The Estadio Akron, formerly known as the Estadio Omnilife and Estadio Chivas (''Estadio Chivas'', ), is a multipurpose stadium that is used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches. It is the home of

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

side

C.D. Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divi ...

. It is part of the JVC complex, and has a capacity of 48,071. Construction started in February 2004, but due to financial problems and other issues, the stadium's completion was delayed for a number of years. The stadium hosted its first major international event with the first leg of the 2010 Finals of the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

, and hosted the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...

and

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ceremonies. The stadium's artificial field caused great controversy, drawing criticism from many notable players, and in May 2012, it was announced that the stadium would replace the artificial turf with natural grass. The stadium is also expected to host some matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

History

In February 2004,

announced that it would construct a new stadium of its own, intending to leave

Estadio Jalisco The Jalisco Stadium is a football stadium located in Guadalajara, Mexico. It is the third largest Mexican football stadium behind Estadio Azteca and Estadio Olímpico Universitario. The facility is located in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, 4 ...

. Construction on the stadium did not begin until May 2007. The third public football match at the stadium was a friendly between Guadalajara and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 30 July 2010. Guadalajara won the game 3–2, with the first goal at the stadium scored by Javier "Chicharito" Hernández playing for Guadalajara. This match was held to represent Hernández's transfer from Guadalajara to Manchester United, with Hernández playing the first half for Guadalajara and switching sides to Manchester United in the second half, thus symbolically sealing his transfer contract that had been signed in March 2010. The stadium hosted 8 matches of the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991. It was held in Mexico with games being played amongst various venues ...

, including a semifinal, between

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 ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It was also the venue of the opening and closing ceremonies of the

, where it also hosted all the matches of both men's and women's football tournament. In May 2012, following criticism regarding the artificial field, it was announced that the stadium would replace the artificial turf with natural grass. The replacement was complete by July. In December 2017, the stadium changed its name from Estadio Omnilife to Estadio Akron, after signing a sponsorship deal with a car lubricants firm for 10 years.

2026 FIFA World Cup

Estadio Akron will host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

International matches

Mexico national football team

Images

References

External links

* {{2026 FIFA World Cup stadiums C.D. Guadalajara Football venues in Mexico Sports venues in Guadalajara, Jalisco Sports venues completed in 2010 Venues of the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games opening ceremony stadiums 2026 FIFA World Cup Stadiums Zapopan 2010 establishments in Mexico