These two African teams will have the most brutal travel schedule at the 2018 World Cup

david nganga

June 18, 2018 1:57 PM

All 32 teams will travel at least 1,000 miles from their base camp to their three matches

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off in earnest last Thursday with 32 nations set to face off in 12 stadiums across 11 cities in Russia.

Russia, the host nation, is the largest in the world, and as such, the distances between stadiums and training camps are much greater than usual.

According to data from aircraft charter company Chapman Freeborn, all 32 teams will travel at least 1,000 miles from their base camp to their three matches in the group stage of the competition.

Likewise, 10 teams will fly more than 5,000 miles going back and forth.

In this regard, no team will have a more gruelling travel schedule during the group stage than Egypt.

Grozny

The team is set to fly over 7,300 miles to get to and from their three matches even though they covered a 2,400-mile round trip to their first match against Uruguay who travelled half the distance.

With their training camp based in Grozny, one of the furthest south Russian cities, most of their fixtures take place much further north.

Nigeria, on the other hand, is set to cover at least 6,542 miles in its first three matches, making it the second team to travel farthest in the tournament.

Shortest distance

The two teams' travel schedule is a stark contrast to what Colombia will cover in the sporting event.

The South American country will travel the shortest distance at 1,158 miles, requiring 26 hours via road, or just three hours by air charter.

It remains to be seen whether the brutal travel schedule for the likes of Egypt and Nigeria will affect their performances in the remaining two games having lost their opening matches over the weekend.

david nganga