Maracana Stadium

The Maracanã Stadium (in Portuguese, Estádio do Maracanã), formally Estadio Jornalista Mário Filho (Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho), is a football stadium located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Its address is Rua Professor Eurico Rabelo, s/n.º, portão 18, Maracanã.

It is the largest stadium in Brazil and was the largest in the world for a long time. Its construction began in early 1949 as part of the local efforts to obtain the venue for the Soccer World Cup, which it obtained for the following year's edition. Although it had already been formally used a week earlier, its official inauguration occurred on June 24, 1950 during the opening day of the 1950 Brazil World Cup, with the match between Brazil and Mexico, which ended with the victory of the local team. from 4-0, being the first goal of the property scored by the Brazilian Ademir Marques de Menezes.

The stadium served as the main venue for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, hosting eight matches, including the final match of the final group phase that decided the championship. In that game, which would mark the history of the property by being directly linked to it, using the term Maracanazo, the Uruguayan team surprised by beating local Brazil with a score of 2-1. This match also stood out for being the one with the highest attendance in history, with around 200,000 spectators.

Sixty-four years later, it would once again host the greatest soccer event, being the scene of seven matches in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, including the final where Germany became the first European team to win a tournament organized in America, beating Argentina 1-0.

It hosted the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and the Olympic Soccer Tournaments of both branches. The fact of being the first main stadium of a summer Olympic fair that did not receive the athletic tests stands out; lacking a track, they were moved to the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium.

It is the sixth of the stadiums that hosted the two most important sporting events in the world, the Olympic Games and the Soccer World Cup. On both occasions as the main stage, at the opening ceremony of the summer fair and the final of the soccer tournament, a milestone that it shares with six other properties.

It has served as host of continental club tournaments (Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Intercontinental Cup, Recopa Sudamericana, Supercopa Sudamericana); the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship; the opening ceremony and the soccer tournaments of both branches of the 2007 Pan American Games; the America's Cup; the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, the World Cup qualifiers; local tournaments (Taça Brasil, Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Tournament, Serie A, Brazil Cup and the Carioca Championship); concerts, massive events of a political, religious and social nature, among others.

History

Opening game of the Maracana Stadium, shortly before the 1950 World Cup.

It was inaugurated on June 24, 1950 and was originally called Estadio Municipal do Maracanã. In 1964 it was given its current name, Estadio Mário Filho, in honor of the founding journalist of Jornal dos Sports, a local newspaper. But for the locals its name was and continues to be Maracanã, because the name of the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood where it is located, which comes from a bird that inhabited the place, is called precisely Maracanã.

In this stadium the final duel of the final group round of the 1950 World Cup was played, between the teams of Brazil and Uruguay, a match that holds the record for the public in official matches: 199,854. The triumph of Uruguay, by 2 goals to 1, went down in history with the name of Maracanazo, and is considered the maximum milestone of the soccer world championships.

The classic Fla-Flu on December 15, 1963 produced the record attendance for club matches, with 194,603 spectators.

Great idols from the soccer world passed through its lawn: Ronaldo, Pelé, Rivelino, Garrincha, Martín Palermo, Ademir, Reinaldo Merlo, Héctor Chumpitaz, Zico, Fernando Morena, Tostão, Pablo Aimar, Gérson, Jairzinho, Ariel Ortega, Obdulio Varela, Javier Saviola, Schiaffino, Maradona, Eusébio, Lionel Messi, Gianni Rivera, Nelson Gutiérrez, Hugo Ibarra, Giovanni Trapattoni, Alberto Tarantini, Américo Gallego, Antonio Alzamendi, Juan Román Riquelme, among many others.

Major musical figures such as Queen, Paul McCartney, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Kiss, Megadeth, Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses, Frank Sinatra, Foo Fighters, The Police, U2 and rock star Tina Turner.

On July 19, 1992, while the stadium was full in a game of the 1992 Brazilian Championship between Flamengo and Botafogo, part of one of the stands collapsed, causing around fifty fans to fall into the void. Three people died in the accident. The stadium, which originally held 200,000 people, was refitted to hold 130,000.

On October 8, 2006, the Mexican group RBD gave a 2-hour concert for more than 50,000 people and recorded the DVD Live in Rio.

On December 16, 2006, Bahian artist Ivete Sangalo gave a 4.5-hour concert, attended by more than 60,000 people and recorded on a DVD. She was the first Axé Music artist to give a concert at the Maracanã.

In July 2007, the stadium was the stage for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Pan American Games.

On July 2, 2008, it was the scene where the second final of the Copa Libertadores was played, in which Fluminense was defeated in the definition by penalty kicks against Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito (Ecuador), in front of 87,000 people.

On July 11, 2009, the Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos gave a concert in this venue celebrating 50 years of artistic career in front of 70,000 people, this being the largest and most ostentatious mass concert of his entire career after countless appearances in huge world auditoriums (the Pacaembú stadium in São Paulo, among others).

