Rubin Kazan

In December 2010 it was confirmed that Russia would be the host nation for the 2018 World Cup finals. Amongst numerous issues about that decision was one particularly stand-out one: Russia didn’t have a huge amount of appropriate stadiums that could be used for the tournament. Numerous new stadiums were immediately planned, with Rubin Kazan’s new ground already in the building phase. The stadium, built in the capital of the Tatarstan region, had gone under construction in May of 2010 and was completed in July of 2013. That was because Kazan had been chosen to host the 2013 Summer Universiade, which is essentially like the Olympics for students. The ground hosted the competition's football matches and in 2015 it was also the venue for the 2015 World Aquatics Championships and the 2017 Confederations Cup.