Stadio Olimpico

Construction of Italy's most famous stadium began in 1928. Designed to be the centrepiece of Italy's growing sports culture, the work was unfortunately delayed due to World War II, and the stadium was not completed until 1953. The opening of the stadium was marked with a match between Hungary and Italy which was attended by a massive 100,000 strong crowd!

Since 1953, the stadium has gone through numerous changes and re-developments. In 1960 the Olympics came to Italy, and Stadio Olimpico served as the nation’s venue for numerous Olympic events. To suit the needs of the tournament, the stadium was redeveloped to be all seated, resulting in a smaller capacity of 53,000. Its next main refurbishment did not take place until the 1980s, when the stadium was chosen to host the 1990 World Cup. In order to modernise the venue, the stadium was almost totally rebuilt. A roof was constructed and stands were moved closer to the pitch in order to increase capacity by over 20,000 to 74,000 seats.

Stadio Olimpico is best known as a football venue and is home to Italian clubs Lazio and Roma. However, it is also often used by the Italian National Rugby Union Team, and has hosted numerous rugby matches throughout its history including Italy vs France and Italy vs Ireland during the 2013 Six Nations, in which Italy was victorious.