Where is Volgograd and is England vs Tunisia World Cup 2018 venue the same city as Stalingrad?
Three Lions start their World Cup campaign in a city that has an eerie past, playing host to one of the bloodiest battles in warfare history
ENGLAND kick off their World Cup campaign against Tunisia in Group G at the Volgograd Arena.
Yet the city that lends its name to the stadium has a colourful history in the southwest of Russia, being the staging ground for one of the most brutal battles in history.
Where is Volgograd?
Situated between the Ukraine and Kazakhstan borders, Volgograd is over 1,700 km from England's base in Repino, the furthest they will have to travel during the group stages.
The industrial city has a population of just over a million, but is known for its shipbuilding and oil refining production.
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The stadium, where Rotor Volgograd will play from next season, sits along the Volga River, which stretches the Caspian sea in the south to Kazan.
The Motherland Calls statue, which is the tallest of female in the world and twice the height of New York's Statue of Liberty, also looks down on to the Volgograd Arena.
Is Volgograd the same city as Stalingrad?
The city has had three names in its 463-year history, including the first of which was Tsaritsyn.
Yet, it is more famously known for being called Stalingrad, where nearly two million people died in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War Two.
Russian forces were defending the Eastern Front against Nazi Germany, with their greater manpower eventually forcing the Germans to retreat after more than five months of fighting.
In honour of the fallen, England and Russian fans joined together to lay a wreath.