The Cairo International Stadium, formerly known as Nasser Stadium, is an Olympic-standard, multi-use stadium with an all-seated capacity of 75,000. The architect of the stadium is the German Werner March, who had built from 1934 to 1936 the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The engineering and construction supervision work of the stadium was performed by ACE Moharram Bakhoum. Before becoming an all seater stadium, it had the ability to hold over 100,000 spectators, reaching a record of 120,000. It is the foremost Olympic-standard facility befitting the role of Cairo, Egypt as the center of events in the region. It is also the 69th largest stadium in the world. Located in Nasr City; a suburb north east of Cairo, it was completed in 1960, and was inaugurated by President Gamal Abd El Nasser on 23 July that year, the eighth anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Zamalek SC and Al Ahly use Cairo International Stadium for most of their home games.
Overview
The Stadium is located about 10 km west of Cairo International Airport and about 10 km from downtown Cairo. In 2005, in preparation for the 2006 African Cup of Nations it underwent a major renovation, and was brought up to 21st century world standard along with all its multi-game Olympic facilities. Cairo Stadium is known for its tremendous atmosphere and its very large capacity. This was never more evident than during the 2006 African Cup of Nations, which were held in Egypt. When Egypt had their matches in Cairo Stadium, the stadium seemed to nearly erupt. Before seats were added to all sections in 2005, the stadium was notorious for holding more people than it was intended to. Without seats, fans were able to squeeze together and sit in aisles. Because of the previous seating layout, Cairo International Stadium was able to host over 120,000 fans for the 1986 African Cup of Nations Final match between Egypt and Cameroon. Behind the enormous crowd, hosts Egypt defeated Cameroon. Cairo Stadium is a strong symbol of Egyptian football. Nearly all of the most important Egyptian matches are held there. It carries an extremely rich history which includes many memorable football moments that range from Hossam Hassan's famous header to secure Egypt's attendance in Italia 90 World Cup, numerous African Cup of Nations tournaments which included the latest 2006 trophy, and the famous derby matches between Ahly and Zamalek. It has also served as the main stadium of the 1991 All-Africa Games.
The stadium was one of the venues for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The following games were played at the stadium during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations:
It is the most visited stadium in Egypt having all of the important matches for the Egypt national football team.
It was updated to host the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations to meet the CAF standard stadiums making it all-seated which decreased the capacity from 85,000 to 75,000 and making blue zigzag highlights on the seats, later on the Olympic track was changed from blue to orange it was first seen on 14 November when Egypt faced Algeria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification which Egypt won 2-0.
