There are stadium gems and there are stadium weirdos. The latter can be found all over the world - from North Korea and Serbia to South Africa and Qatar. A stadium on the roof of a shopping mall, a pitch with a ski jump or a structure built from containers... There is plenty to choose from!

Visions can be original, execution varies, but here the architects have let their imagination run wild. After an unwieldy selection process, we've gathered the 25 weirdest stadiums around the world into one ranking - a few of them we present to you here.

25th place: Kim Jong Un’s secret

Rungrado May Day Stadium stands out for its giant roof resembling an unfolded parachute or flower, but it is also the largest stadium in the world and one of North Korea's closely guarded secrets. Kim Jong Un's regime maintains that it can fit 150,000 fans in its stands, even despite replacing all standing spaces and benches with chairs! We, however, counted them one by one and... it turned out that the dictator is lying.

© KCNA | The roof area of the Rungrado May Day Stadium is 94 000 m², the equivalent of 13 full-sized football pitches.

18th place: A landing on the turf

Alpensia Stadium is a multi-purpose facility, but this is not because of an athletics track or the possibility of hosting concerts. The stadium is connected with... two ski jumping hills. On one day football players can play on the pitch and the next day, ski jumpers can land on it.

© Pyeongchang 2018 | The ski complex comprises, in addition to the stadium, 5 ski jumps.

12th place: Top-level football

In a world where the sign of greatest prestige for a club is a modern stadium with a full roof and commercial spaces, FK Voždovac plays... on the roof of a mall. Although the Serbian club has never won any trophy, it can certainly be said that they always play their home matches at the highest level.

The mall on which the stadium is located was built on the site of FK Voždovac's former home.

6th place: 974 containers for the World Cup

Modular venues are not unusual in the world of sports, but only one was built of containers. Specifically, the 44,000-seat structure that became an arena of the 2022 World Cup was created from 974 shipping containers in various colours. Interestingly, the stadium is expected to be dismantled and transported to another country in the near future.

© Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy | Stadium 974 was built specifically for the World Cup in Qatar.

2nd place: The South African freak

It only takes one look at Mmabatho Stadium to appreciate even the worst stadium. Apparently the architect of this nightmare from Mahikeng was from the USSR, and although we have not been able to confirm this, we are inclined to believe it. To make matters worse, 245 kilometres away stands the twin brother of this bizarre 60,000-seater - the now-abandoned Odi Stadium.

© Google Maps | The top row of the Mmabatho Stadium stands is formed by rectangular trays.

If you want to see which venue won the title of the strangest in the world, check our ranking of the weirdest stadiums, but be warned - it might bite you.

If you prefer moving images, check out our YouTube video, which in less than two weeks has already surpassed 400,000 views. There, we also presented our top 25.