What’s your favourite World Cup 2018 Venue?

Stadium design is one of our key sectors at Holmes Miller and it is with great excitement that we look forward to seeing the beautiful game played out at some fantastic venues at the World Cup in Russia which starts less than a week away on 14 June 2018.

The BBC has prepared a wonderful guide (Link to guide) to all the venues including information on capacity, location, background and a helpful fixture list.

Holmes Miller has been involved in many football stadium projects in the UK and abroad, including English Premier League at The King Power Stadium, Leicester, St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton and Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester and in the Scottish Premiership at Celtic Park and Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow.

At national level we have worked at the home venues of the England, Scotland and Northern Ireland international football teams at Wembley Stadium, Hampden Stadium and Windsor Park respectively.

We have also been involved in the design of stadiums outside the UK, for example The Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad, which is Asia’s biggest and India’s first convertible stadium and Ta' Qali, the National Stadium of Malta.

Our extensive work on the competition design for the Lusail Stadium Bowl, Doha for the Qatar World Cup 2022 has given us an appreciation of what is required for a stadium for the FIFA World Cup finals.

The opening match is held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which has a total seating capacity of 81,000 making it the largest football stadium in Russia and one of the largest stadiums in Europe.

England is the only home nation to have qualified for the finals and we will be following their progress with interest, starting with their match against Tunisia which will be held at the 45,500 capacity Volgograd Arena in Volgograd.

Highlights of the other 10 venues include the Kazan Arena in Kazan which is home to Russian Premier League team Rubin Kazan and has the largest outdoor screen in Europe, the Mordovia Arena in Saransk, Mordovia, where the stadium design is based on the image of the sun, the main symbol of ancient myths and legends of the Mordovian people, the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod which has what UEFA describes as a "semi-transparent undulating facade" and the Ekaterinburg Arena, Ekaterinburg where the temporary end stands have been constructed outside the main stadium!

We would be really keen to hear your thoughts on the stadium venues? Which is your favourite? Which one created the best atmosphere?

Enjoy the beautiful game in all its glory!