As the football (soccer) fans finally exit the country, I’m finally left with time to reflect on the events of the World Cup. Spanning the first days of my trip until a little over a week ago, the World Cup 2018 was hosted across several Russian cities, Moscow included. Over those few weeks, Russia turned into a sort of soccer Disney World, with countless booths, events, and branded souvenirs from FIFA swarming the streets.
Though it’s generally an exciting thing to be present for such a massive event, I must admit that at first it was a bit frustrating to access the city with thousands of additional tourists scattered amongst the city center. During my first few days it was difficult to take the Metro, and when I tried to visit Red Square? Forget about it. Even now, some of the fans have stayed to experience all that the country has to offer.
This unprecedented attention is not solely a negative thing, however. I have had the fortune of being able to experience one of the most exciting World Cups in recent memory. Not only were there massive upsets and crazy story lines from visiting teams, but the host team went significantly farther than ever expected, and was only stopped by the eventual runner-up of the tournament. Being able to see most of the Russia games at a FIFA site (with thousands of other fans) made the experiences so much more extreme. Every goal turned the crowd into a massive roar–every mistake and loss felt like the end of the world. Although the championship magic didn’t travel with me from Philly (Go Birds), both Russian fans and I have made our peace, and are pleased with how the team did.
The part of the World Cup that is truly impossible to replace is just how international the country became overnight. Admittedly, Russia is not on the top of most tourists’ bucket lists, and most people I talked with said they were somewhat anxious about their trip initially. However, every single person I met couldn’t stop talking about how in love they were with the country and its people. Muscovites welcomed the international fans with open arms and warm smiles. For them it was a new experience to have people from around the world in their city, and they were excited to meet everyone and start such a massive cultural exchange. Even in my limited interactions, I met fans from the UK, India, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Ukraine, Croatia, Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Brazil (some of them didn’t even have teams competing!).
My fortune of living in a World Cup host country would normally be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But with the recent announcement of the co-hosted 2026 World Cup in Canada/USA/Mexico, I might be able to relive the magic–and even attend a match!
Love your post. Not a huge football fan but boy, that World Cup kept me on edge – full of ups and down, surprises.No one believed that the Russians and Croatians will go that further.