• Some ticketless fans thought to have arrived in Russian exclave • FSF obtained a number of Fan IDs with same reference number

Hundreds of England fans could expose a loophole in the Russian security service’s ticketing system to travel to Russia for the World Cup as excitement grows behind Gareth Southgate’s team.

England supporters have begun to trickle over the border from Poland and Lithuania into the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad for the final group game against Belgium on Thursday. Security was tight at both land-entry points but it has emerged that some fans could exploit weaknesses in the visa protocol to enter Russia without tickets.

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The Football Supporters’ Federation was able to obtain a number of so‑called Fan IDs, which allow visa‑free travel into Russia to those who have a ticket for matches. Stringent checks are supposed to be limited to one Fan ID per ticket. But the organisation managed to obtain a number of them using the same ticket reference number, raising the prospect of hundreds of England fans travelling to Russia without a ticket and hoping to obtain one on the black market.

The Guardian understands a number have travelled to Kaliningrad without tickets as a sense of anticipation has grown in the wake of impressive victories against Tunisia and Panama. The Football Association, through the England Supporters Club, has sold its allocation of 1,600 tickets for the Kaliningrad Arena. The newly built stadium holds 35,000 and it is expected that very few tickets will be available through other channels.

It is thought the official supporters’ group has had only a slight increase of interest in tickets for the last-16 match. England will play in Moscow or Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia depending on their result against Belgium, which will dictate whether they win or finish second in Group G.

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Internet searches for flights to Russia went up by 168% after England defeated Panama, according to the website Skyscanner. But more fans are likely to arrive by road in Kaliningrad, which was formerly a German city and was known as Königsberg until 1946.

There are a number booked to arrive on chartered coaches from the Polish city of Gdansk to the west and Kaunas in Lithuania to the east on match day. Police have warned supporters to expect a wait of up to five hours at the border as soldiers and armed police inspect documents.