La Bombonera
The Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The stadium is widely known as La Bombonera (Spanish pronunciation: [la βomboˈneɾa]; English: The chocolate box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands around the rest of the stadium.
| Estadio Alberto José Armando | |
"La Bombonera" | |
Exterior view of the stadium in 2022 | |
| Full name | Alberto José Armando Stadium |
|---|---|
| Former names | Boca Juniors Stadium (1940–86) Camilo Cichero Stadium (1986–2000) |
| Location | Brandsen 805 CP 1161, La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Coordinates | 34°38′8.34″S 58°21′52.74″W |
| Owner | Boca Juniors |
| Capacity | 57,200 |
| Record attendance | 57,395 |
| Field size | 105 x 68 m |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 18 February 1938 |
| Built | 1938–40 |
| Opened | 25 May 1940 |
| Renovated | 1995–96 |
| Architect | José Luis Delpini, Viktor Sulčič, Raúl Bes |
| Tenants | |
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| Website | |
| bocajuniors.com.ar/labombonera | |
The stadium is owned by Boca Juniors, one of Argentina's top football clubs, which has over 18 million fans, the most in Argentina and around 40% of the country's total population. The unusual shape of the stadium has led to it having excellent acoustics and the Boca support being nicknamed "La Doce". The pitch at La Bombonera is 105m × 68m.
The stadium is widely regarded as one of the most iconic stadiums in the world due to its design, club's history, iconic matches, intense atmosphere and tales of legendary players that stepped onto the pitch like Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Alfredo Di Stefano, Pelé, Ronaldo, Romario, Mario Kempes, Juan Román Riquelme, Gabriel Batistuta, Edinson Cavani and more. It has been declared of public interest by the government of Buenos Aires, the autonomous capital city. The stadium is also used as a concert venue. Past performers at La Bombonera have included Lenny Kravitz, Elton John, James Blunt, the Bee Gees, and the Backstreet Boys.