Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, formerly known as Stadio San Paolo, is an all-seater football stadium in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Completed in 1959, it is the fourth largest football stadium in Italy after Milan's San Siro, Rome's

Stadio Olimpico Stadio Olimpico (; ), colloquially known as l'Olimpico (The Olympic), is an Italian multi-purpose sports venue located in Rome. Seating over 70,000 spectators, it is the largest sports facility in Rome and the second-largest in Italy, after ...

and Bari's San Nicola. The stadium currently seats 54,726, but prior to converting to an all-seater venue it could hold about 90,000 people — most of them standing. It is the home of SSC Napoli, the reigning

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

champions. Following the death of

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

in 2020, city mayor Luigi de Magistris and Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis proposed renaming the stadium to "Stadio Diego Armando Maradona." The proposal was passed on 4 December 2020, and was announced by the mayor on social media and made official that same day.

History

Napoli was in need of a replacement stadium after the Stadio Partenopeo had been destroyed during the bombing of Naples in the Second World War. The team had been playing at a smaller nearby venue, reducing their fan capacity from around 40,000 to just 12,000. The western suburb of Fuorigrotta, an area undergoing rapid new development at the time, was chosen as the site for the new stadium. Construction began on 27 April 1952 on what would become an open-air stadium made of reinforced concrete, designed to hold approximately 90,000 spectators — most of them standing. The laying of the first

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was attended by then-Prime Minister, Alcide De Gasperi. Construction was arduous, taking seven years to complete. The inaugural match was held on 6 December 1959, with Napoli defeating rivals

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

2–1. The stadium was first renovated for the 1980 European Championships, which saw the addition of modern technology such as an electronic scoreboard and a new floodlight system. Further renovations followed for the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

, which involved the removal of its standing areas to convert it to an all-seater venue, and the installation of the roof. Underground parking was added at this time as well, but logistical issues prevented it from opening. The 1990 renovations reduced the seating capacity to about 76,000 people. The stadium was renovated once more from 2018 – 2019 in preparation for the XXX Summer Universiade. Renovations included replacing metal railings with glass barriers and installing new seats. This again reduced the stadium's seating capacity — this time from 60,240 to 54,726.

Notable Events

The stadium hosted five matches during the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

, one of which being a contest between

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 ...

and

on 3 July 1990. The atmosphere was emotionally charged, as Diego Maradona, the superstar of Argentina's national team, also played for Napoli. He was an icon to

for bringing the club their first two

titles. The Neapolitan tifosi responded by hanging a giant flag in their " curva" of the stadium saying "Maradona, Naples loves you, but Italy is our homeland". Maradona later said he was touched that it was the only stadium during the World Cup where the Argentinian national anthem was not jeered. The match finished 1–1 after extra time. A penalty shoot-out ensued, with Argentina winning and Maradona scoring one of their penalties. Stadio San Paolo Napoli - panoramio

The XXX Summer Universiade, the 30th installment of the FISU World University Games, took place between 3 and 14 July 2019. The opening ceremony featured an appearance by President

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician and jurist who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 20 ...

, Olympic gold-medalist Massimiliano Rosolino, and a performance by Italian tenor

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

Other Events

The stadium hosted the football preliminaries for the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

. The IV Mediterranean Games were held from 21 to 29 September 1963. The stadium hosted Italy's Euro 2008 qualifier against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

on 2 September 2006.

References

External links

Stadio San Paolo Virtual TourStadium Guide Article1960 Summer Olympics official report.
Volume 1. p. 86. {{navboxes , titlestyle = background:#ccccff , list= {{Serie A venues {{Sports facilities in Naples {{UEFA Europa League Final venues {{UEFA Euro 1968 stadiums {{UEFA Euro 1980 stadiums {{World Cup 1990 stadiums {{1960 Summer Olympic venues {{Olympic venues football {{Diamond League venues {{Diego Maradona San Paolo San Sport in Naples SSC Napoli Sports venues completed in 1959 Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics Multi-purpose stadiums in Italy Sports venues in Naples 1959 establishments in Italy Diamond League venues Diego Maradona