Hosts Russia initially proposed 13 cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament and they were Moscow, Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Saransk, Sochi, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Yaroslav and Samara. In addition to the 13 host cities, 16 World Cup Stadiums were also part of the Russian bid. The number of World Cup Stadiums would later decrease from 16 to 14 as confirmed by the local organising committee in October 2011.

THROWBACK: 2018 WORLD CUP MATCH UNVEILED

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The final choice of host cities was announced on September 29, 2012 as eleven (11) were confirmed after the exclusion of Krasnodar and Yaroslavl. The World Cup Stadiums were reduced to 12 due to the removal of Yaroslavl and Krasnodar as host cities.
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