Moscow - 13 June 2018

1. Various of Colombian football fans fans chanting and dancing in downtown area

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Leonardo Ramires, Colombia supporter:

"It's a beautiful country, everyone has been great to us, and much respect to everyone here, we came to destroy the world cup and to make it number one back in Colombia, hopefully one day."

3. Wide pan of Manezhnaya  Square with crowds of fans and tourists

4. Various of fans gathering and chanting, many with flags

5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose Forero, Colombia supporter:

"Here we're sharing the common the spirit of the goal, that's what unites people. Football is unity of people, fans."

6. Group playing football in square

7. Tunisia fans chanting with flag

8. Fountain

9. Family taking selfie with the mascot of the 2018 World Cup

10. Various of 2018 World Cup installation at Manezhnaya Square

11. Various of "Russia 2018" sign, fans, countdown clock

12. Soldiers marching past

Sochi – 13 June 2018

13. Various of area near Fisht Stadium

14. Various of city volunteers

15. Various of worker on raised platform putting up banner

16. Various of women working at information kiosk, waving to camera and saying UPSOUND (English) "Welcome to Sochi"

17. Tourists, World Cup mascot statues

18. SOUNDBITE (English) vox pop, no names given:

First speaker: "Sochi's really beautiful. People is really, really nice and we're really, really happy here."

Second speaker: "Yes I think these crossroads of different cultures is going to be very good for the city, because you are going to be more popular in the world. So, it's good experience. For you and for everyone."

St. Petersburg – 13 June 2018

19. Wide of Kazan Cathedral

20. World Cup mascot, the wolf "Zabivaka"

21. Alley near Cathedral of the Saviour on the Blood

22. Cathedral in background, fan zone area in foreground

23. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anna Repina, tourist from Yekaterinburg:

"We hope for the victory of our team (Russia). We understand that the chances are small. We hope that they will reach the semifinals, or the quarterfinals."

24. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Nikita Khudyakov, tourist from Samara:

"I see what's happening in the city, how it's updated. The city is very beautiful originally, but how renovated the streets and buildings now, it's amazing."

25. SOUNDBITE (English) Marcus Domínguez, tourist from Mexico:

"We have tickets for five games and St. Petersburg was our first destination. From here we go to Moscow and five other cities. So, this is a beautiful place, we're walking around here and getting to know the city centre. It's a beautiful day. What more can you ask for?"

26. Trinity Bridge

27. Wide of the Peter and Paul Fortress

28. Vasilyevsky Island

Yekaterinburg - 13 June 2018

29. Central Stadium (Yekaterinburg-Arena)

30. Statues being cleaned at the Stadium

31. "Russia 2018" sign

32. SOUNDBITE (English) Alfonso Ofreria, supporter from Uruguay:

"Well, today is just to walk around, you know, to know all of the neighbourhoods. And may be tonight or tomorrow go out to a pub. And you know that on Friday is the day of the match, so the idea is to be near the stadium and feel all the atmosphere around it. And just go to the match."

33.  SOUNDBITE (Russian) Ekaterina Yunyashina, Russian citizen:

"We really like the way the city has been changing. Because we're just walking and enjoying: everything is so clean. We have noticed that flowers have been sown- quite a lot of flowers there are now. And even though there's no summer, there are still green areas. And therefore, we do really like it."

34. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Derkhanov Ekhibek, Yekaterinburg citizen:

"I believe that it is fine (there being lots of police in the city). That's the way to check everybody, so to speak. It's not that they stop me too often for checking. I consider that it is required to check everyone. This is correct. These are the security measures."

35. Various of police working on the streets

Final World Cup preparations were underway on Wednesday in the Russian cities of Moscow, Sochi, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

Fans were arriving in the cities, with large groups in particularly high spirits in the capital Moscow.  

With hundreds of thousands of fans expected to travel to the World Cup, Russian President Vladimir Putin said visitors should "feel the hospitality and welcoming nature" of Russia.

Moscow is home to the 81,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium, the largest stadium in Russia and one of the biggest in Europe.

It's also a venue well versed in staging major matches - including the 2008 UEFA Champions League final when Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties.

In Sochi, the 48,000-seater venue that was used in the Winter Olympics has re-opened as an open-air football stadium and was already used in the 2017 Confederations Cup.

The stadium will be back in service to host four World Cup group games: Portugal v Spain, Belgium v Panama, Germany v Sweden and Australia v Peru.

Russians in Saint Petersburg - where the 60,000-seater stadium will host four first round group matches, a quarter-final, a semi-final, and the match for third place – are welcoming the improvements made to the city as they await fans.

So too do Yekaterinburg residents, who are happy about the positive changes the World Cup has brought - the improved pavements, clean streets and new road junctions have changed the city and made it more comfortable.