On June 2, 2013, the stadium was reopened after 3 years in the match between the English team and the Brazilian team. The match ended tied at 2, with goals from Frederico Chaves, the first. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain tied. England went ahead with a goal from Wayne Rooney and Paulinho finally equalized for the Brazilians.

On June 30, 2013, the final of the soccer Confederations Cup was held between the teams of Brazil and Spain, which Brazil won 3-0 with goals from Fred (2) and Neymar.

On July 13, 2014, the soccer World Cup final was held between Germany and Argentina, which Germany won 1-0 against Argentina with a goal scored by Mario Götze.

In 2016 it was the place where the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games were held.

The setting was the venue for the 2021 Copa América final, which Argentina won by defeating the Brazilian team 1-0. It is the second final that Brazil has lost on this stage after the one in 1950 against Uruguay, which gave rise to the popular term "Maracanazo". It is also the first final of an official tournament in which Brazil has failed to score goals since 1998, and the second Copa América final in which it loses without scoring (the last was in 1937). With the defeat, Brazil was awarded the 2021 Bolivia Cup for being the runner-up, this being their first title in said Cup.

Architecture

Panoramic stadium in 2010.

The Maracanã in the Rio 2007 Pan American Games.

Interior of the stadium in 2013.

In 1999 the stadium underwent renovations to host the first FIFA Club World Cup in January 2000, won by Corinthians from São Paulo. In this reform, its capacity went from 140,000 to 103,022 people.

This mythical soccer monument has undergone reforms to comply with the latest FIFA regulations for World Cup stadiums, since Brazil hosted the biggest soccer event in the world in 2014. With that, its capacity increases to 80 000 people seated, since seats were placed in the popular ticket sector (the Geral) where up to 30,000 people could previously squeeze in standing.

The stadium has a perimeter of 800 meters, a maximum height of 32 meters, and an ellipse without visible supports on the inside with a 300-meter major axis and 260 meters on the minor axis. It was designed to hold 155,000 people. In the popular towns there was room for 30,000 standing spectators, 93,000 in the grandstands, 1,500 in the authorities' box and 30,000 in the seats called lifelong. These seats were arranged in 25 rows around the playing field and were covered by the stands. Behind these rows were the sectors connected by exclusive lifts, boxes for five people each and the official box, a VIP sector that was the first in the world offered in a stadium. Bars and restaurants and sanitary facilities functioned in these, services that were repeated on the upper level. At a height of 12 meters, always taking into account the zero of the field of play, there were accommodations for 130 athletes, with restaurants, kitchens, an ice cream factory and entertainment venues. On the other side were the medical facilities, with 130 beds and a children's play area.

In the year 2000, the Walk of Fame was inaugurated, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the stadium, where Brazilian soccer personalities stand out with the footprints of their feet (or hands in the case of goalkeepers). In its creation, a selection of 51 Brazilian soccer players was made, to which many others were added in subsequent years, including six foreigners.

2014 Remodel

To host the 2014 Soccer World Cup, the stadium underwent a new modernization at a cost of 300 million US dollars. The Maracana kept its original light blue façade and color, but its five-story oval shape gained a roof, giving it an air of modernity. The renovation work followed FIFA's recommendations, going from 96,000 seats to 80,000 after the reform.

Comfort is the trademark of the new Maracana. The visibility and inclination of the stands in relation to the field is now more accentuated, they are closer to the pitch, they are anatomical, retractable, articulated, which creates more space for each fan.

The Maracaná is also equipped with an industrial kitchen and restaurants. The lower stands were demolished and modified to allow better visibility for spectators. The access has a new tunnel, new ramps and two escalators. The areas for the players (especially the changing rooms), the press, the spectators (seats, bathrooms, restaurants) and the shops sector had the changes required by FIFA. Parking was expanded from 10,000 to 16,000 vehicles.

The stadium in sight

Photovoltaic roof

After the remodeling of the stadium in 2012, Maracaná has an installation made up of 1,500 solar modules on its roof. The modules produce 380 kilowatts of photovoltaic solar energy, enough to fully supply the stadium's electricity demand, avoiding the emission of 331 tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere and discharging the excess energy into the city. Other stadiums for the 2014 Soccer World Cup where solar panels have been installed are the Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia, the Itaipava Arena in Pernambuco and the Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte.

Name change proposal (2021)

The Legislative Assembly of the state of Rio de Janeiro approved on March 9, 2021 a bill that would rename the Maracana stadium with the name of Pelé, considered by the country's fans as the best soccer player of all time, while that the attached sports complex would keep the name of Mario Filho. The project generated intense controversy and the state governor, Claudio Castro, was criticized by Filho's relatives, by historians and by some sectors of the press. Due to the measure, the regional parliament ended up discarding the bill that same year.

Most important events

1950 World Cup Soccer

The Maracaná stadium was one of the 6 headquarters of the 1950 World Cup of Football held in Brazil, between June 24 and July 16, 1950 was characterized as the tournament after World War II.

