• City: Sao Paulo
• Capacity: 65,807
• Year Built: 2014
• Average June Temperature:17C (celsius)
The eyes of the world will be on the Arena de Sao Paulo – otherwise known as the Arena Corinthians – when it hosts the opening game of the 2014 finals between Brazil and Croatia on June 12.
However, the stadium has been in the spotlight for less desirable reasons in the build-up to the World Cup.
The subject of plenty of wrangling in the initial design and scoping stage, the construction of the Arena de Sao Paulo made international headlines in November 2013 when an accident involving a crane resulted in a partial collapse of the east building, killing two workers.
It was also one of the stadiums that missed the FIFA-imposed deadline of December 2013 for completion, with final construction pushed back to April 2014.
As well as Brazil’s high-profile opener against Croatia, the stadium will host group matches for Uruguay against England, the Netherlands’ fixture with Chile and Belgium’s battle with South Korea, together with a last-16 clash and one of the semi-finals.
Sao Paulo itself is one of the most populated cities in the world and has a rich footballing history, with Sao Paulo, Corinthians and Palmeiras boasting 19 national titles between them.
Corinthians will inherit the stadium after the tournament, with 20,000 temporary seats set to be removed to make it suitable for club football. Click below for a view of the stadium courtesy of google maps.
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