The finals of the national team competition will be held this Sunday, respectively, at the Berlin Olympic Stadium and at the Hard Rock Stadium
This Sunday’s (July 14) Eurocup and Copa América decisions – competitions held for the first time following Conmebol’s decision to coincide the calendars – highlight the difference in infrastructure between the two competitions. On the old continent, the dispute will be held at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, the Olympiastadion, a stadium of World Cup standard. In the United States, Argentina and Colombia face each other at the Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami, an arena built to host American football games.
The Euro final will be held this Sunday in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion), which was opened in 1936. It was opened in 1936, the year Germany, under the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler, hosted the Olympic Games. It cost 42 million German marks at the time. It was renovated from 2000 to 2004 to host the 2006 World Cup. It hosted the final between Italy and France, when the Italians won their fourth title.
With a FIFA standard field for world cups, the venue also hosted the opening of the Women’s World Cup in 2011; and the 2016 Champions League final, of which Real Madrid was the champion.
The stadium is bigger than the one for the Copa América final, which will also be held this Sunday. The Hard Rock Stadium, in Miami (USA) has fewer seats (64,767 compared to 74,245 at the Olympiastadion) and a smaller field (for American football), 100 meters long and 64 meters wide, at the limit of what is allowed by FIFA for international competitions. The Euro final stage area is 105m x 68m.
Both stadiums have undergone significant renovations. The Berlin Olympic Stadium was renovated in 2004, with an investment of 242 million euros, and the Hard Rock Stadium was renovated between 2015 and 2016, at a cost of US$550 million.
See the main differences between the stadiums:
In addition to the differences in the history and cost of the renovations, there is also a difference in the management of the 2 stadiums. The Berlin Olympic Stadium is managed by the city government, while Stephen Michael Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins, manages the Hard Rock Stadium.
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Hard Rock Stadium and Copa de 2026
As well as next Sunday’s final, matches from the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in Mexico, the United States and Canada, will also be held at the Hard Rock Stadium. The dispute for 3rd place will be on the spot, which is managed by Stephen Michael Ross, the owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
The stadium has modern facilities that include high definition video screens, luxury boxes and comfortable seats. Since its foundation in 1987, the stadium, the most impressive stadium in 2015, has been renovated with an investment of US$550 million.
These upgrades included the installation of a canopy that protects most of the spectators from the sun and rain while maintaining natural lighting throughout the park. In addition, new video screens and improvements were added to the VIP areas and technological infrastructure, raising the standard of the stadium.
Hard Rock Stadium has hosted 6 Super Bowls, two World Series and numerous other major events, such as the Miami Open tennis tournament and concerts by famous artists.
The history of the Olympiastadion
The European team competition featured 10 stadiums in 10 different host cities, including the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, which will host the final on 14 July 2024. The first Euros were held in Germany in 1988, before the country’s reunification in 1989.
The country also hosted the 2006 World Cup, using 12 stadiums, most of which will be reused in 2024, including the venues in Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart. The only new headquarters is in Düsseldorf.
The Berlin Olympiastadion, the venue for the final, was opened on 1 August 1936 for that year’s Olympic Games, and is an architectural and historical landmark, located in the west of Berlin, Germany. This stadium, part of the Olympia Park, which also contains other sports facilities, is easily accessible thanks to the nearby metro (U-Bahn) and railway (S-Bahn) stations. The biggest transformation in its structure was the addition of a roof, which covers almost all the seats and the increase in capacity to almost 75,000 spectators.
During World War II, the stadium housed a bunker known as the “Blaupunkt-Bunker” and holds the record attendance for a Bundesliga match, with 88,075 spectators in 1969. The 2006 World Cup final, which was held at the stadium, is remembered , for the headbutt by Zinedine Zidane, from France, on Marco Materazzi, from the Italian team. In addition, Usain Bolt set the 100 and 200 meter world records there in 2009.
The stadium design features a membrane roof, video screens, dynamic lighting and a blue running track. Its logo was chosen to represent Euro 2024, emphasizing the distinctive shape of the roof. At Euro 2024, the stadium has already hosted 5 matches, not counting this Sunday’s final.