Russia wins World Cup 2018 Bid

Russia overcame bids by England, Netherlands/Belgium, and Spain/Portugal and was recently chosen to host the World Cup in 2018. At the same ceremony, Qatar defeated South Korea, Japan, Australia, and the United States to host the World Cup in 2022.

The government has proposed thirteen cities to host the Russian World Cup: Kaliningrad, Kazan, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, Volgograd, Yaroslavl and Yekaterinburg. It has been estimated that up to 50 billion dollars will be needed for investments in infrastructure including transportation (airports, roads, railway connections) and hotels. Thirteen stadiums will be built and three, Luzhniki, Dynamo, and Yekaterinburg, will need to be upgraded.

The final will take place in Moscow's Luzhniki stadium.