The 10 Largest Football Stadiums In The World

This hub takes a quick look at the ten largest football stadiums in the world, and follows on from the hubpages The 10 Largest English Football Stadiums and The 10 Biggest Nascar Stadiums. The stadiums featured on this list are truly terrific, but I have to admit to not knowing that most existed before writing! Each is a stunning example of modern architecture, and each and every one worthy of worldwide acclaim. Read on and take a look, and don't forget to leave a comment at the end!

The Rungrado May Day Stadium is located in Pyongyang, North Korea, and is actually a multi-purpose stadium which is also used for other sports including athletics. With a capacity of 150,000 it is not only the largest football stadium in the world but also the largest non auto-racing stadium in the world. It is currently used by the North Korean National football team.

The Salt Lake Stadium in West Bengal, India, is also a multi-use stadium and has a capacity of 120,000. It is, like the Rungrado Stadium, also used for athletics. The stadium was completed in 1984 and consists of a three tier configuration. The Salt Lake Stadium is primarily used as a football stadium with three of the big clubs in Indian football using the stadium, these clubs being Mohun Bagan AC, East Bengal FC and Mohammedan SC. The stadium is also often used by the Indian national team and important national games, such as cup finals.

The Estadio Azteca is located in Mexico City, Mexico, and is the official home stadium of both the Mexican National Team and Mexican league team Club America. The first game in the stadium was played on May 26th 1966 and it originally had a capacity of 114,000, this had to be reduced later to 105,000 for safety reasons. The stadium has been used for a wide variety of major events, including the 1968 Summer Olympics, the 1970 FIFA World Cup and the 1986 FIFA World Cup

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is located in... err, well.. Melbourne of course. The stadium is remembered internationally for being the centrepiece of the 1956 Summer Olympics and more recently the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and holds 100,000 people. It is used primarily for Cricket and Australian Rules Football but makes this list due to the Australian National Football Team using it for many of its competitive games

The Azardi Stadium in Tehran is home to the Iran national football team as well as two professional Iranian teams, Persepolis F.C. and Esteghlal F.C. It was completed in 1971 and holds 100,000 people. It was originally built for the 1974 Asian games which Iran hosted and had a capacity of 110,000, this was reduced to 90,000 following the installation of seats in the lower tiers of the stadium in 2003.

Bukik Jalil National Stadium is located in the Malaysian city of, well Bukik Jalil! It was opened in 1998 to coincide with the 1998 Commonwealth games which was hosted in the country. The stadium holds 100,000 people, is all seated, and is multi-purpose. It is primarily used now as the home of the Malaysian National Football Team, but is also used for a variety of other sporting events and concerts; Gwen Stefani amongst the major acts to play there.

The Camp Nou, often called the 'Nou Camp' by English speaking people, is the home of Spanish giants FC Barcelona and has been since its construction in 1957. It is rated by FIFA as a 5-star stadium and has hosted a number of important matches including International games and some UEFA Champions League finals. The stadiums capacity of 98,772 makes it the largest stadium in Europe. When the stadium first opened it had a capacity of 93,053 before rising to 105,000 for the 1982 FIFA World Cup which was hosted in the country. The outlawing of standing in football grounds in the late 1990's saw the ground capacity reduced to just below 99,000. Other major events at the stadium include sell out concerts (with artists including Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra) and in 1982 a congregation with Pope John Paul II.

The Maracana is a stadium in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which holds 96,000 people. It was first opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup but has mainly been used since to host the matches between the largest clubs in Rio De Janeiro (including Flamengo, Botafogo, Vasco De Gama and Fluminese). The stadium once held an astonishing 200,000 people and the attendance at the 1950 FIFA World Cup final was 199,854. Despite the reduction in capacity the stadium is still the largest in South America and is due to hold the World Cup Final in the 2014 World Cup; it will become only the second stadium to host the World Cup Final twice.

The Beijing National Stadium, also affectionally known as 'The Bird's Nest' is a stadium in Beijing, China. The stadium was built to host the 2008 Summer Olympics and is the world's largest steel structure. Since the Olympics the stadium has had trouble attracting events so there are plans to incorporate a shopping mall and a hotel, it remains to be seen whether this development will reduce the capacity of 91,000. Technically the stadium should probably not be on this list, as no football team has a tenancy, although the ground did hold the 2009 Italian Supercoppa final and the 2008 Olympic Men's Soccer tournament.

Wembley Stadium, which is located in London, was completed in 2007 and replaced the previous famous 'Wembley Stadium'. Wembley is primarily a football stadium and is owned by The Football Association (FA). The stadium hosts England's home international matches and the main English domestic cup finals. It is also used for various other sporting events and concerts. Its capacity of 90,000 makes it the second largest in Europe and is the largest stadium in the world to have every seat covered. In 2011 Wembley will host the UEFA Champions League Final. It will also be used to host many of the events at the forthcoming 2012 London Summer Olympics. For a further look at English football stadiums, visit 'The 10 Largest English Football Stadiums'