Designed by Gerkan, Marg and Partners, the stadium was built by German firm Max Bögl and Italian firm Astaldi. The stadium has a retractable roof which covers the playing surface.
It is currently the home ground of FCSB and was also temporarily used by FC Rapid București between 2021 and 2022 as its traditional ground was being rebuilt. FC Dinamo București also plays some select matches here.
Construction
The old stadium was demolished between 18 December 2007 and 20 February 2008, although a symbolic removal of seats took place on 21 November 2007, after Romania defeated Albania 6–1 in a qualifying match for Euro 2008.
The construction phase generated some controversy over costs and delays, with Bucharest mayorSorin Oprescu claiming that the works were 20 weeks behind schedule in May 2009.[7]
On 8 October 2009, it was decided that the stadium should also include a retractable roof worth €20,000,000.[8]
Construction was temporarily halted in December 2009 due to unfavorable weather conditions.[9]
Facilities
The venue holds 55,634 people. 3,600 VIP seats are available, with another 126 seats allotted for the press (with a possible expansion to 548 seats). The stadium includes some 360 restrooms and a retractable roof, which can be opened or closed in 15 minutes. It is also endowed with a floodlight system and 2100 parking spaces.[10] The stadium is also very similar to the Kazimierz Górski National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, in terms of age, capacity and the roof.[11]
The National Stadium is a Category 4 venue and as such, it hosted the UEFA Europa League 2011–12 final, as announced by UEFA at Nyon on 29 January 2009.[12] It was required to host at least two major events beginning in July 2011, one with an attendance of 10,000 and the second with an attendance of at least 40,000.[10]
The stadium also hosted The International 2021, the annual world championship for the video gameDota 2, in October 2021. This came after the original hosts, Sweden, did not classify esports as a sporting event, making it more difficult for players to procure visas to the country.[13]
The official inauguration was initially scheduled for 10 August 2011, and was to feature a football match between Romania and Argentina.[14] However, on 26 July, Argentina officially cancelled the friendly match after their manager Sergio Batista departed the team.
The stadium was inaugurated on 6 September 2011, with a UEFA Euro 2012Group D qualifier match between Romania and France.[15] In the front of 49,137 fans, Romania and France drew 0–0. The result meant that Romania lost any chance of qualifying for the tournament, hosted by neighbours Ukraine and Poland.
Notable attendances
The highest audience for a football game was achieved at the Liga 1 football match between FCSB and CFR Cluj hosted on 11 May 2024, which brought 54,673 people to the stadium.[15][16]
Another match with a notable audience was between Romania and Switzerland on 21 November 2023, in the qualifying stage of the UEFA Euro 2024 final tournament. With 50,224 people in the stands, Romania won 1–0, thus making it the winner of Group I and giving it a place in Pot 2 for the final tournament in Germany.[18]
Trolleybuses routes → 86, 90 – 100 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 104 – 300 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 46, 55 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 101, 335, N102 – 550 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 14, 36 – 600 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 69, 85 – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 143, 682 – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance
Bulevardul Basarabia / Peluza II SUD
Trams routes → 40, 56 – 250 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → N109 – 250 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 36 – 750 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 101, 102, 335 – 750 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 70, 79, 92 – 800 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → N104 – 800 metre walk to stadium entrance Metro routes → M1: Piața Muncii – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 1 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 135, 253, 311, 330 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Metro routes → M1: Costin Georgian – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 104 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Strada Maior Ion Coravu / Tribuna I VEST
Trams routes → 40, 56 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → N109 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 86, 90 – 600 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 104 – 600 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 1 – 1100 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 135, 311, 330 – 1100 metre walk to stadium entrance Metro routes → M1: Piața Muncii – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 70, 79, 92 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
Strada Socului / Tribuna II EST
Trams routes → 36 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 101, 335 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 14, 46, 55 – 800 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 104 – 850 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 102, N109 – 950 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 40, 56 – 950 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 253 – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → N104 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 70, 79, 92 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
^The Romania v Kosovo match was suspended at 0–0 during second-half stoppage time, after Romanian supporters allegedly began chanting pro-Serbian and anti-Kosovo slogans. The Kosovo team left the pitch, with the match abandoned thereafter. On 20 November 2024, UEFA announced the match had been awarded as a 3–0 win for Romania.
