The Estádio José Alvalade (; ') is a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
stadium in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, Portugal, home of
Sporting Clube de Portugal
Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries, . It was built adjacent to the site of the
older stadium. The stadium is named after
José Alvalade (1885–1918), the founder and first club member of Sporting CP in the early 20th century.
Origin
The previous José Alvalade Stadium was opened on 10 June 1956. Plans by
Sporting CP
Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries, to modernize the club in the late 1990s coincided with the decision to award Portugal the right to host
UEFA Euro 2004
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...
, but the decision to build a new stadium, was made before. The construction beginning on 15 January 2001. The club's statutes dictated that the stadium would be called Estádio José Alvalade. It would be the club's seventh stadium.
History
The stadium is the center of a complex called Alvalade XXI, designed by Portuguese architect
Tomás Taveira, which includes a mall called Alvaláxia with a 12-screen movie theater, a health club, the club's museum, a sports pavilion, a clinic, and an office building. The new Alvalade stadium cost €184 million to build, around €80 million more than originally planned, of which €17,907,915 was supported from the
Portuguese state. On the exterior, the stadium featured multicoloured tiles which were later removed. In 2021, Sporting CP announced that it would change the colour of the seats in the multicoloured stands of Estádio José Alvalade to green (the main colour of the sports club). The colour change was completed in 2022. Originally the seats were arranged in a random-looking mosaic of mixed colours, however during its second decade of use these were all gradually changed to dark green, with the roof support towers and access stairways, initially bright yellow, also repainted green in 2011.
Although it eventually received a fifth star becoming a
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
5-star stadium, it was initially classified by UEFA as a 4-star stadium. The stadium – originally projected to hold 42,000 spectators at any given time – has a capacity of 50,095 and was acoustically engineered as a venue for major concerts. The stadium has also a total of 1,315 underground parking spaces, including 30 for disabled spectators.
The new stadium official opening was on 6 August 2003 when Sporting played and beat
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
3–1.
Luís Filipe scored the first-ever goal at the new Estádio José Alvalade in that
friendly win against Manchester United playing alongside Sporting Portugal's teammate
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...
, then aged 18, who made his last appearance for the Portuguese club on that same day.
The stadium hosted five matches of UEFA Euro 2004, one of them being the semi-final between
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
and the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, which Portugal won 2–1. In May 2005, the stadium was upgraded to 5-star stadium status by UEFA, the same month it hosted the
2005 UEFA Cup Final between Sporting and
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...
, which CSKA Moscow won 3–1.
It hosted quarter-finals and semi-finals matches during the
2019–20 UEFA Champions League
The 2019–20 UEFA Champions League was the 65th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 28th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
Bayern Munich ...
.
On May 24, 2025 it hosted the
2025 UEFA Women's Champions League final
The 2025 UEFA Women's Champions League final was the final match of the 2024–25 UEFA Women's Champions League, the 24th season of Europe's premier women's club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 16th season since it was renamed from ...
.
The stadium is one of the potential venues for the
2030 FIFA World Cup
The 2030 FIFA World Cup will be the 24th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA.
Three countries will host the competition, representing, for the ...
which Portugal will co-host along with Morocco and Spain.
International matches
Portugal national team matches
The following
national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
matches were held in the stadium.
UEFA Euro 2004
Notable matches
First match
2005 UEFA Cup Final
2025 UEFA Women's Champions League Final
Seating distribution
* Disabled Seats – 50
* Skybox Seats – 1,542
* VIP and Business Seats – 1,968
* Tribune Seats – 100
* Public Seats (Level A) – 24,261
* Public Seats (Level B) – 21,970
* Press Seats – 204
Transport
The Stadium is served by the
Campo Grande
Campo Grande (, ) is a city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, central and western Regions of Brazil, region of Brazil, Capital city, capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Historically a Fortification, stronghold of Separatism, separatists ...
station
of the
Lisbon Metro
The Lisbon Metro () is a rapid transit system in Lisbon, Portugal. Opened in December 1959, it was the first rapid transit system in Portugal.
, the system's four lines total of route and serve 56 stations.
History
Initial plans
The idea ...
and a bus terminal served by several companies. The ''Segunda Circular'', a major ring road of Lisbon, runs close by and the stadium can be reached via the exit Estádio de Alvalade. There are several car parks around the stadium.
It is a relatively short distance (3 km) from the
Estádio da Luz
The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, Ben ...
, homeground of rivals
S.L. Benfica
(), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football.
Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...
.
References
External links
Sporting CP – official website(archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estadio Jose Alvalade
Jose Alvalade
Sporting CP
Sports venues in Lisbon
Sports venues completed in 2003