Daejeon World Cup Stadium is a football stadium which is located in the Yoosung neighborhood of western Daejeon in the Daejeon City of South Korea. The stadium is also known lovingly by the fans of the local football club as the “Purple Arena”.
The stadium is currently owned and operated by the Daejeon City administration. The stadium was one of the stadia which hosted some of the matches during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.
The stadium has a capacity to house 40,535 people. It was constructed at an estimated cost of around 143.9 billion Won. Post the World Cup, the stadium has been the home for the Korean League team Daejeon Citizen Football Club.
History
The Daejeon World Cup Stadium was first opened to the public on 13th September 2001. The construction of the stadium began in December 1998 with a plan to host the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and finished three years later, well ahead of the tournament.
After the conclusion of the World Cup, Daejeon Citizen FC moved into the Stadium before the start of the 2002 Korean League season.
Major Matches
The stadium played host to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea. The stadium hosted two first-round matches and also a Round of 16 matches during the tournament.
The first match to be played in the stadium was between South Africa and Spain in Group B, which Spain won 2-3.
The match of the tournament which raised quite a few eyebrows and stirred a controversy and brought into foray the incident of cheating was the Round of 16 match between the hosts South Korea and Italy, in which the minnows South Korean team won 2-1 in the extra-time.
