- Address: Rua Professor Eurico Rabelo, Rio de Janeiro
- Country: Brazil
- Capacity: 78,000
- Opened: 16 June 1950
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: Flamengo (football), Fluminense (football)
Extra stadium info – Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho
The Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, also known by its nickname Maracanã, is one of the most famous stadiums in the world. The construction of the venue started in 1948. The stadium was named Estádio do Maracanã between 1950 and 1966. It is named after Mário Rodrigues Filho, a former Brazilian journalist and writer who was born in Recife in 1908. In 1983, the record attendance for a volleyball match was broken at the stadium. 95,000 people showed up for the volleyball game between Brazil and the USSR. The venue hosted numerous home games of the national football team of Brazil, nicknamed Seleção Canarinho. They won several FIFA World Cup titles.
Brazilian football clubs
Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo and Fluminense Football Club played numerous home games at the stadium. They all won Brazilian top-flight football league titles. In 1963, the derby between Flamengo and Fluminense attracted a crowd of 194,000, which became a world record for a sports league match. The capacity of the Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho is much lower nowadays after several renovations and because of better safety regulations. Flamengo became the first club from Rio de Janeiro with a world championship title. They won the title after beating Liverpool Football Club from England in 1981. 62,000 attended the game between both clubs in the Japanese city of Tokyo.
FIFA World Cup matches
In 2014, the Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho became the second venue which hosted two FIFA World Cup matches which determined the winner of the tournament. In 1950, it hosted the decisive FIFA World Cup match between the national football teams of Brazil and Uruguay. Uruguay won the game after defeating Brazil 2-1. The Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho became the first stadium which hosted a FIFA World Cup match with a crowd above 100,000.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup
In 2014, the stadium hosted its second FIFA World Cup final. The seventh FIFA World Cup match which determined the winner of the tournament in the Americas was won by the national football team of Germany after defeating the Argentine Republic in front of 74,000 fans. The 2014 FIFA World Cup final became the first final in the Americas which was not won by a South American team.
