Estádio da Luz
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A Catedral | |
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Full name | Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica |
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Location | Lisbon, Portugal |
Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
Public transit | Colégio Militar / Luz Lisbon Metro Blue Line |
Owner | S.L. Benfica S.A.D. |
Operator | S.L. Benfica |
Executive suites | 156 |
Capacity | 65,647[1] |
Record attendance | 65,400 (opening match) |
Field size | 105 x 68 m |
Surface | Grass |
Scoreboard | Yes |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 2003 |
Opened | 25 October 2003 |
Construction cost | €119 million[2] |
Architect | HOK Sport (now Populous) |
Tenants | |
Benfica (2003–present) Benfica B (2003–2006, 2012–2013) UEFA Euro 2004/Final 2014 UEFA Champions League Final |
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Website | |
slbenfica.pt |
Estádio da Luz (Portuguese pronunciation: [(ɨ)ˈʃtaðju ðɐ ˈluʃ]), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is sometimes erroneously translated to English as Stadium of Light (while the word luz does mean "light", (Estádio da) Luz refers to its namesake district of Lisbon, where the stadium is located).
The stadium is used mostly for football matches, hosting the home matches of S.L. Benfica. It is also called A Catedral (The Cathedral) by Benfica supporters.
It was opened on 25 October 2003 with an exhibition match between Benfica and Nacional of Montevideo. The previous Estádio da Luz with 120,000 seats was demolished in 2003, and the new stadium was built with a maximum capacity of 65,647 (64,642 in Primeira Liga matches). HOK Sport Venue Event (now Populous) designed the stadium to use as much natural light as possible.
The Estádio da Luz is a UEFA category four stadium and the twenty-first biggest stadium by capacity in Europe. It hosted several matches in the UEFA Euro 2004, including the final, and hosted the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final. In October 2014, it was elected as the most beautiful stadium of Europe, in an online poll by L'Équipe.[3]
Contents
Naming
The old stadium was named in honour of the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Luz (Church of Our Lady of the Light), and the people of Lisbon used to call it a Luz ("the Light"), so the common name for the stadium became Estádio da Luz, which is usually translated to English as "Stadium of Light".
Characteristics
The architect Damon Lavelle designed the stadium to focus on light and transparency, offering an incentive to name it like the previous stadium. The polycarbonate roof of the stadium allows the rays of sunlight to penetrate it, lighting the stadium. The roof, which is supported by tie-beams of four steel arches, seems to float on the underlying tribunes. The arches measure 43 metres in height and help to define the look of the stadium after having been shaped to be similar to the wavy profile of the three tiers of the stadium.
The return of Benfica
With the new stadium, Benfica became more confident. In 2003–04 season, Benfica conquered the Taça de Portugal after beating Porto in the final, 2–1. In the 2004–05 season, the Estádio da Luz was the venue for a 1–0 victory over Sporting, before a 1–1 draw away against Boavista which sealed the championship. Following the final whistle, thousands of fans joined the stadium to celebrate the 31st championship. In 2009–10, Benfica defeated Porto 1–0, an important victory to win their 32nd championship. On 20 April 2014, Benfica conquered their 33rd championship after defeating Olhanense 2–0 at home. Benfica has also qualified for two Europa League finals whilst playing at the new stadium.[4][5]
The stadium reached up to 11 million spectators on its tenth birthday.[6] It reached the 12 million spectators mark on 17 August 2014.[7]
Notable matches
Opening Game
In the opening game Benfica beat Nacional de Montevideo by 2-1. Benfica's Nuno Gomes scored both goals, becoming the first scorer in the history of Estádio da Luz.
UEFA Euro 2004
- UEFA Euro 2004 - Quarter-finals
Portugal ![]() |
2–2 (a.e.t.) | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Postiga ![]() Rui Costa ![]() |
Report | Owen ![]() Lampard ![]() |
Penalties | ||
Deco ![]() Simão ![]() Rui Costa ![]() Ronaldo ![]() Maniche ![]() Postiga ![]() Ricardo ![]() |
6–5 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
In the first quarter-final between England and Portugal, the English opened the scoring after only two minutes through Michael Owen. Portugal's constant attacking pressure from then on resulted in Hélder Postiga's 83rd-minute equaliser. A controversial incident came in the dying minutes when Michael Owen hit the Portuguese crossbar, resulting in a Sol Campbell header, which appeared to have given England the lead again, but his header was ruled out for what the referee Urs Meier deemed a foul on the Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira. The sides exchanged goals in extra-time, sending the match to penalty kicks and Portugal won 6–5; Portugal's goalkeeper Ricardo saved a penalty from Darius Vassell and then scored the winning goal.
- UEFA Euro 2004 - Final
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2014 UEFA Champions League Final
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Real Madrid ![]() |
4–1 (a.e.t.) | ![]() |
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Ramos ![]() Bale ![]() Marcelo ![]() Ronaldo ![]() |
Report | Godín ![]() |
Portugal national football team

The following national team matches were held in the stadium.
