For every soccer fanatic, a true lover of the magical soccer game, stadiums represent, at the very least, the same as places of worship for believers.
You can hardly find more love, hope, faith, or hatred in one place than in a soccer stadium. How else to describe fanaticism, passion, and emotions? Scientifically challenging to explain even by the world’s most eminent sociologists.
And everything starts from the stadium, where even in calm, composed people, the blood inexplicably boils, and the spirit of a football fan is awakened.
5. Real Madrid vs Juventus – 1962 (attendance 130.000)
Although Barcelona has the largest stadium in Spain, Real Madrid’s stadium has a record attendance for a football match in Spain.
It was a match in the quarter-finals of the European Cup on February 26, 1962. It was a close match, and despite the huge support from the stands, Juventus was the winner.
4. East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan – 1997 (attendance 134.000)
Football isn’t as popular a sport in India as some other sports like cricket, but this match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan or famously known as “The Kolkata Derby,” is among the most attended football matches of all time.
It was a Federation Cup semifinals match in 1997, and the home side of East Bengal won. Amazingly, even 134.000 people managed to enter the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, and at the time, it was the most-watched sports event in India and Asia.
3. Benfica vs Porto – 1987 (attendance 135.000)
Benfica and Porto in Portugal are like Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. Their matches are always at the centre of attention.
This “O classico” in 1987 will be remembered forever because 135.000 people attended it. The match was played at the old Benfica stadium Estadio Da Luz which was demolished in 2003 when Benfica got a new stadium.
Benfica won the game and the title that season with only 3 points ahead of its biggest rival Porto.
2. Scotland vs England – 1937 (attendance 149.415)
Interestingly, the crowd at the match between Scotland and England at Hampden Park was one-third of England.
Wales has already won the British championship, so this match wasn’t really important, but the rivalry between these countries is bigger than that.
In a tight game, Scotland won 3:1, and the only fans that saw it were the ones in the stadium, as this match wasn’t broadcast on TV. It’s the most attended football match in Europe.
1. Brazil vs Uruguay – 1950 (attendance 199.854)
The World Cup in 1950 had one of the most shocking results, and Brazil was already preparing to celebrate the champion title when it was given the host.
In the final match in Maracana, almost 200.000 people gathered to watch the first World Cup final after the war. When it was all over, the entire stadium was in tears.
The whole stadium was crying in a display of mass hysteria, which was an unusual sight that is still talked about to this day and which probably played an important role in the global promotion of football.
And his coronation as the king of sports in general. Uruguay won the trophy in front of 199.854 Brazilian fans, a world record for the most-attended football match in history.