# National Stadium, Singapore

1°18′16″N 103°52′27″E﻿ / ﻿1.30444°N 103.87417°E﻿ / 1.30444; 103.87417
The Singapore National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kallang, Singapore. It serves as the country's national stadium. Opened in 2014, it was constructed on the site of the former National Stadium, which stood from 1973 to 2010. The 55,000-seat facility is the centrepiece of the Singapore Sports Hub, a sports and recreation district that also incorporates nearby Singapore Indoor Stadium and other sporting venues.
One of the largest domed structures in the world, it features a naturally-ventilated design with a retractable roof, and has configurations for football, rugby, athletics and cricket. The roof is made out of insulated metal to reflect sunlight. The stadium serves as the home stadium of the Singapore national football team, served as the main venue of the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, and has hosted matches of the AFF Championship in 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2022. The stadium has also hosted non-sporting events, including concerts and religious gatherings.

## History

In 2007, the Singapore government accepted bids for a project to build a new National Stadium and an accompanying sports and recreation district around the stadium (including an aquatics centre). Alpine Mayreder proposed a design inspired by Munich's Allianz Arena, Singapore Gold proposed a design known as "Premier Park" (which would have featured a retractable roof usable as a projection screen), while the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium (SSHC) proposed a design known as the "Cool Dome", a ventilated, horseshoe-inspired stadium with a retractable roof.
On 19 January 2008, the government named SSHC as its preferred bidder for the Sports Hub project and stadium, with construction slated to be completed by 2011. Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan stated that the SSHC proposal was the "strongest in offering a comprehensive sporting calendar", and "displayed significant strengths in programming, team culture and partnership, functionality and layout".
Construction of the stadium began in 2010 due to the delays caused by the 2008 financial crisis and soaring construction costs. By September 2011, the piling and the foundation of the stadium was completed and construction on the steelworks of the stadium fixed roof started. In July 2013, the installation of the stadium final primary steel 'runway truss' for the roof was completed marking the completion of the steelworks on the National Stadium's fixed roof in preparation for installation of the retractable roof. The stadium was set to be completed in April 2014. In February 2014, Sports Hub CEO Philippe Collin Delavaud announced that it would miss the deadline, and not open until June 2014.
The stadium's first sporting event was the inaugural World Club 10s rugby tens tournament in June 2014.

## Design

The stadium features a 75,000 m$^2$ (810,000 sq ft), 83 m (272 ft)-tall steel dome with a retractable roof, which was stated to be the largest dome structure in the world. Due to Singapore's tropical climate, the stadium's roof is designed to reflect sunlight in order to insulate its interior, while natural airflow is used to cool spectator areas with less energy usage than a venue of comparable size.
The stadium has configurations for football, rugby, athletics, and cricket. In its football and rugby configuration, the lowest tier of seating can be moved closer to the pitch, covering the running track. It takes approximately 48 hours to reconfigure seating arrangements to suit an upcoming event.

### Playing surface

The stadium initially used Desso GrassMaster—which consists of natural grass interwoven with synthetic fibres—as its playing surface. After experiencing issues with the pitch's quality (which culminated in the New Zealand All Blacks cancelling a rugby match at the stadium during a November 2014 tour due to safety concerns), in May 2015 the GrassMaster surface was replaced by Eclipse Stabilised Turf—a similar hybrid surface produced by Australian company HG Turf.
Singapore Sports Hub CEO Oon Jin Teik stated that the stadium's unique microclimate had posed additional challenges in maintaining the GrassMaster pitch.

## Transport
### Mass rapid transit

The stadium is located above the underground Stadium MRT station on the Circle Line. Trains arrive every five to six minutes during off-peak hours, and two to three minutes during peak hours and event days. Other MRT stations nearby are Kallang MRT station on the East–West Line which can be accessed using a sheltered walkway and Tanjong Rhu MRT station on the Thomson–East Coast Line across the Tanjong Rhu Footbridge.

### Buses and taxis

Bus stops are located around the Sports Hub complex along Stadium Walk, Stadium Boulevard and Nicoll Highway, with buses serving nearby districts and the city. Taxi stands are also conveniently available near the National Stadium, Singapore Indoor Stadium and Leisure Park Kallang.

## Notable events
### Sports
#### SEA Games

The stadium was one of the venues of the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, and football.

