Ak Bars Arena
The pitch here has done more than host football. In 2015, engineers covered the grass with a temporary pool for the FINA World Aquatics Championships, and swimmers set twelve world records on a stage usually reserved for Rubin. Few stadiums anywhere have doubled as a competition pool.
The ground's clearest reputation, though, comes from the 2018 World Cup: of the six matches played here, both Germany and Argentina were eliminated, and it picked up the nickname "Cemetery of Champions" among Russian supporters. The record crowd, 42,718, arrived not for either of those fixtures but for Iran against Spain on 20 June 2018.
Opened on 6 July 2013 with the ceremony of the World Summer Universiade, the stadium was designed by Populous with Russian partner institutes at a cost of 15.5 billion roubles. It carried the name Kazan Arena until 7 November 2019, when a partnership agreement with Ak Bars Bank gave it its current one. Rubin have played here since 17 August 2014, and the venue has also staged the 2015/16 Russian Cup final and the Russian Super Cup in both 2023 and 2025.
Who plays here
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Rubin
150 matches
Recent matches here
| Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Aug | Rubin — Makhachkala | 3:1 |
| 19 Aug | Rubin — Spartak Moscow | 1:1 |
| 9 Aug | Rubin — Orenburg | 1:1 |
| 26 Jul | Rubin — Krasnodar | 1:3 |
| 11 Jul | Rubin — Krylya Sovetov | 2:0 |
| 3 Jul | Rubin — Orenburg | 1:2 |
| 26 Jun | Rubin — KAMAZ | 1:1 |
| 17 May | Rubin — Nizhny Novgorod | 2:2 |