One of the most iconic football stadiums on the planet, the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro truly is an incredible Brazilian landmark.
Sponsored by Pot Noodle Brazilian BBQ Steak Flavour
Ahead of the FIFA World Cup that’s taking place in Brazil later this year, JOE and Pot Noodle have teamed up to bring you a little taste of the super South American country.
It was named after the Rio Maracanã, a now canalized river in Rio de Janeiro. Originally constructed for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil where the hosts played Uruguay in the final (pic below). The official attendance at that match is still a world record 199,854. The actual figure is thought to be around the 210,000 mark. Uruguay stunned the hosts by winning 2-1 and thus claiming their second World Cup and denying their Brazilian counterparts of their first.
It will be the venue for this year’s World Cup Final on July 13th as well as hosting some group games along with a last sixteen tie and also a quarter-final. The capacity is now down to a relatively small 78,838, but this still makes it the biggest football stadium in all of South America.
The Maracana will also be the venue for both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games which are being held in Rio that year. It’s been the venue for many of Brazil’s home matches over the years and has also accommodated some of their biggest club matches (pic above) involving the likes of Flamengo, Botafogo, Fluminese and Vasco da Gama.
Since it’s original opening in 1950, the Maracana has undergone several renovations. Tragically, in 1992 and upper tier in the stadium collapsed killing three fans and hospitalising 50 others. After the disaster the capacity was greatly reduced and by the late 1990s, it had been converted to an all-seater stadium. Despite this, the ground was classified as national landmark in 1998, meaning that it could not be demolished.
The stadium hosted the first ever FIFA Club World Cup final match between Vasco da Gama and Corinthians (pic above), which Corinthians won on penalties.
Following its 50th anniversary in 2000, the stadium underwent renovations which would increase its full capacity to around 103,000. After years of planning and nine months of closure between 2005 and 2006, the stadium was reopened in January 2007 with an all-seated capacity of 82,238.
It’s also staged huge music concerts over the years notably in 1980, on it’s 30th anniversary, Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra (pic above) played to a crowd of 180,000 people. Since then it has hosted gigs of similar attendance for acts such as Tina Turner and Paul McCartney.
Brought to you with thanks to Pot Noodle Brazilian BBQ Steak Flavour.
