The World's Biggest Football Stadium: Rungrado 1st of May Stadium | OneFootball

There are plenty of incredible structures around the globe that have hosted some of football's biggest teams and events over the years.

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And in the beautiful game, the stadium can play a pivotal part in a team's success on its very pitch with numbers of fans flooding in to support their clubs.

However, we are taking a look at the world's biggest football stadium, a North Korean masterclass that Kim Jong-Un can proudly boast about. The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium.

Olympics.com and Stadiumdb. Here is everything you need to know about the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium.

Location

The Rungrado 1st May Stadium is located in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on Rungra Island and first opened on the 1st May 1989, hence its name.

Life in Pyongyang is a mystery to most, with little tourism in the country due to the strict rules and regulations imposed.

Nevertheless, North Koreans will pack out their national stadium for football and athletics events, making the most of its gigantic capacity.

The stadium's main use however is for the mass games of the Arirang Festival which is a gymnastics and artistic event held that takes between August and September.

Design

The 16 arches in the stadium's scalloped roof are supposed to resemble a magnolia blossom and are arranged in a ring to do so.

Due to its sheer size and design, the stadium has a swimming pool, running track and indoor training centres for athletes, as well as a full-sized football pitch.

Nevertheless, most events are held on the pitch which covers 22,500 m2 (242,000 sq ft). Its total floor space is over 207,000 m2 (2,230,000 sq ft) which spans eight stories, and the lobes of its roof peak at more than 60m (200 ft) above the ground.

The turf surface is artificial, something which has drawn criticism in football fixtures around Europe for causing injuries to players during games.

Capacity

The stadium was originally built with an official capacity of 150,000. After a 2014 remodel which included the replacement of some bench seating with individual seats, observers estimated a new capacity of approximately 114,000.

Regardless of these changes, the stadium still ranks as the world's biggest football stadium. However, it's not used as much for football games as it should be.

It's giant capacity has seen the stadium break attendance records. For example, in 1995 the stadium played host to 190,000 spectators for the wrestling event "Collision in Korea", which was a world attendance record.

History

In July 2019, Kim Jong Un hosted Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping at the stadium for a special gymnastics and artistic performance called "invincible socialism".

The stadium also played host to an inter-Korean summit in 2018, which saw President Moon Jae-in of South Korea with Kim Jong Un in front of 150,000 spectators.

The most recent known event at the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium took place on New Year's Eve in December 2022 with a concert held in the grounds of the stadium.

All in all, considering his giant size and structure we think the stadium could be used a lot more for sporting events across the year.

Largest football stadiums in the world

With the North Korean powerhouse of a stadium coming out on top with how many fans it can hold, what other football stadiums around the world come close to it?

It's likely a new stadium will overtake the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in the future as the world's biggest football stadium, with vast structures being built every year. However, it holds the crown for now.

When it comes to football stadiums, the Rungrado sits on top of the pile. However, there is another sports stadium in the world that is just that bit bigger.

The Narendra Modi Stadium, or as it's commonly known the Motera Stadium, is the monstrous cricket stadium in India.

With a capacity of 132,000, the stadium plays host to events and cricket games in India most notably games in the 1987, 1996, and 2011 Cricket World Cups.