Arena Națională


Arena Națională is a retractable roof football stadium in Bucharest, Romania, which opened in 2011, on the site of the original Stadionul Național, which was demolished from 2007 to 2008. The stadium hosts major football matches including home matches of the Romania national football team, and the Cupa României Final. The stadium is also the home of Liga I football clubs FCSB and Dinamo București.
With 55,634 seats, it is the largest football stadium in Romania. Designed by Gerkan, Marg and Partners, the stadium was built by German firm Max Bögl and Italian firm Astaldi. The stadium has a retractable roof.
A UEFA category four stadium, Arena Națională hosted the 2012 UEFA Europa League Final, and will host four games at UEFA Euro 2020. The stadium also hosts music concerts.

Construction

The old stadium was demolished between 18 December 2007 and 20 February 2008, although a symbolic removal of seats took place on 21 November 2007, after Romania defeated Albania 6–1 in a qualifying match for Euro 2008.
The construction phase generated some controversy over costs and delays, with Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu claiming that the works were 20 weeks behind schedule in May 2009.
On 8 October 2009, it was decided that the stadium should also include a retractable roof worth €20,000,000.
Construction was temporarily halted in December 2009 due to unfavorable weather conditions.

Facilities

The venue holds 55,634 people. 3,600 VIP seats are available, with another 126 seats allotted for the press. The stadium includes some 360 restrooms and a retractable roof, which can be opened or closed in 15 minutes. It is also endowed with a floodlight system and 2100 parking spaces. The roof design is very similar to that of the National Stadium in Warsaw. These two stadiums also have a similar capacity and age.

Usage

The National Stadium is a Category 4 venue and as such, it hosted the UEFA Europa League 2011–12 final, as announced by UEFA at Nyon on 29 January 2009. It was required to host at least two major events beginning in July 2011, one with an attendance of 10,000 and the second with an attendance of at least 40,000.

History

The official inauguration was initially scheduled for 10 August 2011, and was to feature a football match between Romania and Argentina.
However, on 26 July, Argentina officially cancelled the friendly match after their manager Sergio Batista departed the team, so the stadium was instead inaugurated on 6 September 2011, with a UEFA Euro 2012 Group D qualifier match between Romania and France. The game ended 0–0 in front of a crowd of 49,137.

Notable high audience matches

The highest audience for a football game was achieved at the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match between Romania and Netherlands, hosted on 16 October 2012, which brought 53,329 people to the stadium.
The 2nd highest audience was achieved at the UEFA Europa League Final hosted on 9 May 2012. The game between the two Spanish teams, Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, brought 52,347 people to the stadium.

Association Football

;Notes

Romania national football team matches

On 6 September 2011, the Romanian national football team, played the opening match against the French team which ended with a goalless draw, after Argentina cancelled the official inauguration, a friendly match between Romania and Argentina on 10 August 2011.
NrCompetitionDateOpponentAttendanceResultScorers for Romania
1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying6 September 201149,1370–0–
2UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying7 October 201129,8462–22 x Adrian Mutu
3Friendly29 January 201215,0001–1Bogdan Stancu
42014 FIFA World Cup qualification11 September 201224,6304–0Gabriel Torje, Costin Lazăr, Valerică Găman, Alexandru Maxim
52014 FIFA World Cup qualification16 October 201253,3291–4Ciprian Marica
6Friendly14 November 20125,0002–1Alexandru Maxim, Gabriel Torje
7Friendly4 June 201310,1284–03 x Ciprian Marica
8Friendly14 August 20136,7381–1Bogdan Stancu
92014 FIFA World Cup qualification6 September 201341,4053–0Ciprian Marica, Mihai Pintilii, Cristian Tănase
102014 FIFA World Cup qualification10 September 201344,3570–2–
112014 FIFA World Cup qualification15 October 201318,8522–02 x Ciprian Marica
122014 FIFA World Cup qualification19 November 201349,7931–1–
13Friendly5 March 201445,0340–0–
14UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying11 October 201450,0851–1Raul Rusescu
15UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying14 November 201428,8922–02 x Paul Papp
16Friendly18 November 201410,0002–02 x Claudiu Keșerü
17UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying7 September 201538,1530–0–
18UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying8 October 201547,9871–1Ovidiu Hoban
19Friendly3 June 201627,9375–1Adrian Popa, Nicolae Stanciu, Gabriel Torje, Claudiu Keșerü
202018 FIFA World Cup qualification11 November 201648,5310–3–
212018 FIFA World Cup qualification1 September 201727,1781–0Alexandru Maxim
22Friendly14 November 201726,0000–3–
232018–19 UEFA Nations League14 October 201848,5130–0–
24UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying5 September 201929,8541–2Florin Andone
25UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying15 October 201949,6781–1Alexandru Mitriță

Euro 2021 matches

Arena Națională is one of the stadiums that will host matches for UEFA Euro 2020. Three Group C matches and a Round of 16 will be played there.
The following matches will be played at the stadium during the UEFA Euro 2020:
DateTime Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundScorersAttendance
13 June 202121:00–C4Group C––
17 June 202115:00–C4Group C––
21 June 202118:00–Group C––
28 June 2021–Winner Group F–3rd Group A/B/CRound of 16––

Concerts

Transport

The stadium is served by public transport with buses, trolleybuses, trams and the subway system.
Transport meansStadium entranceRoutes
Transport in BucharestStrada Pierre de Coubertin / Peluza I NORDTrolleybuses routes → 86, 90 – 100 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 104 – 300 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trams routes → 46, 55 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 101, 335, N102 – 550 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trams routes → 14, 36 – 600 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trolleybuses routes → 69, 85 – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 143, 682 – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance
Transport in BucharestBulevardul Basarabia / Peluza II SUDTrams routes → 40, 56 – 250 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → N109 – 250 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trams routes → 36 – 750 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 101, 102, 335 – 750 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trolleybuses routes → 70, 79, 92 – 800 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → N104 – 800 metre walk to stadium entrance
Metro routes → M1: Piața Muncii – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trams routes → 1 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 135, 253, 311, 330 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Metro routes → M1: Costin Georgian – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 104 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Transport in BucharestStrada Maior Ion Coravu / Tribuna I VESTTrams routes → 40, 56 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → N109 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trolleybuses routes → 86, 90 – 600 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 104 – 600 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trams routes → 1 – 1100 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 135, 311, 330 – 1100 metre walk to stadium entrance
Metro routes → M1: Piața Muncii – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trolleybuses routes → 70, 79, 92 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Transport in BucharestStrada Socului / Tribuna II ESTTrams routes → 36 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 101, 335 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trams routes → 14, 46, 55 – 800 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 104 – 850 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 102, N109 – 950 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trams routes → 40, 56 – 950 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → 253 – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bus routes → N104 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Trolleybuses routes → 70, 79, 92 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance