Maracanã Stadium

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Maracanã Stadium rose out of Rio de Janeiro in less than two years, built by a workforce of 1,500 workers with an additional 2,000 joining in the final frantic months. When it opened on the 16th of June 1950, it still lacked toilet facilities and a press box. The concrete was barely dry. Yet within a month, nearly 200,000 people had packed inside for a single football match, setting a record that has never been broken. How does a stadium become a symbol of an entire country's grief, pride, and ambition all at once? And how does a building designed for sport end up hosting Frank Sinatra, Pope John Paul II, and a legendary martial arts bout between a Japanese judoka and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu master? The story of the Maracanã cuts through the heart of Rio de Janeiro, across seven decades of football, music, and spectacle. What began as a rushed construction project for a single tournament grew into the largest stadium in Brazil and one of the defining physical spaces of the twentieth century.

• 2. Built on Controversy

  ›

  Carlos Lacerda, then a congressman and political adversary of Rio's mayor, opposed the project from the start. He argued against the expense and objected to the chosen site, insisting the stadium belonged in the West Zone neighborhood of Jacarepaguá. A tennis stadium stood on the land that was ultimately selected. Despite the criticism, the mayor, General Angelo Mendes de Morais, pushed ahead. The municipality of Rio de Janeiro opened the competition for the design and construction in 1947. The architectural contract went to seven Brazilian architects: Michael Feldman, Waldir Ramos, Raphael Galvao, Oscar Valdetaro, Orlando Azevedo, Pedro Paulo Bernardes Bastos, and Antonio Dias Carneiro. Engineer Humberto Menescal won the construction contract. The first cornerstone was laid on the 2nd of August 1948, leaving under two years before the first World Cup game. Work fell behind schedule quickly enough that FIFA sent Ottorino Barassi, the head of the Italian FA who had organized the 1934 World Cup, to help manage the chaos in Rio. Despite the stadium coming into partial use in 1950, full construction would not be completed until 1965, seventeen years after that first cornerstone.

• 3. The Maracanazo

  ›

  On the 16th of June 1950, the opening match saw Rio de Janeiro All-Stars beat Sao Paulo All-Stars 3-1. Didi scored the first ever goal at the stadium. Eight days later, on the 24th of June, the first World Cup match attracted 81,000 spectators. Brazil beat Mexico 4-0, with Ademir scoring in the 30th minute to claim the first competitive goal at the ground. Five of Brazil's six tournament games were played at Maracana, the exception being a 2-2 draw with Switzerland in Sao Paulo. Brazil progressed through the rounds until the decisive match on the 16th of July 1950 against Uruguay. Brazil needed only a draw to be crowned champions. Uruguay won 2-1. The official attendance that day was 199,854, with actual estimates placing the crowd closer to 210,000 - the largest gathering ever to watch a football match. The defeat on home soil passed immediately into national history under the name Maracanazo, roughly translated as "The Maracana Smash." The stadium at that time was mostly grandstands with no individual seats, and the crowd's silence after the final whistle has been described ever since as one of the most devastating sounds in Brazilian sport.

• 4. Records and Milestones

  ›

  On the 21st of March 1954, a match between Brazil and Paraguay set a new official attendance record when 183,513 spectators entered with a ticket. That figure was surpassed in 1963 when the Fla-Flu derby between Flamengo and Fluminense drew 194,603 people, a club attendance record that still stood as the venue's all-time figure. The stadium has seen attendances of 150,000 or more on 26 separate occasions and crowds exceeding 100,000 as many as 284 times. In 1969, Pele scored the 1,000th goal of his career at Maracana, against CR Vasco da Gama in front of 65,157 spectators. Two decades later, in 1989, Zico scored his final goal for Flamengo at the ground, bringing his career total at the stadium to 333, a record that still stood as of 2021. A railing in front of the stadium's upper tier collapsed on the 19th of July 1992 during the Campeonato Brasileiro finals between Botafogo and Flamengo, killing three spectators and injuring 50 others. That disaster prompted the conversion to an all-seater stadium in the late 1990s, drastically cutting capacity. The ground was classified as a national landmark in 1998, protecting it from demolition.

