- Address: Qabanbay Batyr Avenue, Nur-Sultan
- Country: Kazakhstan
- Capacity: 30,000
- Opened: 3 July 2009
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: FC Astana (football)
Extra stadium info – Astana Arena
The construction of the Astana Arena started in 2006. The venue, which has a retractable roof, opened as the largest sports venue by capacity in Kazakhstan. It became the home of the national football team of Kazakhstan. In 1992, they won their first international against Turkmenistan. Vladimir Viktorovich Niederhaus scored the only goal of the match. He played for clubs from Germany, Israel, Kazakhstan and Russia during his senior football career. On 19 September 2008, two clubs were disqualified from the top-flight football league of Kazakhstan for playing a fixed match. The involved people were banned from football for 60 months, including Niederhaus.
FC Astana
FC Astana, the first football club from the city of Nur-Sultan with a value of at least $10 million, are the tenants of the stadium. The club was founded in 2009 under a different name. In 2010, they won the cup tournament of Kazakhstan for the first time in their history. The final of the tournament took place at the Astana Arena. FC Astana won the top-flight football league of Kazakhstan in 2014 for the first time in their history. Between 2014 and 2019, they won six consecutive top-flight football league titles.
The UEFA Champions League
In 2015, FC Astana became the first club from Kazakhstan to qualify for the prestigious UEFA Champions League. FC Astana lost their first-ever UEFA Champions League match against the Portuguese side Benfica. 27,000 people attended their first UEFA Champions League game at the Astana Arena, in which they drew Galatasaray from Turkey 2-2. FC Astana finished below Atlético de Madrid, Benfica and Galatasaray in their first-ever UEFA Champions League season. Atlético de Madrid from Spain reached the final during that UEFA Champions League season.
