Malvinas Argentinas Stadium ( es, Estadio Malvinas Argentinas) is a

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in the city of Mendoza in the homonymous province of Argentina. With a seating capacity of 42,000 spectators, the stadium is the largest in Mendoza. Built for the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

, It is owned and administrated by the Provincial Government.Estadio Malvinas Argentinas de Mendoza: cómo es y cuánta capacidad tiene
3 Nov 2021 on Goal.com The venue is mostly used for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

matches, although it has hosted some

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

games during

The Rugby Championship The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a ...

, as well as music concerts.Cuando tocaron en Mendoza los gigantes del rock
by Federico Fayad on Los Andes, 14 Oct 2018 In Primera División matches, local club Godoy Cruz plays their home matches at Malvinas Argentinas in some occasions.

History

Argentina was chosen as the host nation of the 1978 World Cup by FIFA in London, England on 6 July 1966. Mendoza, as one of the largest cities in the country, was selected as a venue. The organizing committee, under supervision of the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the ...

that ruled Argentina since 1976, proposed a new stadium to be built by the Cerro de la Gloria, in

General San Martín Park The Parque General San Martín is a park located in the city of Mendoza, Argentina. Overview The construction of the park, originally named ''Parque del Oeste'' (Western park), began on December 6, 1896, under the direction of the landscape ar ...

, taking advantage of the topography of a natural depression located on the slopes of the hill. Beside the stadium itself, the project included new access roads, parking lots, a training auxiliar field and other complementary works. The stadium was designed by Uruguayan Rafael Viñoly, and its construction began in 1976. Originally named "Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza" ("City of Mendoza Stadium") it was opened on May 14, 1978 with a friendly match between a team formed by players from Mendoza and another one with players from San Rafael. During June 1978, Mendoza hosted six Fifa World Cup matches, three first round matches and three second round matches. That same year

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima (usually known as Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza) is an Argentine football club located in the city of Mendoza. They currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football leag ...

became the first team from Mendoza to play a first division match at the stadium. Other teams from Mendoza that have reached the first division and used the Malvinas Argentinas as a home stadium since are

Independiente Rivadavia Club Sportivo Independiente Rivadavia (mostly known simply as Independiente Rivadavia) is a football club from Mendoza, Argentina. The team currently plays in Primera B Nacional, the second major league in Argentine Football league system. In ...

, Huracán Las Heras,

San Martín de Mendoza Atlético Club San Martín (popularly known as San Martín de Mendoza) is a football club from the city of San Martín in Mendoza Province, Argentina. The team currently plays in the Torneo Argentino B, which is the regionalised fourth division ...

, and Godoy Cruz. After the 1982 Falklands War, the stadium was renamed "Estadio Malvinas Argentinas". The new name reflects Argentina's claims of

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

over the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

(''Islas Malvinas'' in Spanish). During the 1993–94 Primera División season

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

, original from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, played their home matches in Malvinas Argentinas stadium after an agreement signed with sports communications company

Torneos y Competencias Torneos y Competencias S.A. (abbreviated TyC, also referred as Torneos) is an Argentine sports communications firm created by businessman Carlos Ávila, associated with Jose Santoro, and Héctor Dayan. It is an important force in the world of Arge ...

. TyC offered Argentinos Juniors (which had serious financial problems in those times) to hire several players loaning them to the club. In return, Argentinos had to move to Mendoza to play their home games so TyC considered there were more supporters in that Province than in Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, things do not work out as expected and the experience was unsuccessful with low attendances and money losses. Estadio Malvinas Argentinas

In 1994, Mendoza started hosting the annual Torneos de Verano (Summer Tournaments), hosting several editions of the competition. In 2011, Godoy Cruz qualified for the Copa Libertadores and the stadium hosted for the first time an international club competition. The Mendocenean club qualified to the most important continental tournament once again in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and took part of the 2011 and 2014 Copa Sudamericana; Godoy Cruz has played all of its home matches for international competitions at the Malvinas Argentinas stadium. In the 2016–17 season, Godoy Cruz drew an average home league attendance of 16,000.

Renovation

The stadium was renovated for the 2011 Copa América held in Argentina. Among other works during the renovation all the seats were replaced, the bathrooms were reconstructed, the roof of the stadium was repaired and a new 128 m2 LED screen was installed, being during that time the largest of its kind in South America.

