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. 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.
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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. 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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
The Rasunda Stadium was expanded from 38,000 for the World Cup by building end stands. 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 site 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. 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 Rasunda 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.
1962.
Originally, eight stadiums were selected to host the World Cup matches in eight different 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.
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 third-place match. 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.
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.
The altitude of the venues varied and the importance of acclimatisation was strongly considered by all the participating teams. As a result, in contrast to the previous tournament staged in England, most teams arrived in the region well in advance of their opening fixtures to prepare for this factor. Some teams had already experienced the local conditions when competing in the football competition at 1968 Summer Olympics. At an elevation in excess of above sea level, Toluca was the highest of the venues; Guadalajara was the lowest at .
Of the five stadiums used for the 32 matches played, the largest and most used venue was the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City; which hosted ten total matches including the final and third place matches, and all of Group 1's matches (which included all of host Mexico's matches). The Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara hosted eight matches including all of Group 3's matches and a semi-final. The Nou Camp Stadium in Leon hosted seven matches, which consisted of all of Group 4's matches and a quarter-final match. The Luis Dosal stadium in Toluca hosted four matches, and Cuauhtémoc stadium in Puebla hosted three matches and was the only stadium of the five used for this tournament not to host any knockout rounds.
1978.
Of the 6 venues used, the Argentine national stadium, the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires was the largest and most used venue, hosting 9 total matches, including the final match. The Carreras Stadium in Córdoba hosted 8 matches, the stadiums in Mendoza, Rosario and Mar del Plata each hosted 6 matches and the José Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires hosted 3 matches. The Minella stadium in Mar del Plata was heavily criticized due to its terrible pitch, which was deemed "nearly unplayable"; whereas the Amalfitani stadium in Buenos Aires, the least used stadium for this tournament, was praised for its very good pitch.
Brazil was forced by tournament organizers to play all three of its first group matches in Mar del Plata.
1982.
17 stadiums in 14 cities hosted the tournament, a record until the 2002 tournament which was hosted by 20 stadiums. The most used stadium was FC Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium which hosted 5 matches including a semi-final match; it was the largest stadium used for this tournament. In addition to Barcelona's Sarria Stadium hosting 3 total matches, Barcelona was the Spanish city with the most matches in Espana '82 with 8; the Spanish capital of Madrid followed with 7.
This particular World Cup was organised in such a way where all of the matches of each of the six groups of four were assigned stadiums in cities close in proximity to each other; reducing the stress of travel on the players and fans. For example: Group 1 only played in Vigo and A Coruña, Group 2 only played in Gijón and Oviedo, Group 3 only played in Elche and Alicante (except for the first match, which was the opening match of the tournament, which was played at the Camp Nou), Group 4 played only in Bilbao and Valladolid (England played all their first round group matches in Bilbao), Group 5 (which included hosts Spain) was played exclusively in Valencia and Zaragoza, and Group 6 played exclusively in Seville and Málaga (of the 3 1st round matches in Seville, the first match between Brazil and the USSR was played in the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, and the other two were played in the Villamarin Stadium).
When the tournament went into the round-robin second round matches, all the aforementioned cities excluding Barcelona, Alicante and Seville did not host any more matches in Espana '82. Both the Santiago Bernabéu and Vicente Calderón stadiums in Madrid and the Sarria Stadium in Barcelona were used for the first time for this tournament for the second round matches. Madrid and Barcelona hosted the four second round group matches; Barcelona hosted Groups A and C (Camp Nou hosted all 3 of Group A's matches, and Sarria did the same with Group C's matches) and Madrid hosted Groups B and D (Real Madrid's Bernabeu Stadium hosted all 3 of Group B's matches, and Atlético Madrid's Calderon Stadium did the same with the Group D matches)
The two semi final matches were held at Camp Nou and the Pizjuan Stadium in Seville, the third largest stadium used for the tournament (one of only 2 Espana '82 matches it hosted), the third place match was held in Alicante and the final was held at the Bernabeu, the second largest stadium used for this tournament.
Spain's hot summer climate was avoided by playing most matches in the late afternoon or at night; for instance Seville- which is one of the hottest cities in Europe, with June and July average temperatures going past the 90s