São Paulo, London, Rio, Madrid. What do all of these places have in common? They have a ton of soccer stadiums. But one city stands above the rest, with more stadiums with 10,000+ capacity than any other place in the world.
That city is Buenos Aires. El País recently reported that Argentina’s capital has more campos de fútbol than any other location, with 36 stadiums in the city center and suburbs combined. São Paulo has 15 in comparison; Madrid has just five.
Julio Frydenberg, professor at Universidad de Buenos Aires and author of Historia social del fútbol, stated that this may be the case because Argentina upholds a British tradition wherein clubs compete in their own stadiums. “Aquí [Buenos Aires] hubo mucha lucha de los clubes por conseguir su terreno y construir las tribunas, con ayuda de los vecinos y de mecenas,” he said in the same El País article.
Here is a list of the five of the biggest stadiums that Buenos Aires has to offer. Congratulations, Buenos Aires, if your stadium count is telling, you just might be the most fútbol-obsessed city in the world!
1
Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti / Estadio Monumental: River Plate
Capacity: 61,000+
2
Estadio Juan Domingo Perón / El Cilindro: Racing Club de Avellaneda
Capacity: 51,000+
3
Estadio José Amalfitani: Vélez Sársfield
Capacity: 49,000+
4
Estadio Alberto J. Armando / La Bombonera: Boca Juniors
Capacity: 49,000
5
Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó: Club Atlético Huracán
Capacity: 48,000+