A huge part of sports and its competitions are sporting venues and arenas where all those most significant moments in sports were made and all those records broken. The popularity of a game and individual teams and clubs can be measured in how grand their stadiums are, after all.
Every serious club in the world has its stadium, with club halls and museums that celebrate their successes and trophies won over the years. History and tradition were made in those stadiums, and these places are an indelible part of any important moment in sports.
In this article, we take a look at the top 3 most beautiful iconic stadiums in the world. Enjoy!
1.Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Maracanã stadium in Brazil is one of the most iconic stadiums in the world of football. It was opened in 1950 for the FIFA World Cup when Brazil lost to Uruguay with 2 to 1 in the finals. There were almost 200,000 people in attendance, making it the world’s largest stadium by capacity when it was inaugurated.
After the first major game, the venue has seen more than 150,000 spectators on more than 25 other occasions, like no other stadium in the world. Although it was made half a century ago and underwent a couple of renovations since then, Maracanã still has that old charm that echoes the past times when football was played solely for the sake of sports and competition, and without the money generated by football of today. The terraced sections were replaced by seats, which decreased the stadium’s capacity, but its beauty and charm remained.
2. Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
Allianz Arena is home to two football clubs from Munich: Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich. More than 70,000 spectators can enjoy the premium football action on the pitch thanks to the stands being set next to the pitch itself, which couldn’t be done with the athletics tracks surrounding it. The stadium was inaugurated in 2005, ahead of the World Cup in Germany that took place the following year.
The oval shape of the stadium and its technologically advanced outlook is crowned with about 3,000 color changing electric panels, or ETFE-foil air panels that change color and design depending on the team that is playing. The panels illuminate the surroundings in bright red when Bayern Munich plays, and light blue appears when 1860 Munich calls Allianz Arena its home.
3. Bird’s Nest Stadium, Beijing, China
The engineering genius of the Chinese is a well-known fact, but the Chinese never cease to amaze the world. Inspired by birds’ nests, the Chinese built a huge 90,000-seat stadium inaugurated in 2008 during the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. After the competition, the capacity was reduced to 80,000 seats.
The Bird’s Nest Stadium has a unique and impressive structure with steel beams woven around the forefront of the stadium that resemble a bird’s nest, hence its name. The steel beams were designed with a purpose of concealing the retractable roof, but the roof was later removed from the design, yet the idea of the bird’s nest remained.
The cost of the project was ultimately around $450 million, but the top international sporting events it has hosted since then have paid off the investment and showed the full might of Chinese engineering.
