Puskás Aréna – tournament stadium description

Puskás Aréna's Euro 2020 games

Average attendance: 54,845

Location

Hungary's national stadium is located east of the city centre in Zugló, which is the 14th district of Budapest. The venue is just one kilometre away from Keleti Station, the main railway station of the Hungarian capital.

Because the stadium sits within Hungary's largest sports precinct, it's accessible through various means of transportation. The M2 subway line has a station called Puskás Ferenc Stadion just 500 metres east of the stadium. Within such distance fans can also find bus, tram and trolleybus stops going in all directions.

History of the stadium

The arena was built on the site of Puskás Ferenc Stadion, which existed from 1953 to 2016. The impulse for the creation of the new Hungarian national stadium was the desire to organize the European Championship. The country applied for this tournament several times, but to no avail. Each time, something different was proposed regarding the most important stadium in the country. In total, there were as many as 6 concepts of its appearance.

Architecture

In 2012, the vision of the so-called pylons was presented, i.e. monolithic staircases, which have been the hallmark of the facility for years. Inside the perimeter, a large, typical football stadium without an athletics track was to be built. Ultimately, the largest stadium in Central and Eastern Europe was erected, although due to the increase in costs, the project was slimmed down from its initial form. 

Facade of the venue is veiled with 19,500 m² steel mesh, coexisting with rough reinforced concrete. Of that concrete, some 50,000 m³ was actually reused from the old stadium.

Three tiers of the auditorium are similar in terms of height, starting with 28 rows in the bottom, 22 rows in the middle and 25 rows on top. Behind regular seating of the middle tier 84 boxes are located, holding 12-60 people each.

Other events

In addition to the matches of the Hungarian national team, the European Cup fixtures were held at Puskás Aréna. This is where Ferencváros played Champions League games in the 2020/21 season, as well as English clubs that were unable to play at home due to travel restrictions related to the pandemic. In 2020, the Hungarian Cup final took place at Puskás Aréna. Moreover, in the same year, a match of the UEFA Super Cup was played there between Bayern and Sevilla FC. The 2023 Europa League final is scheduled at this stadium. 

Due to the pandemic, several concerts scheduled at the facility were cancelled or postponed. The venue will host major music events in the future, such as Aeorosmith's performance in 2022. Music events and conferences are to be an important element of the stadium's non-football revenues.

Euro 2020 changes

Because the stadium was opened less than two full years prior, there was no need for substantial changes, aside from the regular reconfigurations of media and hospitality areas.

Euro 2020 capacity

In late March, the government suggested that the national stadium would be open, but only to vaccinated visitors. On 8 April, spokesman for the Hungarian FA, Jenő Sipos, assured that his country would like to accept as many fans as possible. On April 9, it was announced that 100% of the seats will be available. It would be the only such stadium for Euro 2020.

Fans going to the tournament in Hungary will have to show two negative coronavirus test results from the last five days before departure or a document that confirms overcoming of Covid-19 disease in the last six months.