Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica (2011)

The National Stadium of Costa Rica (Spanish: Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica) is a multi-purpose stadium in La Sabana Metropolitan Park, San José, Costa Rica. It was the first modern sporting and events arena to be built in Central America.[3] The stadium was completed in early 2011 and officially opened its doors to the public on March 26 of that year, with a capacity of 35,175 seats.[2][3] The stadium replaced the original National Stadium (built 100 years ago), and is the home stadium of the Costa Rican national football team.[4]

Estadio Nacional
La Joya de La Sabana
"The Jewel of The Savanna"[1]
Map
LocationSan José
Coordinates9°56′11″N 84°6′28″W / 9.93639°N 84.10778°W / 9.93639; -84.10778
OwnerGovernment of Costa Rica
Capacity35,062
SurfaceGrass
ScoreboardYes
Construction
Broke ground2008
Built2009–2011
OpenedMarch 26, 2011
Construction costUS$110 million
General contractorAnhui Foreign Economic Construction Group
Tenants
Costa Rica national football team (2011–present)

It has one high-definition, 160-square-metre (1,700 sq ft) video screen located in the southern section of the stadium, along with a smaller, monochromatic screen. A second monochromatic screen (of the same dimensions) is in the northern section.[5]

The stadium hosted matches during the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, including the opening game, the third place match and the Final, as well as matches during the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, including the opening game and the Final.

The Estadio Nacional hosted the kickoff show of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour, due to the green credentials of the country.

Funding and Construction

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The initial cost was $88 million, it grew to $100 million.[6]

In 2007, Costa Rican President Óscar Arias requested that during a state visit to China that China fund a stadium for Costa Rica.[7]: 50  The Chinese government financed the construction, furnishing, and general costs of the stadium on their own.[8] The old National Stadium was demolished on May 12, 2008, after UCR (Universidad de Costa Rica) vs. Brujas FC[9] match and a 200M race where Nery Brenes set a new national record (20:28 seconds).

The president of Costa Rica, Óscar Arias and the leader of People's Republic of China Hu Jintao, agreed to build the stadium during Arias' first visit to China in October 2007.[10] The construction began on March 12, 2009, and it finished in 2011.

The Chinese company Anhui Foreign Economic Construction[4] was in charge of the construction of the stadium. About 800 Chinese workers immigrated.

Inauguration

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The stadium during the inauguration ceremony

The grand inauguration ceremony occurred on March 26, 2011. National and international sports activities and entertainment went on through April 10. An official stadium inauguration website was created,[11] which informed the population of all inaugurating events.

The main inaugurating event was a friendly association football match between Costa Rica and China, which ended 2–2, with Álvaro Saborío scoring the first goal ever in the stadium.

During 2011, the new stadium was subject of a heavy investment made by the Costa Rican Football Federation to propel Costa Rican football into the world scene. To do this, the federation organized friendly matches against previous FIFA World Cup winners Argentina, Brazil, and Spain, with the latter being the then most recent winners of the tournament.[12]

Football tournaments

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2013 Copa Centroamericana

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The Estadio Nacional hosted all 14 matches of the 2013 Copa Centroamericana.

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
18 January 2013   Guatemala 1–1   Nicaragua Group A (opening match) 200
  Honduras 1–1   El Salvador Group B 2,500
  Costa Rica 1–0   Belize Group A 5,484
20 January 2013   Belize 0–0   Guatemala Group A 250
  El Salvador 0–0   Panama Group B
  Costa Rica 2–0   Nicaragua Group A 5,980
22 January 2013   Nicaragua 1–2   Belize Group A 750
  Panama 1–1   Honduras Group B 3,450
  Costa Rica 1–1   Guatemala Group A 6,760
25 January 2013   Guatemala 1–3   Panama 5th Place Match 279
  Honduras 1–0   Belize Semifinals 1,664
  Costa Rica 1–0   El Salvador 4,993
27 January 2013   El Salvador 1–0   Belize Third place match 1,997
  Costa Rica 1–0   Honduras Final 14,146

