The Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes,
[ formerly known as Estadio Córdoba,][ is a stadium in the Chateau Carreras neighborhood of Córdoba, Argentina. Owned by the Córdoba Province, the venue is used mostly for association football and ]rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
matches and also sometimes for athletics.
The stadium was built in 1976 in preparation for the 1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...
, with a capacity for 37,851 spectators[ although it doesn't provide seating for all of them, like many Argentine stadiums.
Most football teams in Córdoba have their own stadiums but they usually prefer playing in this stadium for its size and comfort, especially when playing important games that attract big crowds. Generally, this stadium is used for Talleres' matches, and is used for Belgrano's, Instituto's and ]Racing
In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...
's matches. The Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' (), represents Argentina in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino ( ...
home matches have also been played here.
In 2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
and 2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
the stadium hosted some Special Stages of motorsport event named Rally Argentina
The Rally Argentina () is an Argentine rally competition that has been a round of the World Rally Championship, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championship. It is held in the ...
, a round of the World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...
.
During 2010 and 2011 the stadium went through a remodelling process. The field was sunken 4 metres, the iconic Autotrol scoreboards installed for the 1978 World Cup were replaced with modern video screens, new stands were built to improve the poor view caused by the shallow shape of the stadium and the capacity was increased to 57,000, becoming the third largest stadium in Argentina by seating capacity. It was re-opened on 26 June 2011, just 5 days before the start of the 2011 Copa América
The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...
. The stands were fully covered after the cup.
In October 2010 the name was changed to honour Mario Kempes
Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (, ; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker or Attacking Midfielder, attacking midfielder. A prolific g ...
, former Argentina national team player and top goal scorer of the 1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...
, who was also a native of Córdoba.
History
The construction of the stadium was commissioned to "Sánchez Elía-Peralta Ramos" Architects studio of Buenos Aires, which then associated with architects of Córdoba to carry out the project. In 1976, the military government of Argentina led by Jorge Rafael Videla, created a self-governing entity ("EAM 78") that took over remodelation and construction of stadium and buildings for the 1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...
that would be held in Argentina.[LOS 12 ESCANDALOS MAS FAMOSOS DE LAS COPAS DEL MUNDO]
by Alejandro Mayorga on Mundo Soccer
Apart from Estadio Olímpico, other stadiums to be refurbished for the World Cup were River Plate, Vélez Sarsfield, Ciudad de Mendoza, Mar del Plata Stadium. Since the projects were launched, costs of constructions raised to US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
520 million, five times higher than 1982 World Cup.
The stadium was finally inaugurated on 16 May 1978, in a match where Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
played a local combined. The first World Cup held in the ''Chateau Carreras'' stadium was the Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
3 v Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
1, on 3 June.
In October 2010 the Legislature of Córdoba Province approved the change of name of the stadium to " Mario Alberto Kempes" to honor the former footballer born in the province. That changed had been driven by local journalist Claudio Menditto on his article "A tribute for ''Matador''", published in 2008.
The Mario Kempes stadium was later refurbished in preparation for the 2011 Copa América
The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...
, and inaugurated on 26 July 2011. Works included positioning of roof on grandstands, and an expansion to 57,000 spectators. Besides, all the lightning was renovated.
In 2024, CA Talleres drew an average home attendance of 51,261 at the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes.
Sporting events
1978 FIFA World Cup
During the 1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...
, the stadium hosted two Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to:
* Alkaline earth metal
The alkaline earth metals are six chemical elements in group (periodic table), group 2 of the periodic table. They are beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (B ...
matches, three Group 4 Group 4 may refer to:
*Group 4 element
Group 4 is the second group of transition metals in the periodic table. It contains only the four elements titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), and rutherfordium (Rf). The group is also called the t ...
matches and three more during second round
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...
.
Other football events
The Mario Kempes Stadium hosted three Group B matches and a semi-final match during the 1987 Copa América; five group stage matches, two round of 16 matches, a quarter-final match and a semi-final match at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar del ...
and at the 2011 Copa America, the stadium hosted two Group B
Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...
matches, one Group A
Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...
match and a quarter-final match.
The stadium also held the 2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
and 2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
finals of the 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).
The first editions ...
, and the 2015 Supercopa Argentina. Besides, the stadium hosted the 2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
, where Defensa y Justicia were crowned champions after beating Lanús
Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, metropolitan area. The List of cities in Argentina, city has a populati ...
3–0, and 2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
finals of Copa Sudamericana
The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...
.
In 2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
the Stadium Mario Kempes hosted the Copa de la Liga Profesional final between Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...
and Tigre.[Final de la Copa LPF con Boca-Tigre: cuándo se juega, sede y todo lo que hay que saber]
TyC Sports, 15 May 2022
Rugby union
Mario Kempes Stadium has hosted several rugby union games of the Argentina national team. Likewise, Unión Cordobesa de Rugby
The Córdoba Rugby Union () (also known for its initials UCR) is the organisational body that rules the game of rugby union in Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba province of Argentina. Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, with a capacity of 57,000, i ...
used the stadium for defining instances of its annual championship, as well as its representative team played several matches against touring national sides.
Other sporting events
The 1982 World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level.
Founded ...
world Super-Bantamweight title fight between champion Sergio Palma and former WBA world Bantamweight champion Jorge Luján was held there. The fight was won by Palma on a unanimous decision after 15 rounds.
Facilities
The Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium is the center of a 40 hectares park and sports complex named Polo Deportivo Kempes, that includes the "Soledad García" provincial field hockey
Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
stadium, opened in 2012, that honors the two times world champion Soledad García; an Olympic-size swimming pool
An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champions ...
, opened in 2014 and named after the olympic medallist Georgina Bardach; an auxiliar field, located north of the main stadium, that hosts training and smaller football and rugby events; a BMX circuit, a running track, and basketball, volleyball and tennis facilities.
Since 2019, Polo Deportivo Kempes has hosted the Córdoba Open, a men's ATP World Tour 250 series
The ATP 250 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 250'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series'', and ''ATP World Series'') are the lowest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam (t ...
tournament played on outdoor clay courts.
Concerts
Music concerts hosted at the Mario Kempes stadium include:
See also
* List of association football stadiums by capacity
Notes
References
External links
Estadio Mario Kempes
on Municipality of Córdoba (archived)
Estadio Mario Kempes
on Córdoba Turismo
{{Authority control
e
Buildings and structures in Córdoba, Argentina
Sports venues completed in 1976
Event venues established in 1976
mario
Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
Rally Argentina
1976 establishments in Argentina