Sporting events

The stadium was built for the

and during June 1978 Mendoza it hosted six matches, three

group 4 Group 4 may refer to: *Group 4 element, chemical element classification *Group 4 (racing), classification for cars in auto racing and rallying * G4S, formerly Group 4 Securicor, a prominent British security company *IB Group 4 subjects The Group 4 ...

matches and three second round matches.

1978 FIFA World Cup

Apart from the

, Malvinas Argentinas stadium has hosted several sporting events, being one of the venues for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, the 2011 Copa América and the 2013 South American Youth Football Championship. The Argentina national football team has played several friendly matches in Mendoza but only one official match: it was on 2012 against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

for the

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

. Local team Godoy Cruz used the Malvinas Argentinas as venue during their home matches in the 2011 and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Copa Libertadores, and

2011 Copa Sudamericana The 2011 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2011 Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 10th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organize ...

. The stadium also hosted several

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qual ...

matches, and the 2017 Supercopa Argentina.

Rugby union

Estadio Malvinas Argentinas has hosted several

games, most of them

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

tests and some Cuyo RU team against touring sides. On the other hand, the final and 3rd place match of the 2005 Under 21 Rugby World Championship were played at this stadium, while the rest of the tournament was held in smaller different stadiums of Mendoza province. Estadio Malvinas Argentinas 2012

Concerts

The stadium played host to Amnesty International's

Human Rights Now! Human Rights Now! was a worldwide tour of twenty benefit concerts on behalf of Amnesty International that took place over six weeks in 1988. Held not to raise funds but to increase awareness of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on it ...

Benefit Concert on October 14, 1988. The show was headlined by Sting and Peter Gabriel and also featured Bruce Springsteen & The

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. Chapman is best known for her hit singles "Fast Car" and "Give Me One Reason". Chapman was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she released ...

and

Youssou N'Dour Youssou N'Dour (, wo, Yuusu Nduur; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine describe ...

. Other artists that have played at the Malvinas Argentinas are

Soda Stereo Soda Stereo is an Argentine rock band formed in Buenos Aires in 1982 by Gustavo Cerati (lead vocals, guitar), Héctor "Zeta" Bosio (bass) and Carlos Alberto Ficicchia "Charly Alberti" (drums). As the first Hispanic group to achieve mainstrea ...

(1989),

Fito Páez Rodolfo Páez Ávalos, popularly known as Fito Páez (; born 13 March 1963), is an Argentine popular rock and roll pianist, lyricist, singer-songwriter and film director. Biography Early career Paez was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province; hi ...

(1989), Luis Miguel (1999), Charly García (2000),

Divididos Divididos ("Divided") is an Argentine rock band.El Polaco Goyeneche fue el pri ...

(2003),

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

(2007),Concerts at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas
on Guestpectacular website

Joaquín Sabina Joaquín Ramón Martínez Sabina (born 12 February 1949) is a Spanish musician, singer, composer, and poet. His songs usually treat about love, heartbreaks and society with a large usage of literary figures similarly to the baroque-literature st ...

with

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style ...

(2007),

Chayanne Elmer Figueroa Arce (born June 28, 1968), better known under the stage name Chayanne, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer and actor. As a solo artist, Chayanne has released 21 albums and sold over 50 million records worldwide, making him one of ...

(2007),Chayanne llega al país para presentar Mi tiempo
at El Sol, 26 Sep 2007 Maná (2011),Maná tocó en Mendoza para un público "apasionado" que se rindió a sus pies
on Sitio Andino and

Ricardo Arjona Edgar Ricardo Arjona Algadeoro (born 19 January 1964), known as Ricardo Arjona (), is a Guatemalan singer-songwriter. Arjona is one of the most successful and best-selling Latin American artists of all time, with more than 80 million records so ...

(2014),Arjona llega mañana a la Argentina con 17 conciertos por todo el país
8 Sep 2014 on Télam The main event of the 2012 Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia was held at this stadium.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 32, 53, 22.43, S, 68, 52, 47.98, W, type:landmark, display=title Malvinas Argentinas Malvinas Argentinas Malvinas Argentinas Rugby union stadiums in Argentina Buildings and structures in Mendoza Province Sport in Mendoza, Argentina 1978 establishments in Argentina Sports venues completed in 1978