The largest stadiums in the world
The largest stadium in the world is probably the one that few of you will know, since it is not in Europe, but in North Korea and it is the Pyongyang May Day Memorial Stadium. It has a capacity of 150,000 spectators and was inaugurated in 1989. The North Korean national team plays its matches there, whose most important milestone is the participation in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which brings such good memories to the Spanish National Team. It is not the best soccer field in the world, aesthetically it is not very remarkable, but the North Korean stadium can boast of being the one that holds more people in a match.
Knowing which is the largest soccer stadium in the world, we move on to one that is better known but not far behind in terms of spectators, the Camp Nou, the home of Futbol Club Barcelona. Throughout its history, it has undergone several changes to its capacity until it reached the 99,354 spectators it can hold today, an amount that will increase to 105,000 seats in 2021, as announced by the president of FC Barcelona at the beginning of the year. The Camp Nou underwent a change for the 1982 World Cup in Spain and its capacity was increased to 120,000 seats. Barça’s home ground is one of the best soccer stadiums to be seen in the world, both for its history and for the soccer that has been played inside it for decades.
Another famous stadium, because of what has been experienced in it, occupies the third place among those with the largest capacity. We are talking about the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, which hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals. It was in this stadium that Diego Armando Maradona scored the so-called “Goal of the Century” against England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup.
Currently, the capacity of the Azteca stadium is 95,500 people, but since its creation in 1966 it has undergone several renovations and managed to hold 119,000 spectators in 1968 during a Mexico-Brazil match. As a curiosity, Maradona’s famous goal was watched live in the stadium by 114,580 fans, people with a great story to tell for life. America of Mexico currently plays its official competition matches in this stadium.
The most modern soccer fields
Sincethe beginning of the 21st century, a new revolution has begun that has resulted in very modern stadiums with a futuristic look. The 2006 World Cup in Germany prompted Germany’s biggest clubs to renovate their stadiums or build new ones. One of the most symbolic stadiums of that World Cup is Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena, whose shape imitating a cauldron impresses opponents.
Every player who has played in the Allianz Arena believes that it is one of the best stadiums in the world with all the latest innovations: the entrance to the subway dressing room disappears into the ground, the stands are heated and air-conditioned, it has a perfect service for the disabled, etc. But what stands out the most is the exterior facade, formed by panels with LED lights that illuminate the outside of the stadium with the colors of the team or Germany when the Bavarian national team plays there.
It was inaugurated a year before the 2006 World Cup in Germany and has already hosted one of the most exciting Champions League finals ever seen, that of 2012, which Chelsea won on penalties against the hosts themselves, Bayer München. The Allianz Arena is the largest stadium in Germany and seats 77,500 spectators.
Another legendary club that has recently moved house is Athletic Club de Bilbao, which left behind the famous “Cathedral” to play in the state-of-the-art Nuevo San Mamés. After finally finishing the works in 2015, the stadium was awarded at the World Architecture Festival, the Oscars of Architecture, as the best newly built sports building in the world and UEFA has chosen it as one of the stadiums for Euro 2020, which will be held in several venues across Europe. The architect who created this marvel that holds 53,289 spectators is César Azcárate, who decided that the façade should also be a kind of screen with lights to illuminate the stadium, something similar to the Allianz Arena. In short, one of the best soccer stadiums in Europe today.
The most curious stadiums
To build a soccer field you need a lot of space in a population, space that sometimes must be economized so that it does not break with the harmony of the territory where it will be located. With the soccer stadiums that we are going to show you below, you will be amazed.
Ottmar Hitzfeld Stadium (Switzerland)
The Ottmar Hitzfeld Stadium is literally between mountains, specifically is located right on the edge of the mountains of Zermatt in Switzerland and to reach it you have to take a cable car, as it is located 2,000 meters above sea level. We have no confirmed data, but it is probably the smallest stadium in the world, if you can call it a stadium. What we are sure of is the many balls that have been lost down the mountain.
The Float Stadium
When we see this stadium we can say that soccer reaches all corners of the Earth. In Singapore is The Float Stadium, which as its name suggests is floating on the sea. It was inaugurated in 2007 and hosted the Youth Olympic Games in 2010.
It has a capacity for 30 thousand spectators and the stands are only in one part of the field with three bridges that connect it to the field.
It has nets surrounding the entire field to prevent most of the balls from going into the water. In case any of them go over these limits, they have a boat to pick them up so that they can be used again. It is unique in the world and the striking colors of its stands make it even more visible from the air.
Braga Municipal Stadium (Portugal)
Another stadium with magic is the Estadio Municipal de Braga, one of the venues for Portugal’s Euro 2004. This field has only two side stands, but as a great attraction, in one of the funds is located in the quarry carved from which the granite was obtained to make the work of the stadium. This great idea came from the architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2011 thanks to the creation of the Braga Municipal Stadium. Despite having only two side stands, the stadium can seat 30,154 spectators.
Soccer is constantly changing, new technologies are making everything surrounding the sport progress at double speed, such as soccer uniforms, which have nothing to do with those of several years ago. Even though the future has already arrived, the essence of classic football is still there, the superstitions of soccer before matches still exist and the passion of the fans will continue forever.
