65 years ago, the largest football stadium in Europe, Camp Nou, was opened

Barcelona/Prague - 65 years ago, on September 24, 1957, the largest football stadium in Europe, Barcelona's Camp Nou, was opened. The stadium, with its current capacity of 99,354 spectators, was long named Estadi del FC Barcelona and was officially renamed after its established nickname only based on a fan vote.

This March, Barcelona signed a contract worth 280 million euros (7 billion crowns) with streaming company Spotify, whose name the Camp Nou stadium has carried since July 1 (Spotify Camp Nou). From the 2025/26 season, the capacity of Camp Nou is set to increase to 105,000 seats after renovations.

The Spanish club FC Barcelona found that the 60,000-seat Les Corts stadium was no longer sufficient for their needs in the mid-1950s. Therefore, a team of architects, Francesc Mitjans, Josep Soteras, and Lorenzo García Barbón, designed a new stadium made of iron and concrete. The new football temple took three years to build and features a height of 48 meters and an area covering 55,000 square meters. Upon opening, it had a capacity of over 93,000 spectators, which was increased to 121,000 people for the 1982 World Cup. However, this status was gradually reduced to the current capacity.

Although the stadium was named Estadi del FC Barcelona, it was shortly after its opening nicknamed Camp Nou in Catalan, meaning "new ground." This often-used name was officially adopted only in 2000 after a club fan vote.

The stadium has hosted, for example, five matches (including the semifinals) of the 1982 World Cup and twice the final of the Champions League (1989, 1999).

In addition to the traditional changing rooms and boxes, the stadium also houses the FC Barcelona museum, which is among the most visited in Catalonia. The stadium's capacity is often used for significant events of various kinds. In 1982, Pope John Paul II held a mass here for over 120,000 people, and Camp Nou has also hosted massive concerts by singer Michael Jackson and the band U2.