Goal Click: The global photography project explores Russia and its football culture through stunning snaps for World Cup 2018

IT really is the beautiful game...

Before World Cup 2018, global photography project Goal Click sent disposable cameras to seven photographers in 13 different locations in Russia.

From Yekaterinburg to Kazan and Volgograd to Nizhny Novgorod, the snappers documented the “Real Russia” and Russian football culture through their own eyes.

The results, as always, are truly astonishing.

In Yekaterinburg, east of the Ural Mountains, Sergey Poteryaev took photos at the new Yekaterinburg Stadium during a match between Spartak Moscow and FC Ural.

Sergey's photos came from inside the Spartak ultras section

";I have been one of them for 17 years," he said.

"Spartak is the most popular football club in Russia, but had not won the league championship for 16 years. Last year it finally happened."

Sergey Novikov travelled to the Ural Mountains in the middle of Russia to capture images from seven towns in the regions of Perm Krai and Sverdlovsk Oblast: Perm, Uralsky, Chusovoy, Lysva, Kachkanar, Degtyarsk and Rezh.

He looked at amateur football, from local championships and the relationship between football, social life, industry and the economic crisis in the Ural Mountains.

"I decided to head inland to the Ural Mountains, Russia’s 'spine' where Europe and Asia meet," he revealed.

"I like to document the countryside and not the big cities. Just two cities in Russia attract the money, Moscow and St Petersburg.

"All other cities, towns, regions and countryside are quite poor.

"Life there is like 30 years ago in Soviet times. They have the same stadiums, the same citizens, the same interests in life and the same beliefs in politics and economics.

"This is the whole country and we need to show it, not just the games of the Champions League in Moscow."

In Volgograd, Alexander Grivin explored abandoned stadiums, grassroots football and the building of the new stadium, where World Cup games have been played.

"For many years football was at a very high level in Volgograd,"; Alexander said.

"But after years of great performance in Russian and international arenas, football started to decay here."

Nizhny Novgorod was represented by Artem Sirotkin, who looked at the two opposite sides of Russian football.

He was intrigued by amateur football in Semenov to Russian championship football at the new World Cup stadium in Nizhny Novgorod.

"My photos show two opposite sides of football," Sirotkin said.

"On the one hand, an amateur football championship of the region in a small city away from Nizhny Novgorod, where the World Cup will be held, with a match between FC Semenov (Semenov) and Shakhtar (Arzamas).

"On the other hand, the match of the professional teams of the Russian championship at the new stadium, which was built for the World Cup, "Olympian" (Nizhny Novgorod) versus "Luch-Energia" (Vladivostok)."

He added: ";I captured the last moment before entering the stands of the big stadium, where the World Cup will be held.

"You look at this photo and you understand - in ten steps you will forget about everything except football."

Ayoub Abdelrahim from Saint Petersburg documented the dramatic differences between support for grassroots football across the region - between Saint Petersburg and Tosno, a smaller city in the Leningrad region.

He admitted he's concerned about the current state of Russian football.

"The future of football in Russia has not much hope, because the government is not working with far away cities and not working on training the youth.

"Compared to Soviet Union times, everyone had a chance at that time to show ability. And the results were achieved, such as winning the Euros."

He added: "I hope there will be support in the future, or a program that will give chances for all."

And in Kazan, conditions for playing football looked anything but adequate in Alexander Levin's beautiful, winter images.

However, that doesn't deter youngsters from strapping on their boots for a kickabout on a snow-filled pitch.

"Football in Russia is so sacred that people (especially adolescents) have absolutely no concern for the weather outside, whether it is rain, heat or snow," he said.