Australia co-hosted the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with New Zealand, showcasing five of their top cities and venues on the world stage.
There are a lot of big sporting arenas in Australia, with many of the stadiums used for multiple sports, including Australian rules football, cricket, rugby league and rugby union.
Below, we list the ten biggest stadiums in Australia that are used for football, even if it is only occasionally.
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1. Melbourne Cricket Ground
Location: East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Opened: 1853
Capacity: 100,024
Opened in 1853, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was designed for the Australian cricket national team and is the biggest stadium in Australia. However, it has hosted numerous football matches since opening, including exhibitions, friendlies, FIFA World Cup qualifiers and Olympic tournament games.
A notable match was a friendly between Australia and UEFA Euro 2004 champions Greece on May 25, 2006, in front of a bumper 95,103 crowd.
The MCG has also hosted international friendly matches, including a game between Brazil and Argentina in 2017, which saw 95,569 people attend.
2. Stadium Australia, Sydney
Location: Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales, Australia
Opened: 1999
Capacity: 83,500
Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium that regularly hosts rugby league and rugby union matches. This includes New South Wales home games in the State of Origin series, as well as the National Rugby League (NRL) final every year.
The stadium was primarily built for the 2000 Summer Olympics, where it hosted track and field events, football matches and the opening ceremony. 110,000 people attended the opening ceremony at Stadium Australia, with an extra 4,714 attending the closing ceremony.
Accor Stadium has hosted major football tournament matches, most notably the 2015 AFC Asian Cup and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The stadium hosted seven games in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, including the final, which saw Australia beat South Korea 2-1 after extra time.
In the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Accor Stadium hosted five matches, including the opening game and the final between Spain and England.
3. Docklands Stadium
Location: Harbour Esplanade, Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Opened: 2000
Capacity: 56,347
Docklands Stadium, known as Marvel Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is mainly used for Australian rules football, however, it has also hosted rugby League, cricket and football matches.
Melbourne Victory of the A-League played their home matches at Marvel Stadium between 2006-07 and 2020-21.
After originally signing a ten-year contract in 2016 to play their home games at Docklands Stadium, Melbourne Victory terminated the contract in July 2021, with the club deciding to play future home games at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
4. Adelaide Oval
Location: War Memorial Drive, North Adelaide, South Australia
Opened: 1871
Capacity: 53,500
Adelaide Oval is primarily used for cricket matches and is one of the five test match venues used for the Ashes series.
Adelaide Oval has also hosted international friendlies, A-League matches and FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
The first A-League match held at Adelaide Oval was between Adelaide United and Sydney FC on December 28, 2007. Adelaide Oval also hosted the A-League Grand Final between Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers in 2016.
Adelaide United have hosted world-renowned clubs in pre-season friendlies, including Liverpool and Málaga CF.
5. Lang Park
Location: 40 Castlemaine Street, Milton, Queensland, Australia
Opened: 1914
Capacity: 52,500
Lang Park, known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, has traditionally hosted rugby league and rugby union matches.
The Brisbane Broncos and the Dolphins play their home games at Suncorp Stadium in the NRL. Meanwhile, the Queensland Reds of the rugby union play their Super Rugby home games at Suncorp Stadium. Brisbane Roar also play their home A-League games here.
The stadium has hosted games at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup and 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in recent years.
Most notably in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, Suncorp Stadium hosted Australia’s 2-0 against China. In the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Suncorp Stadium was the venue for Australia penalty shootout triumph against France in the Quarter-final.
6. Sydney Football Stadium
Location: 40-44 Driver Avenue, Moore Park, Australia
Opened: 2022
Capacity: 45,500
The Sydney Football Stadium opened in 2022 at a construction cost of A$828 million. It is known as the Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons and hosts rugby league, rugby union and football matches.
Sydney FC have played their A-League home matches at the stadium since 2022, and the ground was used for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Allianz Stadium hosted six games, including five group stage matches and a Round of 16 match between the Netherlands and South Africa.
7. Kardinia Park
Location: South Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Opened: 1941
Capacity: 34,074
Kardinia Park, known as GMHBA Stadium due to sponsorship rights, is an Australian rules football stadium, which hosts Geelong Football Club’s home matches.
However, GMHBA Stadium has hosted A-League matches, World Cup Qualifiers and notable friendly games. From 2019-2021, Western United of the A-League played 12 home matches at GMHBA Stadium.
Atlético Madrid also visited the stadium in 2016 to play Melbourne Victory in a friendly.
GMHBA Stadium was included in Australia’s World Cup bid for 2022, with plans to increase the capacity to 44,000 and improve the facilities across the ground. This came to no avail, as Australia lost the bid to Qatar.
8. Newcastle International Sports Centre
Location: New Lambton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Opened: 1970
Capacity: 33,000
Currently known as McDonald Jones Stadium for sponsorship reasons, Newcastle International Sports Centre is the home of NRL team Newcastle Knights and Newcastle Jets FC who play in the A-League.
Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the stadium on April 10, 1970, and there have been various redevelopment projects on the stadium since, including significant upgrades to the Western Grandstand.
The stadium hosted four 2015 AFC Asian Cup matches, including the semi-final between Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
It was also the venue for the A-League Grand Final in 2018, played between the Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City.
9. Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
Location: Olympic Boulevard, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Opened: 2010
Capacity: 30,050
Known as the AAMI Park due to sponsorship reasons, Melbourne Rectangular Stadium is used for multiple sports, including rugby league, rugby union and football.
Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City FC play their home A-League matches at AAMI Park and Western United are also currently using the ground.
AAMI Park hosted seven 2015 AFC Asian Cup games, as well as six 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup matches.
In 2012, the stadium won the award of ‘the world’s most iconic and culturally significant stadium’ at the World Stadium Congress, which took place in Doha, Qatar.
10. Western Sydney Stadium
Location: Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia
Opened: 2019
Capacity: 30,000
The CommBank Stadium, more commonly known as the Western Sydney Stadium, is a recently built arena that primarily hosts rugby league, football and rugby union matches.
Since 2019, Western Sydney Wanderers have played at the stadium, with the first game a 2-1 loss against Leeds United in a pre-season friendly in front of 24,419 people.
The biggest crowd that the Wanderers have had since playing at the CommBank Stadium was on 26 October 2019 against Sydney FC. The Wanderers won 1-0 in front of a 28,519 strong crowd.
The Australian women’s national team also played at the stadium in November 2019, when they beat Chile 2-1 in a friendly.