2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

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El Nacional hosted nine games of the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. It hosted four Group A matches; including the opener, a Group C and Group D game, two quarterfinal matches, the 3rd place play-off and the final. The games were:

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
15 March 2014   Italy 2–0   Zambia Group A (opening match) 34,453
  Costa Rica 0–3   Venezuela Group A
18 March 2014   Venezuela 4–0   Zambia 25,624
  Costa Rica 0–1   Italy
23 March 2014   Japan 3–0   New Zealand Group C 5,100
  Nigeria 3–0   Mexico Group D
27 March 2014   Venezuela 3–2   Canada Quarter-finals 1,812
  Ghana 2–2 (4–3 p)   Italy
4 April 2014   Venezuela 4–4 (2–0 p)   Italy Third place match 29,814
  Japan 2–0   Spain Final

2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

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Estadio Nacional hosted eighteen games of the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. It hosted four Group A matches, two Group B games, four Group C games, and two Group D games, two quarterfinal matches, two semifinal matches, the 3rd place play-off and the final. The games were:

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
10 August 2022   Spain 0–0   Brazil Group A 9,819
  Costa Rica 1–3   Australia 22,506
11 August 2022   France 0–1   Nigeria Group C 723
  Canada 0–2   South Korea 839
13 August 2022   Mexico 1–1   Colombia Group B 9,336
  Costa Rica 0–5   Spain Group A 22,446
14 August 2022   United States 0–3   Netherlands Group D 2,652
  France 3–1   Canada Group C 2,652
16 August 2022   Colombia 2–2   New Zealand Group B 3,378
  Brazil 5–0   Costa Rica Group A 11,923
17 August 2022   Netherlands 4–1   Ghana Group D 814
  South Korea 0–1   France Group C 979
20 August 2022   Spain 1–0   Mexico Quarter-finals 4,914
  Colombia 0–1   Brazil 7,874
25 August 2022   Spain 2–1   Netherlands Semi-finals 4,054
  Brazil 1–2   Japan 6,571
28 August 2022   Netherlands 1–4   Brazil Third place match 15,672
  Spain 3–1   Japan Final 29,891

Concerts

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Date(s) Artist Opening act(s) Performance Attendance
10 April 2011 Shakira The Sun Comes Out World Tour 34,516 / 34,516
21 May 2011 Miley Cyrus Gypsy Heart Tour 33,451 / 33,451
12 September 2011 Red Hot Chili Peppers Foals I'm with You World Tour 20,716 / 23,300
27 September 2011 Judas Priest Whitesnake Epitaph World Tour
20 November 2011 Pearl Jam X Pearl Jam Twenty Tour
3 November 2012 Lady Gaga The Darkness

