Maracanã

Rio de Janeiro's great football ground and stage for the 2016 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.

via Wikipedia: Maracanã Stadium · see source

The Maracanã, officially the Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is the football stadium in Rio de Janeiro that hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro state government and run by Flamengo and Fluminense, it sits in the Maracanã neighborhood next to the Maracanãzinho arena, which is mostly used for volleyball. Seating now stands at 73,139, yet it is still the largest stadium in Brazil. Its history spans World Cup finals, continental championships, club derbies and the biggest crowd ever recorded at a football match.

Quick Facts

Full name

Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho

Former names

Estádio Municipal (1950–1966)

Location

Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Public transit

Maracanã Station
SuperVia train services
Metrô Rio line 2

Owner

Rio de Janeiro State Government

Operator

Flamengo and Fluminense

Capacity

73,139

Record attendance

173,850 (officially)

Facts from the source article.

Background

Brazil built the stadium to host the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The first cornerstone went down on 2 August 1948, and a crew of 1,500, joined by another 2,000 near the end, raced to finish it. The ground opened on 16 June 1950, still missing toilets and a press box, and it was only fully completed in 1965. On 16 July 1950 Uruguay beat Brazil 2–1 in the deciding match before a record crowd of 210,850, a defeat Brazilians call the Maracanazo. The stadium took its official name in 1966 in honour of the journalist Mário Filho, who had campaigned for it to be built. Its popular name comes from the Maracanã River and a Tupi word for a local parrot.