World Cup 2018: Nizhni Novgorod city centre ‘runs out of beer’ after Sweden fans drink it all

The Swedish Football Association claimed that some pubs and bars in the Eastern city were drunk dry before their game with South Korea on Monday kicked off

Jessica Morgan
Thursday 21 June 2018 12:31 BST
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The World Cup is one of the drinking events of the year but for one Russian city that will no longer be the case after Sweden fans drank it all - literally.

The capital of Nizhny Novgorod was transformed into a sea of gold as an estimated 7,000 Swedes descended on the city centre for their opening match of their tournament against South Korea.

The game attracted thousands of fans which made for one of the busiest nights for Nizhny Novgorod's small city centre. So much so that the Swedish crowd apparently drank a number of pubs dry.

And that was even before the game kicked off.

"Yup, some places had already run out by yesterday. The city has never had to arrange something on this scale before, so they've been completely taken by surprise," the Swedish Football Association's head of security Martin Fredman is reported to have told Sportbladet.

The Swedes made the perfect start to the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over the South Korean side thanks to the spot-kick awarded by VAR.

And while the Swedish fans were busy celebrating pre-match, they were only going to be in the mood to party following captain Andrea Granqvist's winning goal.

"The beer in central Novgorod ran out today after the Swedish success. That alone shows how many of us are here and the party atmosphere there is," supporter Carl Eriksson told local newspaper Corren following Sweden's win.

Sweden face reigning world champions Germany on Saturday knowing a win in Sochi will secure qualification for the last-16.

The beer stocks in Stockholm could be in danger in that case.

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