#### Football

The first football match held at the stadium is a friendly match between Singapore Selection XI and Juventus in August 2014. The friendly match between Brazil and Japan in October 2014 was the first sell-out crowd of 55,000 at the stadium. It also hosted the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup in November 2014.
It is the venue of all the matches of the 2015 Premier League Asia Trophy that is held in Singapore which features Arsenal, Everton, Stoke City and Singapore Selection XI.
The stadium also held the edition of a friendly tournament, the 2017 International Champions Cup which features three major European clubs: Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. The following year, it hosted the 2018 International Champions Cup which also features three big clubs from Europe: Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. The 2019 International Champions Cup saw four major European clubs participating in the tournament: Juventus, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Inter Milan. Cristiano Ronaldo, widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, also played at the stadium scoring a goal against Tottenham.
In 2018, as a participant in the 2018 AFF Championship, Singapore played two matches at the stadium for the group stages as the home team.
As part of the Brazil Global Tour, Brazil played as series of friendlies against Senegal on 10 October 2019 and Nigeria on 13 October 2019 respectively.
On 15 July 2022, the stadium hosted the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy, a preseason friendly between Premier League clubs Liverpool and Crystal Palace. In May 2023, it was announced that the stadium would host the "Festival of Football" in late-July, which would feature friendlies between Tottenham Hotspur and AS Roma, Liverpool and Leicester City, and Liverpool and Bayern Munich. AS Roma were later replaced by Lion City Sailors of the Singapore Premier League, after the club was forced to pull out of the match after a pair of friendlies in South Korea were cancelled due to financial issues with their promoter.
Notable football matches held at the Singapore National Stadium :
| Date | Home | Result | Away | Tournament | Attendance | Notes |
| 16 August 2014 | Singapore Selection XI | 0–5 | Juventus | Friendly | 27,338 | 1st official match at the New National Stadium |
| 14 October 2014 | Japan | 0–4 | Brazil | Brazil Global Tour | 51,577 | |
| 15 July 2015 (18:00) | Everton | 0–0 (Pen: 5–4) | Stoke City | 2015 Premier League Asia Trophy | 17,843 | |
| 15 July 2015 (20:30) | Singapore Selection XI | 0–4 | Arsenal | 2015 Premier League Asia Trophy | 29,867 | |
| 18 July 2015 (18:00) | Stoke City | 2–0 | Singapore Selection XI | 2015 Premier League Asia Trophy | 25,000 | |
| 18 July 2015 (20:30) | Everton | 1–3 | Arsenal | 2015 Premier League Asia Trophy | 52,107 | |
| 12 November 2015 | Japan | 3–0 | Singapore | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round | 33,868 | |
| 10 May 2016 | Tampines Rovers | 1–0 | Selangor | 2016 AFC Cup group stage | 11,875 | |
| 13 June 2017 | Singapore | 0–6 | Argentina | FAS 125th Year (Friendly) | 28,000 | |
| 25 July 2017 | Chelsea | 2–3 | Bayern Munich | 2017 International Champions Cup | 48,522 | |
| 27 July 2017 | Bayern Munich | 0–2 | Inter Milan | 2017 International Champions Cup | 23,388 | |
| 29 July 2017 | Chelsea | 1–2 | Inter Milan | 2017 International Champions Cup | 32,547 | Inter Milan is the 2017 ICC Singapore Champions |
| 31 March 2018 | Albirex Niigata Singapore | 2–1 | Tampines Rovers | 2018 Singapore Community Shield | 18,942 | It is the league's first season after rebranding from the S.League to the Singapore Premier League. |
| 26 July 2018 | Atletico Madrid | 1–1 (Pen: 3–1) | Arsenal | 2018 International Champions Cup | 23,095 | |
| 28 July 2018 | Arsenal | 5–1 | Paris Saint-Germain | 2018 International Champions Cup | 50,308 | |
| 30 July 2018 | Paris Saint-Germain | 3–2 | Atletico Madrid | 2018 International Champions Cup | 50.038 | |
| 20 July 2019 | Manchester United | 1–0 | Inter Milan | 2019 International Champions Cup | 52,897 | Record attendance match |
| 21 July 2019 | Juventus | 2–3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 2019 International Champions Cup | 50,443 | |
| 10 October 2019 | Brazil | 1–1 | Senegal | Brazil Global Tour | 20,621 | |
| 13 October 2019 | Brazil | 1–1 | