Confederations Cup: Cities and venues
The continental football champions will play for the Confederations Cup in Russia starting on June 17. The World Cup dress rehearsal will take place in four cities - St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan and Sochi.
St. Petersburg
"The most beautiful city on the face of the earth." That is how Nobel Prize winning poet Joseph Brodsky described the north western city of St. Petersburg. The city, located on the Newa sea, is actually more than admirable and worth seeing. The notorious Czar Peter the Great founded it in the 18th century as the "Gateway to the West," quickly building palaces and castles in just a few years.
Krestovsky Stadium
This is where the German national team wants to end up because the brand new Krestovsky stadium is where the Confed Cup final will take place on July 2. The stadium holds 68,000 spectators and is the new home of local club Zenit St. Petersburg.
Moscow
Moscow is the city of superlatives: With 10.4 million inhabitants, it is the largest capital city in Europe. It is laced with landmarks, which includes Moscows most notworthy structure: the Kremlin. This is where Vladimir Putin governs. There are over 600 cities within the city, which earned Moscow the name the "Third Rome".
Otkrytije Arena
Three games will be played at the Otrkrytije Arena in Mosco for the Confed Cup. The arena was reopened in 2014 and is the home of local side Spartak Moscow. One of the most well known clubs in Russia, Spartak had to wait many years for their own stadium.
Kazan
Many different cultures and religions coexist feely in the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan. Mosques of the Tatar muslims stand next to the Orthodox churches of the Christian Slavs. Two-time Russian league champions Rubin Kazan are the sport's figureheads in the Volga city.
Kazan Arena
On June 22, 2017, this is where Germany will play against Chile in their second group stage game. The capacity of the stadium is about 45,000 people. The Kazan Arena will also be one of the stadiums used for the semifinals. Vladimir Putin, the prime minister of Russia at the time, laid the cornerstone for the stadium before it opened in 2013. It is the home ground of Rubin Kazan.
Sochi
The resort town with a subtropical climate became known worldwide thanks to the Winter Olympics in 2014. Critics at the time bemoaned the high cost of the Games. Formula One also runs races in this tourist city on the Black Sea. Four million people visit the city annually - even the Russian president vacations here.
Fisht Olympic Stadium
The first game for the German national team against Australia takes place in the Fisht Olympic Stadium on June 19. The Germans will also play Cameroon in this venue on June 25. FIFA regulations require World Cup stadiums to have open roofs, so construction needed to be done to remove a big piece of the roof.