Date	Selection #1	Outcome	Selection #2	Round	Showers
24 June 1950	BRABrazil	4–0	MEXMexico	First phase, Group 1	82 000
25 June 1950	ENGEngland	2–0	CHIChile	First phase, Group 2	30 000
29 June 1950	ESPSpain	2–0	CHIChile	First phase, Group 2	16 000
1 July 1950	BRABrazil	2–0	YUGYugoslavia	First phase, Group 1	142 000
2 July 1950	ESPSpain	1–0	ENGEngland	First phase, Group 2	74 000
9 July 1950	BRABrazil	7-1	SWESweden	Final phase	139.
13 July 1950	BRABrazil	6-1	ESPSpain	Final phase	153 000
16 July 1950	BRABrazil	1–2	URUUruguay	Final phase	199 854

Nations Cup 1964

The Maracaná Stadium was one of the 2 seats of the 1964 Cup held in Brazil, between May 30 and June 7, 1964.

Date	Selection #1	Outcome	Selection #2	Round	Showers
30 May 1964	BRABrazil	5-1	ENGEngland	First date	77 000
31 May 1964	ARGArgentina	2–0	BYPortugal	First date	40 000
6 June 1964	ARGArgentina	1–0	ENGEngland	Third date	15 000
7 June 1964	BRABrazil	4-1	BYPortugal	Third date	60 000

America's Cup 1989

It hosted the six games of the final phase of the Copa América 1989.

Date	Selection #1	Outcome	Selection #2	Round	Showers
12 July 1989	URUUruguay	3–0	PARParaguay	Final phase	60 000
12 July 1989	BRABrazil	2–0	ARGArgentina	Final phase	110 135
14 July 1989	URUUruguay	2–0	ARGArgentina	Final phase	45 000
14 July 1989	BRABrazil	3–0	PARParaguay	Final phase	64 909
16 July 1989	ARGArgentina	0-0	PARParaguay	Final phase	90 000
16 July 1989	BRABrazil	1–0	URUUruguay	Final phase	148 068

FIFA Confederations Cup 2013

The stadium was one of the 6 seats chosen for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013.

Date	Selection #1	Outcome	Selection #2	Round	Showers
16 June 2013	MEXMexico	1–2	ITAItaly	First phase, Group A	73 123
20 June 2013	ESPSpain	10–0	TahitiTahiti	First phase, Group B	71 806
30 June 2013	BRABrazil	3–0	ESPSpain	Final	73 531

2014 Soccer World Cup

The stadium was one of the 12 headquarters chosen for the 2014 World Cup Soccer, being the venue of the final.

Date	Selection #1	Outcome	Selection #2	Round	Showers
15 June 2014	ARGArgentina	2-1	BIHBosnia and Herzegovina	First phase, Group F	74 393
18 June 2014	ESPSpain	0-2	CHIChile	First phase, Group B	74 101
22 June 2014	BELBelgium	1–0	RUSRussia	First phase, Group H	73 819
25 June 2014	ECUEcuador	0-0	FRAFrance	First phase, Group E	73 750
28 June 2014	COLColombia	2–0	URUUruguay	Final Octavos	73 804
4 July 2014	FRAFrance	0-1	GERGermany	Final rooms	73(+34) 965
13 July 2014	GERGermany	1–0	ARGArgentina	Final	74 738

Closing of the World Cup

German World Cup Celebration.

On July 13 at the Maracana, prior to the final match between Germany and Argentina, the closing ceremony was held. It started with a group of women dressed in yellow dancing to the rhythm of samba and two young men dressed as finalists came into contact with the ball.

Shakira from Colombia performed with her song “La la la” along with Carlinhos Brown from Brazil. He was followed by Carlos Santana, rapper Wyclef and Alexandre Pires to sing "Dar um Jeito (We Will Find a Way)".

The ceremony was completed by singer-songwriter Ivete Sangalo, who was also present at the opening. Sangalo, together with the mascot Fuleco, was in charge of carrying out a medley of typical songs from her country, closing the ceremony.

The presentation of the delivery of the XX World Cup was in charge of Carles Puyol and Gisele Bündchen.

America's Cup 2019

The stadium hosted 5 American Cup 2019 matches, including the tournament end.

Date	Selection #1	Outcome	Selection #2	Round	Showers
16 June 2019	PARParaguay	2-2	QATQatar	First phase, Group B	19 196
18 June 2019	BOLBolivia	1-3	PERPeru	First phase, Group A	26 346
June 24, 2019	CHIChile	0-1	URUUruguay	First phase, Group C	57 442
28 June 2019	VENVenezuela	0-2	ARGArgentina	Final rooms	50 094
7 July 2019	BRABrazil	3-1	PERPeru	Final	69 906

America's Cup 2021

The stadium hosted only the end of the American Cup 2021.

Date	Selection #1	Outcome	Selection #2	Round	Showers
10 July 2021	ARGArgentina	1–0	BRABrazil	Final Cup America 2021	5500

The stadium is oval shaped and occupies almost 246 000 square meters of total area.