The FIFA World Cup Trophy has arrived in Nizhny Novgorod, a city that will host matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicking off in less than a month, the press service of the Nizhny Novgorod governor said on Sunday.

Axar.az informs citing Russian media.

"It is a big festival and I am glad that city dwellers came to welcome this wonderful trophy," acting governor of the region, Gleb Nikitin, told journalists after the welcome ceremony. "It is a unique possibility to see the trophy, since it is not awarded to the winning country forever. It is a factor of increased interest to sports, to football, to the World Cup in this country. On the other hand, it is a factor of increased interest to us from around the world."

The FIFA World Cup Trophy will be displayed in Nizhny Novgorod in a specially-built tent in front of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair on May 20-21.

Nizhny Novgorod is the sixth stopover on the World Cup Trophy Tour in Russia after Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Samara and Kazan. From Nizhny Novgorod, the World Cup Trophy will visit Rostov-on-Don and St. Petersburg to arrive in Moscow a week ahead of the championship.

The World Cup Trophy Tour kicked off from Moscow on September 9, 2017 and travelled across Russia to set off for a world tour in December. It visited 50 countries on six continents to return to Russia in May.

The first ever FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour was held ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 above-mentioned cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.