This article is regarding the stadiums used for FIFA World Cup.
Stadium requirements
FIFA has had strict stadium guideline requirements since at least 2001. Stadiums must have a capacity of at least 40,000, stadiums hosting quarter-finals or semi-finals must have a minimum of 60,000 and those hosting the opening ceremony or final must have a capacity of at least 80,000.Guide to the Bidding Process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup In addition, stadiums must have a minimum number of television camera stands and media areas and also be free of advertising throughout the World Cup. This includes stadium names – for instance, during the 2006 World Cup, German stadiums such as Allianz Arena were renamed "FIFA World Cup Stadium – Munich" for licensing reasons.
Statistics
Most matches hosted: Estadio Azteca (24 – 10 matches in 1970, 9 matches in 1986 and 5 matches in 2026) Most opening matches hosted: Estadio Azteca (3 – 1970, 1986 and 2026) Most finals hosted: Estadio Azteca (2 – 1970 and 1986), Maracanã Stadium (2 – 1950 (final match of final group stage) and 2014) Highest attendance: Maracanã Stadium (173,850 – final match in 1950)
Year Host Cities Stadiums 1930 Uruguay13 1934 Italy88 1938 France1010 1950 Brazil66 1954 Switzerland66 1958 Sweden1212 1962 Chile44 1966 England78 1970 Mexico55 1974 West Germany99 1978 Argentina56 1982 Spain1417 1986 Mexico1112 1990 Italy1212 1994 United States99 1998 France1010 2002 South Korea Japan2020 2006 Germany1212 2010 South Africa910 2014 Brazil1212 2018 Russia1112 2022 Qatar58 2026 United States Mexico Canada1616 2030 Morocco Portugal Spain2023
Stadiums by tournament 1930 All 1930 FIFA World Cup matches took place in Montevideo. Three stadiums were used: Estadio Centenario, Estadio Pocitos, and Estadio Parque Central. The Estadio Centenario was built both for the tournament and as a celebration of the centenary of Uruguayan independence. Designed by Juan Scasso, it was the primary stadium for the tournament, referred to by Rimet as a "temple of football". With a capacity of 90,000, it was the largest football stadium outside the British Isles.Goldblatt (2008), p. 249 The stadium hosted 10 of the 18 matches, including both semi-finals and the final. However, a rushed construction schedule and delays caused by the rainy season meant the Centenario was not ready for use until five days into the tournament.Glanville, p. 16 Early matches were played at smaller stadiums usually used by Montevideo football clubs Nacional and Peñarol, the 20,000 capacity Parque Central and the Pocitos.
MontevideoEstadio CentenarioEstadio Gran Parque CentralEstadio PocitosCapacity: 90,000Capacity: 20,000Capacity: 1,000
1934 During the 1934 FIFA World Cup the number of supporters travelling from other countries was higher than at any previous football tournament, including 7,000 from the Netherlands and 10,000 each from Austria and Switzerland.
Milan Bologna Rome Florence Stadio San Siro Stadio Littoriale Stadio Nazionale PNF Stadio Giovanni Berta Capacity: 55,000 Capacity: 50,100 Capacity: 47,300 Capacity: 47,290 Naples Genoa Turin Trieste Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli Stadio Luigi Ferraris Stadio Benito Mussolini Stadio Littorio Capacity: 40,000 Capacity: 36,703 Capacity: 28,140 Capacity: 8,000
1938 Ten cities were planned to host the 1938 FIFA World Cup tournament; of these, all hosted matches except Lyon, which did not due to Austria's withdrawal.
Colombes (suburbs of Paris) Paris Marseille Stade Olympique de Colombes Parc des Princes Stade Vélodrome Capacity: 60,000 Capacity: 48,712 Capacity: 48,000 Lyon Toulouse Bordeaux Strasbourg Stade Gerland(only match cancelled) Stade du T.O.E.C.(in the old Parc des Sports),initially planned tothe new stadium again in building(in the new Parc des Sports) Parc Lescure Stade de la Meinau Capacity: 40,500 Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 34,694 Capacity: 30,000 Le Havre Reims Lille Antibes Stade Municipal Vélodrome Municipal Stade Victor Boucquey Stade du Fort Carré Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 21,684 Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 7,000
1950 Six venues in six cities around Brazil hosted the 22 matches played for the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The Maracanã in the then-capital of Rio de Janeiro hosted eight matches, including all but one of the host's matches, including the Maracanazo match in the second round robin group that decided the winners of the tournament. The Pacaembu stadium in São Paulo hosted six matches; these two stadiums in São Paulo and Rio were the only venues that hosted the second round robin matches. The Estádio Sete de Setembro in Belo Horizonte hosted three matches, the Durival de Britto stadium in Curitiba and the Eucaliptos stadium in Porto Alegre each hosted two matches, and the Ilha do Retiro stadium in far-away Recife only hosted one match.
Rio de JaneiroSão PauloBelo Horizonte Estádio do Maracanã Estádio do Pacaembu Estádio Sete de Setembro Capacity: 96,000 Capacity: 60,000 Capacity: 30,000 Curitiba Porto Alegre Recife Estádio Durival de Britto Estádio dos Eucaliptos Estádio Ilha do Retiro Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 20,000
1954 Six venues in six cities (1 venue in each city) hosted the 1954 FIFA World Cup tournament's 26 matches. The most used stadium was the St. Jakob stadium in Basel, which hosted 6 matches. The venues in Bern, Zurich and Lausanne each hosted 5 matches, the venue in Geneva hosted 4 matches and the venue in Lugano only hosted 1 match.
