"In order to provide free transportation of fans to Nizhny Novgorod and back, a total of 67 additional trains were assigned, which will carry more than 40,000 people," Polyakov told journalists.

He added that a total of 6,500 fans had traveled to Nizhny Novgorod for the first three World Cup matches that had already been played in the city, situated around 250 miles east of Moscow.

Polyakov also said that most of the fans taking advantage of the free train tickets were Russian nationals, but fans from other countries, including Canada, Australia, Argentina and Japan, were also traveling for free.

Nizhny Novgorod is one of the 11 cities hosting World Cup games.

The 43,000-seater Nizhny Novgorod Stadium has already hosted three matches, with three more games, including a quarter-final, set to be played at the arena.