The Stadia - Soccer City

Stadium: Soccer City
City: Johannesburg
Built: 1987
Construction: major upgrade
Completion: 2009
Gross Capacity: 88,460

One of the most artistic venues on the African continent, the newly-reconstructed Soccer City Stadium is the host for the first and final matches of the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

The ground's design is inspired by the iconic African pot known as the calabash, and its aesthetic appeal will be heightened when the stadium is lit at night. Soccer City is located in Johannesburg's southwest and is only a short distance from one of the country's football-crazy townships, Soweto.

The stadium is widely regarded as the hub of football in South Africa as it has been the host of many important matches through history. In the mid 80s, officials came together to build the first international football stadium in the country and the construction was funded by the football community. Soccer City also hosted the first mass rally of Nelson Mandela after his release from prison in 1990.

The original stadium, which was known as the FNB Stadium, had a capacity of 80,000. Upgrades involved extending the upper tier to increase the capacity to 94,700, adding 99 more suites to bring the number to 184, constructing an encircling roof and adding new changing room facilities and installing new floodlighting.