Press releases

MINSK, 16 July (BelTA) – As of 12.00 on 15 July, almost 33,000 fans traveled through Belarus for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, BelTA learned from official representative of the State Border Committee of Belarus Anton Bychkovsky.

Over 11,200 of them traveled via Minsk National Airport. “This route was the most popular behind the railway transport which carried almost 16,700 fans through Belarus. This number included about 13,500 fans who were transported by the additional Moscow-Kaliningrad trains launched specifically for the championship,” Anton Bychkovsky said.

A car was another popular way for football fans to travel through Belarus. Over 4,800 fans crossed the border by car. Fifty-eight people with Fan IDs crossed the border on foot.

“As was expected, Russians were the most active football fans. Around 11,000 Russian citizens crossed the Belarusian border. The second largest group was Poles. Approximately 5,300 citizens of this country traveled to Russia through Belarus,” Anton Bychkovsky said. More than 1,500 Argentines and over 1,000 Americans crossed the Belarusian border.

Mexico is fourth with 949 fans. Brazil rounds up the top five with 942 football travelers. “In general, we have seen no serious problems with fans crossing the border during the FIFA World Cup,” Anton Bychkovsky said.