• 5. A Stage Beyond Football

  ›

  On the 23rd of October 1951, the Maracana hosted one of the most famous martial arts bouts in history. The vale tudo match between Japanese judoka Masahiko Kimura and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Helio Gracie drew a crowd that believed Gracie to be unbeatable. Kimura won by technical submission, breaking Gracie's arm with a gyaku-ude-garami hold; that technique has since been known worldwide as the Kimura lock in BJJ and mixed martial arts. On the 16th of January 1980, Frank Sinatra performed at the stadium to a crowd of 175,000, celebrating the venue's 30th anniversary. Pope John Paul II celebrated Masses at Maracana in 1980, 1987, and 1997. On the 18th of June 1983, Kiss performed for 137,000 fans, which remains the record attendance for the band; it was also the first major performance by an international rock band at the ground. That same year marked the last time Kiss performed in their signature makeup until the reunion of the original lineup at their 1996 Alive/Worldwide Tour. Tina Turner and Paul McCartney each made the Guinness Book of World Records with performances at Maracana: Turner's concert in January 1988 and McCartney's in April 1990 both drew over 180,000 people. Billy Graham preached at the stadium in 1960, and in 1974 set a record for single-day attendance with 225,000.

• 6. Renovation and Decay

  ›

  Following its 50th anniversary in 2000, the stadium underwent renovations lifting its capacity to around 103,000. After nine months of closure between 2005 and 2006, it reopened in January 2007 with an all-seated capacity of 87,000. For the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, a major reconstruction project began in 2010. The original two-tier seating bowl was demolished and replaced with a primarily one-tier configuration holding 78,639 spectators. The old concrete roof was removed and replaced with a fiberglass tensioned membrane coated with polytetrafluoroethylene, now covering 95% of seats. The new seating, colored yellow, blue, and white, combined with the green of the pitch to reflect the Brazilian national colors. The stadium hosted the 2014 World Cup final. Brazil, though, did not play in it, having lost 7-1 to Germany in the semi-finals. After the 2016 Olympics, the stadium sat dormant for months. Photos surfaced in early 2017 showing a dried-up, brown-spotted playing field, ripped-out seats, and broken windows. A debt of R$3 million to the local energy company caused the power to be cut off. Items looted from the stadium included fire extinguishers, televisions, and a bronze bust of journalist Mario Filho, for whom the venue was named. On the 5th of April 2017, the French group Lagardere signed an agreement to take over administration, committing to invest more than R$500 million by the end of a concession valid until 2048.

• 7. The Name Behind the Venue

  ›

  The popular name Maracana derives from the Maracana River, which originates in the jungle-covered hills to the west of Rio and crosses through neighborhoods such as Tijuca and Sao Cristovao via a concrete drainage canal before emptying into Guanabara Bay. The name itself comes from the indigenous Tupi word for a type of parrot that once inhabited the region. The official name, Estadio Jornalista Mario Filho, was given in September 1966 following the death of Mario Rodrigues Filho, the Pernambucan sports journalist and brother of Nelson Rodrigues who had campaigned loudly for the stadium's construction. In March 2021, the Rio de Janeiro state legislature voted to rename the venue the Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Rei Pele stadium. Edson Arantes do Nascimento was the 82-year-old's full name, and Rei means king in Portuguese. The name change required approval from the state governor to become official. The stadium's nickname also crossed continents: the stadium of Red Star Belgrade, known as the Red Star Stadium, is popularly called Marakana in direct honor of the Brazilian venue. The National Football League announced that the 2026 NFL International Series game in Brazil would take place at the stadium on the 27th of September 2026, featuring the Dallas Cowboys as the designated home team against the Baltimore Ravens.