Lady Starlight

Born This Way Ball 29,014 / 29,014
1 October 2013 Aerosmith Global Warming Tour
22 October 2013 Black Sabbath Megadeth Black Sabbath Reunion Tour
1 May 2014 Paul McCartney Out There 27,001 / 35,228
5 September 2015 Camila Elypse World Tour
20 February 2016 Marc Anthony Gente de Zona Marc Anthony Live!
19 May 2016 Alejandro Sanz Sirope Tour
20 August 2016 Laura Pausini Simili Tour
5 November 2016 Metallica Heresy WorldWired Tour 32,934 / 33,953
26 November 2016 Guns N' Roses Gandhi Not in This Lifetime... Tour 29,560 / 35,785
24 April 2017 Justin Bieber Bartosz Brenes Purpose World Tour 23,377 / 26,985
7 May 2017 Soy Luna Soy Luna Live
9 May 2017 Sting 57th & 9th Tour 8,454 / 8,454
19 August 2017 Ricardo Montaner Normal Man Tour
7 December 2017 Bruno Mars DNCE 24K Magic World Tour 38,052 / 38,052
28 February 2018 Myriam Hernández Gala of Love
7 March 2018 Joaquín Sabina Lo Niego Todo Tour
8 August 2018 Laura Pausini Fatti Sentire World Tour
18 August 2018 Marc Anthony
15 September 2018 Soy Luna Soy Luna Live 2
24 November 2018 Roger Waters Us + Them Tour 46,111 / 47,101
30 November 2018 Chayanne Desde el Alma Tour 25,000 / 30,000
21 March 2019 Luis Miguel México Por Siempre Tour
17 August 2019 Ricardo Montaner
30 November 2019 Morat Balas Perdidas Tour
7 December 2019 Chayanne Desde el Alma Tour 38,000 / 40,000
20 February 2020 Pablo Alborán Tour Prometo
23 February 2020 Caifanes
18 March 2022 Coldplay H.E.R.
MishCatt
Music of the Spheres World Tour 86,199 / 86,199
19 March 2022
25 June 2022 Paulina Rubio
22 October 2022 Daddy Yankee Tapón & Dani Maro
Choché Romano
Jair Cruz & El Tigre Tony
La Última Vuelta World Tour 68,025 / 70,587
23 October 2022
24 November 2022 Bad Bunny In Betwin
Jurgen Dorsam
DJ Tocuma
World's Hottest Tour 52,851 / 52,851
25 November 2022 Eros Ramazotti Battito Infinito World Tour TBA
25 February 2023 Joaquín Sabina Contra Todo Pronóstico Tour
5 March 2023 Caifanes 2023 Tour
17 March 2023 Melendi Likes and Scars Tour
18 March 2023 Sin Bandera Frequency Tour
15 April 2023 Carlos Rivera A Tour to Everywhere
10 June 2023 Juan Luis Guerra Entre Mar y Palmeras Tour
29 July 2023 Grupo Firme You Have To Connect It Tour
13 August 2023 Lucero
Manuel Mijares
Until We Were Made
9 September 2023 Rubén Blades Salswing Tour
31 October 2023 Red Hot Chili Peppers IRONTOM
Saint Cecilia
Global Stadium Tour 51,838 / 51,838
2 December 2023 Roger Waters This Is Not a Drill TBA
8 February 2024 Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Tour 2023–24 38,714 / 38,714
9 March 2024 Karol G Mañana Será Bonito Tour 104,761 / 104,761
10 March 2024

Fire incident

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During the opening ceremony of the 2013 Central American Games, a fire broke out in the stadium because of a stray firework which hit the western part of the stadium roof.[13] The fire damaged some lighting equipments but the stadium was still used for the Games.[14]

Panorama view

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Panorama view of the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica. March, 2022.

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup: Destination - San José". FIFA.com. FIFA. Archived from the original on November 28, 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b Pinto afirma que la Selección jugará en el estadio Saprissa La Nación, 2012-11-07. (in Spanish)
  3. ^ a b Costa Rica’s 35,000-seat National Stadium opens Archived 2013-10-05 at the Wayback Machine Tico Times, 2011-03-25.
  4. ^ a b http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2009/julio/28/deportes2040316.html , Spanish.
  5. ^ "Estadio Nacional tendrá pantalla de 140 metros HD - DEPORTES - la Nación". Archived from the original on 2010-08-28. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  6. ^ http://www.nacion.com/2010-10-15/Deportes/NotaPrincipal/Deportes2556136.aspx Archived 2010-10-18 at the Wayback Machine, Spanish.
  7. ^ Strange, Austin (2023-12-21). Chinese Global Infrastructure (EPUB). Elements in Global China. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009090902. ISBN 978-1-009-09090-2.
  8. ^ "El nuevo Estadio Nacional costará $12 millones más - DEPORTES - la Nación". Archived from the original on 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  9. ^ "Noticias de deportes en Costa Rica".
  10. ^ "Football Ramble | Stak".
  11. ^ http://www.nuevoestadionacional.com/ Archived November 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "Los ticos, puro lujo". La Prensa Gráfica. 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on November 28, 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  13. ^ Chacón, Rocío; Fernández, Evelyn (3 March 2013). "Incendio en el Estadio Nacional tras ceremonia de inauguración" (in Spanish). aldia.cr. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Roof of National Stadium catches fire during inauguration of Central American Games". insidecostarica.com. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
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Preceded by FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
Final Venue

2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
Final Venue

2022
Succeeded by