Group match against Mamelodi Sundowns: 09 facts about the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati | OneFootball

01 Four Club World Cup matches The TQL Stadium will host a total of four group matches at the FIFA Club World Cup. In addition to BVB’s matches against Mamelodi Sundowns (June 21, 18:00 CEST) and Ulsan HD (June 25, 21:00 CEST), Bayern Munich have played their Club World Cup opening match against Auckland City in Cincinnati.

02 Second newest stadium in the Club World Cup Only one stadium used for the Club World Cup is newer: TQL Stadium opened in May 2021, with construction starting in December 2018. This makes the stadium in Cincinnati the second newest venue for the Club World Cup after Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee (construction started in 2020, opened in 2022) and 47 years younger than SIGNAL IDUNA PARK.

03 Home of FC Cincinnati The US soccer club FC Cincinnati, which was founded in 2015 and has been playing in Major League Soccer since 2019, have been at home in the TQL Stadium since its official opening in 2021. Cincinnati also owns the stadium, which is used for matches involving the US men’s and women’s national teams. Incidentally, SIGNAL IDUNA PARK has been the home of BVB since 1974.

04 Opening match against Inter Miami The first official match at TQL Stadium took place on May 16, 2021: FC Cincinnati faced Inter Miami. The club from Florida, on whose training ground BVB train during the Club World Cup, won the match 3-2.

05 Official name The TQL in the name of the TQL Stadium stands for the sponsor “Total Quality Logistics”, the logistics company founded in Cincinnati in 1997. The stadium has officially borne this name since 2021; during the planning and construction phase, the home of FC Cincinnati was also called “FC Cincinnati Stadium” or “West End Stadium”, as the stadium is located in the district of the same name.

06 Capacity The TQL Stadium has room for 26,000 fans at football matches and is therefore much smaller than the largest stadium in Cincinnati, the Paycor Stadium, where the Cincinnati Bengals American football team plays in front of 65,515 spectators. By comparison, the south stand at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK holds almost 25,000 spectators at BVB home matches, while the Dortmund stadium can hold a total of 81,365 fans.

07 Award-winning stadium In 2022, the TQL Stadium was awarded the title of “Best Venue of 2022” at the World Football Summit. A jury of experts awarded the title to FC Cincinnati's stadium based on the criteria fan experience, technological advances, match day operations, personal support, catering and fan experience. UNESCO also awarded the stadium the Prix Versailles, the world prize for architecture and design, in the sports category.

08 Concerts The TQL Stadium is not only the venue for football matches - concerts are also regularly held in Cincinnati's West End district. The first music event was the most famous: in May 2022, the English rock band “The Who” played at the TQL Stadium.

09 Ex-Borussian successful Ex-BVB player Christian Pulisic has already scored twice at the TQL Stadium: In the US national team’s friendly against New Zealand in September 2024 (final score 1-1), and before that, Pulisic scored the first goal of the game in a World Cup qualifier against Mexico in November 2021 (final score 2-0).