As the 2026 FIFA World Cup comes to a close with the final between Spain and Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium, WSJ asked an architect what actually makes a great soccer stadium. Small design d
Mexico City's Azteca Stadium is magnificent for football soccer; it has hosted the majority of World Cup matches in history and most final matches.
";-)
One thing to remember is that American football is played in the fall so outdoor NFL stadiums (outside of perhaps Miami) are not designed with major concerns about heat and sun. In fact, for fans, it is often beneficial to be in the sun during cool fall afternoons. Since the World Cup games are being played in the summer it creates some problems that were not a big factor when stadiums were designed. Roofs cost money and require structural considerations, so indoor stadiums will always be steeper and/or stacked decks to help reduce the size of the roof. European soccer stadiums actually have many similarities to historic baseball stadiums like Fenway Park or Wrigley Field for a few reasons. They are built in urban areas where spaced is limited so they had to employ the more stacked design and they incorporated roof overhangs to protect fans. Back in the early 20th century when stadiums like Fenway and Wrigley were built games were played during the day in the summer, so the roof overhangs provided shade for fans. In places like England the overhang protects the fans from rain during games. Fall is dry for a large portion of the U.S. so places like Kansas City it is rare to play NFL
Funny to say the noise disappears at Arrowhead. The stadium with the loudest crowd noise record in the world lol. It’s an old stadium that’s getting replaced in a few years but it’s known for its crowd noise. However Seattle has a more consistent loud crowd
One of the U.S. stadiums that could easily handle World Cup soccer and their crowds is The Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It is the home field for the Atlanta Falcons and the home pitch for the Atlanta United MSL team. It call also seat 70,000 people and has for World Cup Matches. In fact the Mercedes Benz Stadium has seated one of the largest MSL matches in history. With a room that can be opened like a camera lens when the weather permits, but the stadium is fully air-conditioned for hot weather.
The matches in roofless stadiums like San Fran and Kansas (specially Kansas) were pretty loud and lively. … Also all the stadiums faired well despite being NFL stadiums. Visually, Boston was brutal to watch on TV. Large gap behind one goal, and the massive wall behind the other torched my eyes.
Vancouver has each quality he mentioned. Makes me wonder why they preferred not to give the name.
One additional quality he did not mention was excellent transit access, also covered by Vancouver.
My opinion as a (partial) groundhopper and huge football fan: When actually visiting a stadium, fans and fan features make the best stadiums stand out. Like the extremely loud and echo-ing stadiums of (Northern) England and Scotland. The huge stands (where people actually stand and support) in Germany. Or the passionate fans in bowls surrounding the whole pitch in latin America.
People saying things like "Barcelona old camp nou" or "Arsenals emirates" football stadium being the best have probably not been in many stadiums in the world.
And lastly, design is often subjective. And since Architecture is more a design thing while I'd say football stadiums are more "form follows function", this is anyway not the greatest bunch of people to ask what a great stadium is.
The irony of saying that no roof causes the atmosphere to suffer, that the chants might just disappear into the air, and using Arrowhead as the example of that... 2:14
My experience going to 3 games of the WC as a foreigner, 1 in Dallas and 2 in Houston, was spectacular, I loved the stadiums, the order, the AC, everything, the experience was simply SPECTACULAR!, I can’t say anything bad, it felt so amazing, way to go Texas!
Bias aside as a premier league season ticket holder and having gone to dozens away stadiums across the country and continent, the spectacle and atmosphere of Seattle’s stadium I went to for a playoff night time game is a high I will be chasing for life.
I love how difficult it is for him to say "soccer" every time 😅
T
tim_builds17 Jul 2026
It's wild how much the sightlines change just by shifting the pitch position slightly. I wonder if we'll eventually see "modular" stadiums that can actually reconfigure their seating bowls for different sports instead of just compromising on the layout. The engineering hurdle seems huge, but it would be a game changer for venue efficiency.
S
S. Okafor17 Jul 2026
The sightlines in many US stadiums are far too shallow for football. It is interesting that most NFL venues prioritize luxury suites over the steep seating tiers found in European stadia. I wonder if any of the proposed renovations for 2026 will actually address the distance between the stands and the pitch.
We use cookies, device fingerprinting and cross-device tracking to personalise content, serve targeted advertising, and analyse how you use our site across your devices. By clicking Accept all you consent to the use of these tracking technologies. Your data may be used to build a profile of your interests and show you personalised ads on other sites.
Privacy policy
Comments (22)
Daily Junction discussion mixed with clearly attributed comments from the original video provider.
Join in — free. Comments on Daily Junction are for members, so real names stay rare and bots stay out.
One field. We email you a 6-digit code — no password needed. Your comment is kept while you do it.
Under 13? You’ll need a parent’s OK first — it takes them one click.
";-)
One additional quality he did not mention was excellent transit access, also covered by Vancouver.
People saying things like "Barcelona old camp nou" or "Arsenals emirates" football stadium being the best have probably not been in many stadiums in the world.
And lastly, design is often subjective. And since Architecture is more a design thing while I'd say football stadiums are more "form follows function", this is anyway not the greatest bunch of people to ask what a great stadium is.