Stadio Giuseppe Meazza

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

In March 1980, the stadium was named in honour of Giuseppe Meazza, the two-time World Cup winner (1934, 1938) who played for Inter (and briefly for other teams like Milan) in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and served two stints as Inter's manager. Construction of the stadium commenced in 1925 in the San Siro district of Milan, with the new stadium originally named Nuovo Stadio Calcistico San Siro. The idea to build a stadium in the same district as the Ippodromo di San Siro belonged to the president of AC Milan at the time, Piero Pirelli. The architects designed a private stadium only for football, without the athletics tracks that characterised Italian stadiums built with public funds. The design took inspiration from English football stadiums with four separated stands. The new stadium was inaugurated on 19 September 1926, when 35,000 spectators saw AC Milan defeat Inter 6–3. Originally, the ground was the home and property of Milan, then acquired by the City Council in the 1930s, where a capacity expansion of seats was developed connecting already-existing four stands in the corners. This historic setting was then called as the first tier. Finally, in 1947, Inter, who used to play in the Arena Civica downtown, became tenants and the two teams have shared the ground ever since. From 1948 to 1955, engineers Armando Ronca and Ferruccio Calzolari developed the project for the second extension of the stadium, which was meant to increase the capacity from 50,000 to 150,000 visitors. Calzolari and Ronca proposed three additional, vertically arranged, rings of spectator rows. Nineteen spiralling ramps – each 200 metres long – gave access to the upper tiers, popularly called "the second ring". During construction, the realisation of the highest of the three tiers was abandoned and the number of visitors limited to 100,000. Then for security reasons, the capacity was reduced to 60,000 seats and 25,000 standing. On 2 March 1980 the stadium was named for Giuseppe Meazza (1910–1979), one of the most famous Milanese footballers. For a time, Inter fans called the stadium Stadio Meazza due to Meazza's stronger connections with Inter (14 years as a player, three stints as manager). However, in recent years both Inter and Milan fans have called the stadium simply San Siro. The last major renovation for the San Siro, which cost $60 million, took place between 1987 and 1990, f

In Their Own Story

The rain slicked the concrete ramps as Marco climbed toward the Curva Nord, the air thick with the scent of damp wool and roasting chestnuts. Below, the pitch glowed under the floodlights—a green rectangle of destiny waiting to be claimed. He remembered his grandfather’s voice cutting through the decades: "This is where Meazza danced." Now, Marco held a scarf aloft, joining thousands in a roar that didn't just greet the players; it swallowed them whole. The noise was physical, a pressure against the chest, vibrating up through the soles of their boots. In this cathedral of football, history wasn't just remembered; it breathed through every chant, every drumbeat, and the collective heartbeat of the Curva.

Reader's Guide

The San Siro is a UEFA category four stadium. It hosted three games at the 1934 FIFA World Cup, the opening ceremony and six games at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, three games at the UEFA Euro 1980 and four European Cup finals, in 1965, 1970, 2001 and 2016. The stadium also hosted the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, held in both Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Three Milan derby Champions League knockout ties have taken place at the San Siro, in 2003, 2005 and 2023 with Milan winning the first of two ties with the latter being won by Inter Milan. Inter's fans reacted to impending defeat in the 2005 second leg by throwing flares and other objects at Milan players and forcing the match to be abandoned; this earned the club a large fine and a four-game ban on spectators attending European fixtures there the following season. Apart from being used by Milan and Inter, the Italy national team occasionally plays matches there. It has also been used for the European Cup finals of 1965 (won by Inter), 1970 (won by Feyenoord), and the UEFA Champions League finals of 2001 (won by Bayern Munich) and 2016 (won by Real Madrid). The stadium was also used for the home leg of three UEFA Cup finals in which Inter was competing (1991, 1994, 1997) when these were played over two legs. It was also used by Juventus for their 'home' leg in 1995 as they decided against playing their biggest matches at their own Stadio delle Alpi at the time. On each occasion, apart from 1991, the second leg was played at the San Siro and the winners lifted the trophy there. However, the stadium has not yet been selected as the host stadium since the competition changed to a single-match final format in 1997–98. The San Siro has never hosted a final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but was the host stadium for the 1951 Latin Cup, a four-team event won by Milan. The city was also the venue for the 1956 edition of the Latin Cup (also won by Milan), but those matches were played at Arena Civica. In March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, the Associated Press dubbed the UEFA Champions League match between Bergamo club Atalanta and Spanish club Valencia at the San Siro on 19 February as "Game Zero". This was the first time Atalanta had progressed to the Champions League round of 16, and the match was attended by over 40,000 people – about one third of Bergamo's population. By 24 Mar

Did You Know?

• The stadium was inaugurated on 19 September 1926 with AC Milan defeating Inter 6–3 in front of 35,000 spectators.
• The spiralling ramps were added by Cino Calcaprina and Aldo Giordano between 1955 and 1956, not during the second extension by Ronca and Calzolari.