Bern Basel Lausanne Wankdorf Stadium(upgraded) St. Jakob Stadium Stade Olympique de la Pontaise(upgraded) Capacity: 64,600 Capacity: 54,800 Capacity: 50,300 Geneva Lugano Zürich Charmilles Stadium Cornaredo Stadium Hardturm Stadium Capacity: 35,997 Capacity: 35,800 Capacity: 34,800
1958 A total of twelve cities throughout the central and southern parts of Sweden hosted the 1958 FIFA World Cup tournament. FIFA regulations required at least six stadiums to have a capacity of at least 20,000. If Denmark had qualified, the organisers had planned to use the Idrætsparken in Copenhagen for Denmark's group matches.Norlin, p.23 The Idrætsparken was renovated in 1956 with this in mind, but Denmark lost out to England in qualification. When doubts arose about whether funding would be forthcoming for rebuilding the Ullevi and Malmö Stadion, the organisers considered stadiums in Copenhagen and Oslo as contingency measures.Norlin, p.32
The Råsunda Stadium was expanded from 38,000 for the World Cup by building end stands.Norlin, p.27 Organising committee chairman Holger Bergérus mortgaged his house to pay for this. The new Malmö Stadion was built for the World Cup, replacing the 1896 Malmö Stadion at a new siteNorlin, p.30 The Idrottsparken had 4,709 seats added for the World Cup. The Social Democratic municipal government refused to pay for this until the organisers threatened to select Folkungavallen in Linköping instead.Norlin, p.28 At the Rimnersvallen, a stand from the smaller Oddevallen stadium was moved to Rimnersvallen for the World Cup. The crowd at Brazil v. Austria was estimated at 21,000, with more looking in from the adjoining hillside. The most used stadium was the Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm, which hosted 8 matches including the final, followed by the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg (the biggest stadium used during the tournament), which hosted 7 matches.
Solna (Stockholm) Gothenburg Malmö Helsingborg Råsunda Stadium Ullevi Stadium Malmö Stadion Olympia Capacity: 52,400 Capacity: 53,500 Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 27,000 Eskilstuna Norrköping Sandviken Uddevalla Tunavallen Idrottsparken Jernvallen Rimnersvallen Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 17,778 Borås Halmstad Örebro Västerås Ryavallen Örjans Vall Eyravallen Arosvallen Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 13,000 Capacity: 10,000
1962 Originally, eight stadiums were selected to host the World Cup matches in eight cities: Santiago, Viña del Mar, Rancagua, Arica, Talca, Concepción, Talcahuano and Valdivia.
The Valdivia earthquake, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded, occurred on 22 May 1960. With over 50,000 casualties and more than 2 million people affected, the earthquake forced the organising committee to completely modify the World Cup's calendar. Talca, Concepción, Talcahuano and Valdivia were severely damaged and discarded as venues. Antofagasta and Valparaíso declined to host any matches as their venues were not financially self-sustainable. Viña del Mar and Arica managed to rebuild their stadiums while Braden Copper Company, then an American company that controlled the El Teniente copper mine, allowed the use of its stadium in Rancagua. The most used stadium was the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, with 10 matches; the Estadio Sausalito in Viña del Mar hosted 8 matches, and the stadiums in Rancagua and far-away Arica (the only location that was not close to the other cities) both hosted 7 matches.
Being largely concerned with the build-up of the country after the 1960 earthquake, government support for the tournament was minimal.
Santiago Viña del Mar Estadio Nacional Estadio Sausalito Capacity: 66,660 Capacity: 18,037 Rancagua Arica Estadio Braden Copper Co. Estadio Carlos Dittborn Capacity: 18,000 Capacity: 17,786
1966 Eight venues were used for this World Cup. The newest and biggest venue used was Wembley Stadium in west London, which was 43 years old in 1966. As was often the case in the World Cup, group matches were played in two venues in close proximity to each other. Group 1 matches (which included the hosts) were all played in London: five at Wembley, which was England's national stadium and was considered to be the most important football venue in the world; and one at White City Stadium in west London, which was used as a temporary replacement for nearby Wembley. The group stage match between Uruguay and France played at White City Stadium (originally built for the 1908 Summer Olympics) was scheduled for a Friday, the same day as regularly scheduled greyhound racing at Wembley. Because Wembley's owner refused to cancel this, the game had to be moved to the alternative venue in London. Group 2's matches were played at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield and Villa Park in Birmingham; Group 3's matches were played at Old Trafford in Manchester and Goodison Park in Liverpool; and Group 4's matches were played at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough and Roker Park in Sunderland.
The most used venue was Wembley, which was used for nine matches, including all six featuring England, the final and the match for third place. Goodison Park was used for five matches, Roker Park and Hillsborough both hosted four, while Old Trafford, Villa Park and Ayresome Park each hosted three matches and did not host any knockout round matches. LondonManchesterBirminghamWembley StadiumWhite City StadiumOld TraffordVilla ParkCapacity: 98,600Capacity: 76,567Capacity: 58,000Capacity: 52,000SheffieldSunderlandMiddlesbroughLiverpoolHillsborough StadiumRoker ParkAyresome ParkGoodison ParkCapacity: 42,730Capacity: 40,310Capacity: 40,000Capacity: 50,151
1970 Five stadiums in five cities were selected to host the World Cup matches. Alternative venues in Hidalgo state and the port city of Veracruz were also considered. Each group was based solely in one city with exception of Group 2, which was staged in both Puebla and Toluca. Aside from the Estadio Luis Dosal, all the stadiums had only been constructed during the 1960s, as Mexico prepared to host both the World Cup and the 1968 Summer Olympics.