England fans arriving in the Russian city of Volgograd Monday for their team’s first World Cup fixture received a warm welcome, despite ice-cold relations between the two countries and the memory of violence at Euro 2016. Turnout for the side was expected to be low for the match, with less than 2,000 tickets sold to fans coming from Britain, according to England’s Football Supporters’ Federation.
Gareth Southgate’s men will take on Tunisia in the southern city formerly known as Stalingrad, site of World War II’s bloodiest battle where almost two million people lost their lives. The draw comes as ties between Moscow and London reach lows not seen since the Cold War, following the poisoning of the former double agent Sergei Skripal along with his daughter in England, as well as accusations of Russian interference in the Brexit referendum.