The FNB Stadium is a multipurpose stadium located in Nasrec, Johannesburg. The FNB stadium is the largest stadium in the nation of South Africa and has a seating capacity of 94,736.
The stadium derives its name from the First National Bank which was the sponsor of the stadium. The other names by which the FNB stadium is popular around the world are Calabash or African Pot because of its resemblance in design with Calabash.
The FNB Stadium is the home stadium of Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, the national football team of South Africa and the national rugby team of South Africa.
The stadium holds great significance as it is the place where Nelson Mandela had addressed the people after being released from jail in the year 1992.
History
The stadium was inaugurated in the year 1989 and since then it has been used for various sports and cultural event.
The first international tournament to be hosted by this stadium was the African Cup of Nations in the year 1996. This tournament was organised exclusively in the FNB stadium and was won by South Africa by defeating Tunisia by a score of 2-0.
Major Matches
One of the most important matches to be played on the FNB Stadium was the final of the FIFA World Cup 2010. The final was won by Spain who defeated Netherlands 1-0 after the game was stretched for an extra time.
The stadium also hosted the opening ceremony and the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2010 between South Africa and Mexico, which ended in a draw at 1-1.
Besides these, the stadium also welcomed the guests to the country in the 2013 African Cup of Nations which was won by Nigeria. They defeated Burkina Faso 1-0 to clinch the trophy.
Controversies
The stadium faced criticism when they failed to manage the crowd and people were drawn into a crowd crush, injuring and killing several people. The incident happened on July 29, 2017 just before the match between Kaizer Chiefs Football Club and the Orlando Pirates.
The stadium was also drawn into questions when the ticket selling count barely crossed 300 out of 67,000 available seats for the qualification match for 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Recent Matches
The most recent match held at the FNB Stadium was between Bafana Bafana and Burkina Faso in the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers. The match was won by Bafana Bafana by a score of 3-1.