# | Date | Score | Opponent | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 16 June 2004 | 2–0 | ![]() |
Euro 2004 Group Stage |
2. | 24 June 2004 | 2–2[9] | ![]() |
Euro 2004 Quarter-Finals |
3. | 4 July 2004 | 0–1 | ![]() |
Euro 2004 Final |
4. | 4 June 2005 | 2–0 | ![]() |
2006 World Cup qualification |
5. | 8 September 2007 | 2–2 | ![]() |
Euro 2008 qualifying |
6. | 10 October 2009 | 3–0 | ![]() |
2010 World Cup qualification |
7. | 14 November 2009 | 1–0 | ![]() |
2010 World Cup UEFA play-offs |
8. | 17 November 2010 | 4–0 | ![]() |
Friendly |
9. | 4 June 2011 | 1–0 | ![]() |
Euro 2012 qualifying |
10. | 15 November 2011 | 6–2 | ![]() |
Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs |
11. | 2 June 2012 | 1–3 | ![]() |
Friendly |
12. | 7 June 2013 | 1–0 | ![]() |
2014 World Cup qualification |
13. | 15 November 2013 | 1–0 | ![]() |
2014 World Cup UEFA play-offs |
14. | 29 March 2015 | 2–1 | ![]() |
Euro 2016 qualifying |
Euro 2004 matches
Date | Result | Round | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
13 June 2004 | ![]() |
2–1 | ![]() |
Group B |
17 June 2004 | ![]() |
0–2 | ![]() |
Group A |
21 June 2004 | ![]() |
2–4 | ![]() |
Group B |
24 June 2004 | ![]() |
2–2 (6–5 on pen.) | ![]() |
Quarter-finals |
4 July 2004 | ![]() |
0–1 | ![]() |
Final |
Benfica matches in European competitions
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- As of 8 December 2015
- 2003–04 (UEFA Cup)
- Benfica 3–1 Molde
- Benfica 1–0 Rosenborg
- Benfica 0–0 Inter Milan
- 2004–05
- Benfica 1–0 Anderlecht (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 2–0 Dubla Banská Bystrica (UEFA Cup)
- Benfica 4–2 Heerenveen
- Benfica 2–0 Dinamo Zagreb
- Benfica 1–1 CSKA Moscow
- 2005–06 (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 1–0 Lille
- Benfica 0–1 Villareal
- Benfica 2–1 Manchester United
- Benfica 1–0 Liverpool
- Benfica 0–0 Barcelona
- 2006–07
- Benfica 3–0 Austria Wien (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 0–1 Manchester United
- Benfica 3–0 Celtic
- Benfica 3–1 Copenhagen
- Benfica 1–0 Dinamo București (UEFA Cup)
- Benfica 3–1 Paris Saint-Germain
- Benfica 0–0 Espanyol
- 2007–08
- Benfica 2–1 Copenhagen (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 0–1 Shakhtar Donetsk
- Benfica 1–0 Celtic
- Benfica 1–1 Milan
- Benfica 1–0 Nürnberg (UEFA Cup)
- Benfica 1–2 Getafe
- 2008–09 (UEFA Cup)
- Benfica 2–0 Napoli
- Benfica 0–2 Galatasaray
- Benfica 0–1 Metalist Kharkiv
- 2009–10 (UEFA Europa League)
- Benfica 4–0 Vorskla Poltava
- Benfica 2–0 BATE Borisov
- Benfica 5–0 Everton
- Benfica 2–1 AEK Athens
- Benfica 4–0 Hertha BSC
- Benfica 1–1 Marseille
- Benfica 2–1 Liverpool
- 2010–11
- Benfica 2–0 Hapoel Tel Aviv (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 4–3 Lyon
- Benfica 1–2 Schalke 04
- Benfica 2–1 Stuttgart (UEFA Europa League)
- Benfica 2–1 Paris Saint-Germain
- Benfica 4–1 PSV Eindhoven
- Benfica 2–1 Braga
- 2011–12 (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 2–0 Trabzonspor
- Benfica 3–1 Twente
- Benfica 1–1 Manchester United
- Benfica 1–1 Basel
- Benfica 1–0 Oțelul Galați
- Benfica 2–0 Zenit Saint Petersburg
- Benfica 0–1 Chelsea
- 2012–13
- Benfica 0–2 Barcelona (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 2–0 Spartak Moscow
- Benfica 2–1 Celtic
- Benfica 2–1 Bayer Leverkusen (UEFA Europa League)
- Benfica 1–0 Bordeaux
- Benfica 3–1 Newcastle United
- Benfica 3–1 Fenerbahçe
- 2013–14
- Benfica 2–0 Anderlecht (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 1–1 Olympiakos
- Benfica 2–1 Paris Saint-Germain
- Benfica 3–0 PAOK (UEFA Europa League)
- Benfica 2–2 Tottenham
- Benfica 2–0 AZ Alkmaar
- Benfica 2–1 Juventus
- 2014–15 (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 0–2 Zenit Saint Petersburg
- Benfica 1–0 Monaco
- Benfica 0–0 Bayer Leverkusen
- 2015–16 (UEFA Champions League)
- Benfica 2–0 Astana
- Benfica 2–1 Galatasaray
- Benfica 1–2 Atlético de Madrid
- ALL TIME STATS:
- 70 MATCHES: 48 wins, 11 draws, 11 losses
- 119 goals scored, 49 goals conceded
See also
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Estádio da Luz. |
- Official website
- Estádio da Luz at StructuraeLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Stadium pictures at Stadiumguide.com
Preceded by | UEFA European Football Championship Final Venue 2004 |
Succeeded by Ernst Happel Stadion Vienna |
Preceded by | UEFA Champions League Final Venue 2014 |
Succeeded by Olympic Stadium Berlin |
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- ↑ 6–5 after penalty shoot-out.
- Pages with reference errors
- Use dmy dates from January 2015
- Articles containing Portuguese-language text
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Official website not in Wikidata
- S.L. Benfica
- Sports venues in Lisbon
- Football venues in Portugal
- Sport in Lisbon
- Sports venues completed in 2003
- UEFA Euro 2004 stadiums