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The Maracanã, home of the Maracanazo: how to visit it today
Few grounds carry as much history as the Maracanã. The match that decided the 1950 World Cup was played here, and today you can tour it from the inside. If you are travelling to Rio for the football, it is your first stop.
A stadium named after a journalist
Its official name is Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho (Journalist Mário Filho Stadium), after a sports journalist. The popular name comes from the Maracanã river, which also gives its name to the neighbourhood, in the city's Zona Norte (North Zone). It opened in 1950, in time for the World Cup.
The Maracanazo
On 16 July 1950, Uruguay beat Brazil 2 to 1. That World Cup had no final as such: it was decided by a final round of four teams, but this was the match that settled the title. Friaça opened the scoring for Brazil early in the second half, Juan Alberto Schiaffino equalised and Alcides Ghiggia scored the winner for Uruguay.
Attendance figures vary depending on the source: both 173,850 and 199,854 spectators are quoted. Either way, it was an enormous crowd.
For Brazil it was a very heavy blow, and it left its mark: after that defeat, the national team dropped its white shirt and adopted the yellow one the whole world knows today. Eight years later came Brazil's first world title, in Sweden, and the stadium remembers it with the statue of Bellini, the 1958 captain, unveiled in 1960.
Ghiggia liked to joke that only three people had ever silenced the Maracanã: Pope John Paul II, Frank Sinatra and himself. He died on 16 July 2015, 65 years to the day after his goal.
Could you find the Maracanã on a map with no names? Try it for free on GeoFútbol (in Spanish or Portuguese).
The stadium tour
On non-match days, the stadium opens its doors to visitors. The tour takes in the dressing rooms, the press conference room, the substitutes' bench beside the pitch and an exhibition of memorabilia from players who shaped the stadium's history. Prices and times change, so it is worth checking them on the stadium's official channels before you go.
The Calçada da Fama
The Maracanã is home to the Calçada da Fama (Walk of Fame), with the footprints of more than a hundred football greats. Pelé and Zico are there, along with some distinguished visitors: Ghiggia left his in 2009, almost sixty years after his goal, and another Uruguayan, Sebastián "Loco" Abreu, also has his place. In 2018 Marta became the first woman to leave her footprints.
Getting there
Maracanã station, on metro line 2 and the SuperVia trains, is just a few metres from the stadium. São Cristóvão station, on the same line, is handy for the gates on the other side.
What to see nearby
The stretch of avenue running beside the stadium is now called Avenida Rei Pelé. In 2023 the mayor of Rio proposed "Avenida Pelé" and opened a poll on Twitter: "Rei Pelé" (King Pelé) won with 88% of the votes. Pelé scored his thousandth goal at the Maracanã, in 1969, against Vasco da Gama.
On the other side of the railway lies the Quinta da Boa Vista, in São Cristóvão: a large park that was once the residence of the imperial family and is home to the Museu Nacional (National Museum).
The Maracanã is one of the grounds that can come up in GeoFútbol, alongside stadiums from all over Latin America. Play GeoFútbol today, it's free (in Spanish or Portuguese).