Arena Corinthians is a multi-purpose sports stadium mainly used for football matches, located in the largest city of Brazil, Sao Paulo. The stadium hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup after its inauguration and since then has been serving as a home stadium for the Corinthians Club.
The $435 million stadium has a seating capacity of 49,205. However, during the 2014 World Cup matches, extra temporary seats were added to increase the capacity of the stadium by 68,727.
The stadium is famous among the football fans and media by different names such as Estádio do Corinthians, Itaquerão and Fielzão. During the World Cup, FIFA recognized the stadium as Arena de São Paulo.
History
Corinthians had first announced the construction of the stadium on 31 August 2010 but it could only start in May 2011. It was opened on 10 May 2014 when the first public football match was played between former Corinthians players.
On 10 October 2011, FIFA gifted Arena Corinthians the opening match of 2014 FIFA World Cup after Morumbi Stadium was considered unsuitable for the match.
The opening match of FIFA World Cup 2014 was held in June 2014 between Brazil and Croatia, which was first international match for the stadium too. Brazil had won the match by 3-1, as Neymar stole the show with two goals.
Major Matches
The stadium hosted six FIFA World Cup matches in 2014, including the semi-final of the tournament. About 63,000 fans witnessed the match between Argentina and Netherlands. The Argentine team won the match 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw.
Arena Corinthians was one of the venues for the 2016 Summer Olympics football tournament. Few matches were played here including quarter final and bronze medal match of the women's tournament, as well as quarter final and semi-final of the men’s tournament.
Recent Matches
Several matches including semi-finals and finals of Brazil's domestic league, Campeonato Paulista, were played in 2017.
In the finals of the tournament, Corinthians defeated Ponte Preta in the presence of 46,662 people in penalty shootout after playing a draw.
