petersburg are the big tourist and business destinations in Russia, and that hardly any “normal” visitors are in town, and hoteliers are realising that the World Cup isn’t quite the get-rich-quick scheme they were hoping for. So it’s a buyers’ market.
A couple of my favourites in Moscow and St Petersburg, the Budapest and Oktyabryskaya, are charging around £200 for a double room including breakfast – expensive, but I’ve just checked with the three-star in London round the corner from my house and its lowest rate is £260.
Can I go after Sunday’s final?
They think it’s all over... but it’s not, quite. After the final whistle you can take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore more of Russia. From Sochi to Sakhalin Island, you have 10 days to travel far and wide before your Fan ID stops working at midnight on 25 July. Whatever your views on the Kremlin and Fifa, they have provided an unparalleled travel opportunity.
