30 most famous football stadiums

18) Stadio Olimpico (Rome, Italy)

Capacity: 70,634

Opened: 1937

Tennant(s): Roma and Lazio

At the heart of the Italian capital, the Stadio Olimpico embodies passion and tradition and if its greatest claim to fame isn’t acting as the hotspot for one of the most fearsome rivalries worldwide, then its hosting of the famed 1990 World Cup final has to be up there too. Naturally it’s owned by the Italian National Olympic Comittee, hence the name, and is the nation’s primary atheltics stadium.

The Stadio Olimpico underwent a revamp ahead of the 2009 UEFA Champions League final, which involved new facilities being installed, every seat being changed and the introduction of HD LED screens, all of which aided its rise to become a UEFA Elite stadium. How many stadiums of its age can claim to boast one of the richest histories in the game but simultaneously contain some of the most modern facilities around?

17) Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Capacity: 61,688

Opened: 1938

Tennant(s): River Plate and Argentina National Team

Due to host the 2018 Youth Olympics, Argentina’s biggest football stadium ‘El Monumental’ began being constructed in 1936, only for funds to run low midway through the operation and organisers to call a halt on continuing building the north stand. This temporarily incomplete structure birthed the nickname the ‘horseshoe’.

Despite having no roof nor being particularly steep, the stadium still generates an incredible atmosphere when filled with some of the continent’s most passionate supporters, fans of River Plate. The list of big names to have performed at the Estadio Monumental is testament to how appealing and energising a venue it really is; Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Elton John and Guns N’ Roses are among the names to have strolled out in the Argentinian capital.