Estádio Algarve

Estádio Algarve
Estádio Algarve in 2021
Map
LocationSão João da Venda, Algarve, Portugal
Coordinates37°05′18″N 7°58′29″W / 37.08833°N 7.97472°W / 37.08833; -7.97472
OwnerFaro Municipality and Loulé Municipality
Capacity30,305
SurfaceGrass
ScoreboardPhilips
Construction
Opened23 November 2003
Construction cost€46.14 million[2]
ArchitectPopulous[1]
(formerly HOK Sport Venue Event)
Tenants
Farense (2004-2013) (2024- Selected Matches)
Louletano (2004-)
Gibraltar national football team (2013–2017, 2023–) (temporary)
Portugal national football team (selected matches)
Algarve United (disbanded)

The Estádio Algarve (transl. Algarve Stadium) is an association football stadium located between Faro and Loulé municipalities, in the Algarve region of Portugal. The stadium has a capacity of 30,305 and was purposely built for the UEFA Euro 2004 championship.

History

The Estádio Algarve was designed in the summer of 2000 in accordance with UEFA and FIFA standards by Populous for the UEFA Euro 2004 championship hosted in Portugal. The design team included WS Atkins engineers and local partners including Marobal. The design is regional in nature, alluding to the maritime traditions of Portugal and harmonizing with the distinctive local landscape of the region of Algarve. The stadium is considered a model small/regional flexible use stadium for football and other sports and cultural events, being one of the most used stadiums in Portugal, compared to others used only for matches in the main Portuguese Football League. From 2004 to 2013, Louletano shared the stadium with Sporting Clube Farense. Since 2004, the Estádio Algarve has hosted several matches of the Portugal national football team. A former home of Farense and Louletano shortly after its inauguration, the stadium also received some Olhanense and Portimonense matches during their respective stadiums' works of renovation since those teams are also from the region of Algarve. The Algarve Stadium also hosts the final match of the Algarve Cup, a major annual international tournament for women's football national teams, and the Algarve Football Cup, a pre-season friendly tournament for men's football clubs.

Sébastien Loeb driving his Citroën C4 WRC at the 2007 Rally de Portugal won by him. The rally included super special stages performed at the stadium.

The stadium hosted the inaugural Algarve Challenge Cup tournament on 22 and 24 July 2008 that saw Cardiff City, Celtic, Middlesbrough, and Vitória de Guimarães in action. Cardiff City were the eventual winners of the tournament with victories over Celtic and Vitória.

The Estádio Algarve was also the temporary home ground of the Gibraltar national football team around the mid-2010s.[3] It will once again host Gibraltar from March 2023 while improvements are made to the Victoria Stadium.[4]

Aside from football, it has also hosted music festivals and concerts, and has been temporarily converted into a super special stage during the Rally de Portugal, including the 2007 Rally de Portugal (part of the 2007 World Rally Championship season) and the 2010 Rally de Portugal (the sixth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season).[5]

Euro 2004 Matches

Date Result Round
12 June 2004  Spain 1–0  Russia Group A
20 June 2004  Russia 2–1  Greece
26 June 2004  Sweden 0–0 (4–5 p)  Netherlands Quarter-finals

Portugal national football team

On 1 September 2021, in a Portugal and Republic of Ireland match played at Algarve Stadium, Cristiano Ronaldo became all-time leading goalscorer in men's international football with 111 goals, after surpassing Iranian legend Ali Daei's long-standing record of 109. On 9 October, in a 3–0 friendly win over Qatar at Algarve Stadium Cristiano Ronaldo made his 181st international appearance overtaking Sergio Ramos's record for the most international caps received by a European player.[6] On the following match, played also at Algarve Stadium on October 12, Ronaldo became the first player ever to score 10 hat-tricks in men's international football.[7] The image shows Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Portugal in an Iran and Portugal match at the FIFA World Cup 2018.

The following national team matches were held at the stadium.[8]

# Date Score Opponent Competition
1. 18 February 2004 1–1  England Friendly
2. 3 September 2005 6–0  Luxembourg 2006 World Cup qualification
3. 11 February 2009 1–0  Finland Friendly
4. 10 August 2011 5–0  Luxembourg
5. 15 August 2012 2–0  Panama
6. 14 August 2013 1–1  Netherlands Friendly
7. 14 November 2014 1–0  Armenia Euro 2016 qualifying
8. 13 November 2016 4–1  Latvia 2018 World Cup qualification
9. 6 September 2018 1–1  Croatia Friendly
10. 14 November 2019 6–0  Lithuania Euro 2020 qualifying
11. 1 September 2021 2–1  Republic of Ireland 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
12. 9 October 2021 3–0  Qatar Friendly
13. 12 October 2021 5–0  Luxembourg 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
14. 11 September 2023 9–0  Luxembourg UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

Gibraltar national football team

Gibraltar and Republic of Ireland national football teams playing a match in Algarve Stadium, 2015.

The following national team matches were held at the stadium.[9]

# Date Score Opponent Competition
1. 19 November 2013 0–0  Slovakia Friendly
2. 4 June 2014 1–0  Malta Friendly
3. 7 September 2014 0–7  Poland UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifier
4. 14 October 2014 0–3  Georgia
5. 13 June 2015 0–7  Germany
6. 4 September 2015 0–4  Republic of Ireland
7. 11 October 2015 0–6  Scotland
8. 6 September 2016 1–4  Greece 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
9. 10 October 2016 0–6  Belgium
10. 9 June 2017 1–2  Cyprus
11. 3 September 2017 0–4  Bosnia and Herzegovina
12. 7 October 2017 0–6  Estonia
13. 24 March 2023 0–3  Greece UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
14. 16 June 2023 0–3  France
15. 16 October 2023 0–4  Republic of Ireland
16. 21 November 2023 0–6  Netherlands
17. 21 March 2024 0-1  Lithuania 2022-23 UEFA Nations League relegation playoffs
18. 3 June 2024 0-2  Scotland Friendly
19. 6 June 2024 0-0  Wales Friendly

See also

References

  1. ^ Estádio Algarve Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine architect: Populous
  2. ^ "Fact Check. Estádios de Leiria e Aveiro tiveram custo de 180 milhões para construção e custam 8 milhões a manter?". Observador (in Portuguese). 27 January 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Gibraltar: Can Uefa's newest football nation rock Europe?". BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  4. ^ Gibraltar’s Home international matches to be played in Faro, Portugal as from March 2023 Archived 2022-10-19 at the Wayback Machine Gibraltar FA. 13 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  5. ^ RÄIKKÖNEN onboard Rally de Portugal 2010 Estádio Algarve stadium Stage 1 (FIA World Rally Championship) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8SYnUCpPbE
  6. ^ Smith, Joshua (9 October 2021). "Cristiano Ronaldo breaks another international record while scoring 112th goal". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Soccer-Ronaldo nets hat-trick as Portugal rout Luxembourg". WHBL. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Seleção A". Portuguese Football Federation. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Gibraltar - List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
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