The Seoul World Cup Stadium (), also known as Sangam Stadium, is a stadium used mostly 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. The venue is located in 240, World Cup-ro,

Mapo-gu Mapo District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Mapo has a population of 381,330 (2015) and has a geographic area of 23.87 km2 (9.22 sq mi), and is divided into 24 '' dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Mapo is located in ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea. It was built for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and opened on November 10, 2001. It is currently the second largest stadium in South Korea after

Seoul Olympic Stadium The Seoul Olympic Stadium (), also known as Jamsil Olympic Stadium (formerly romanised as ''Chamshil''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Seoul, South Korea. It is the main stadium built for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1986 Asian Games, 10th ...

, and is the 2nd largest rectangular stadium in Asia. It was designed to represent the image of a traditional Korean

kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...

. The stadium has a capacity of 66,704 seats, including 816 seats for VIP, 754 seats for press and 75 private Sky Box rooms, each with a capacity for 12 to 29 persons. Due to table seats installation, capacity was reduced from 66,806 seats to 66,704 seats in February 2014. Since the World Cup it has been managed by the Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation (SMFMC). FC Seoul moved to the Seoul World Cup Stadium in 2004.

Design

The Seoul World Cup Stadium, the 2nd largest

football-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-p ...

in Asia, proudly exhibits its Korean roots. The roof has the unique shape of a traditional Korean kite, is 50 meters high, is supported by 16 masts, and covers 90% of the stadium's seats. Clad with fiberglass fabric and polycarbonate glazing its looks as if it is made out of hanji – traditional Korean paper. At nighttime, illuminations bathe the stadium in a warm, soft light, much like the light shining through the paper of a traditional Korean lamp.

Notable football events

2002 FIFA World Cup

The Seoul World Cup Stadium was one of the venues of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:

2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup

The Seoul World Cup Stadium was one of the venues of the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and held the following matches:

2013 AFC Champions League Final

The Seoul World Cup Stadium was the first leg venue of the 2013 AFC Champions League Final.

Tenants

* The home of Korea Republic national football team since 2001. * The home of

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

club FC Seoul since 2004.

Events

* 2004: Sangam CGV Multiplex Cinema in the World Cup Mall at the Stadium was used as the filming location for Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS)'s drama ''

Lovers in Paris ''Lovers in Paris'' () is a 2004 South Korean television series starring Kim Jung-eun, Park Shin-yang and Lee Dong-gun. It aired on SBS from 12 June to 15 August 2004 on Saturdays and Sundays at 21:55 for 20 episodes. The series is the firs ...

''. It was used as the cinema CSV of Baek Seung-kyung, Ki-joo's ex-wife, played by

Park Shin-yang Park Shin-yang (; born November 1, 1968) is a South Korean actor. He majored in acting at Dongguk University in South Korea and studied at the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School in Russia. From 1996 he won a number of acting awards in ...

, also where Tae-young, played by

Kim Jung-eun Kim Jung-eun (born March 4, 1976) is a South Korean actress best known for her roles in the film ''Marrying the Mafia'' (2002) and the television series ''Lovers in Paris'' (2004), '' I am Legend'' (2010) and '' Make a Woman Cry''. In 2008, Kim ...

, worked and had the pajama party. * 4th, 5th, and 6th Asia Song Festival, organised by Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE), from 2007 to 2009. * 2009 Dream Concert – 10 October 2009 * 2010 Dream Concert – 22 May 2010 * 2011 Dream Concert – 28 May 2011 * 2012 Dream Concert – 12 May 2012 *

Psy Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...

's Happening Concert – 13 April 2013 * 2013 Dream Concert – 11 May 2013 * 2014 Dream Concert's 20th Anniversary: I Love Korea – 7 June 2014 *

SM Town Live World Tour IV SM Town Live World Tour IV was the 2014–15 worldwide live concert tour by SM Town. The tour commenced with one show in Seoul and then continued in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hsinchu. Background SM Town is the name for the artists under Korean reco ...

– 15 August 2014 * 2014 League of Legends World Championship finals – 19 October 2014 * 2015 I Love Korea Dream Concert – 23 May 2015 * 70th anniversary of Independence I Am Korea Concert – 15 August 2015 *

Sechs Kies Sechs Kies (pronounced as ; ko, 젝스키스) is a first generation South Korean boy band. Making their debut on April 15, 1997, they are one of the first K-pop idol groups, credited with pioneering the idol scene and fandom culture. The grou ...

's Reunion Concert – 14 April 2016 * 2016 I Love Korea Dream Concert – 4 June 2016 * Big Bang concert

0.TO.10 0.TO.10 was the tenth concert tour by South Korean boy band Big Bang that was held to celebrate the group's tenth anniversary. The tour visited Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong from July 2016 to January 2017. The shows were live-streamed throug ...

– 20 August 2016 * 2017 Dream Concert – 3 June 2017 *

G-Dragon Kwon Ji-yong (; born August 18, 1988), also known by his stage name G-Dragon (지드래곤), is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and fashion designer, known as the " King of K-pop". G-Dragon is the recipi ...

concert – Act III: M.O.T.T.E World Tour – 10 June 2017 *

SM Town SM Town (stylized as SMTOWN) is a musical collective for the recording artists under South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment. SM Town artists have performed at the annual SM Town Live world tours since the SM Town Live '08 Asia tour ...

Live World Tour VI – 8 July 2017 * 2018 Dream Concert – 12 May 2018 * 2019 Dream Concert – 18 May 2019 * BTS pre-recorded performance for the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards - 6 December 2020

References

External links

Seoul World Cup Stadium Official Website

Seoul World Cup Stadium official website
{{coord, 37, 34, 05.6, N, 126, 53, 50.5, E, region:KR_type:landmark, display=title Football venues in South Korea 2002 FIFA World Cup stadiums in South Korea Stadiums that have hosted a FIFA World Cup opening match South Korea national football team S3 Rugby union in South Korea Sports venues in Seoul Buildings and structures in Mapo District Sports venues completed in 2001 2001 establishments in South Korea Esports venues in South Korea K League 1 stadiums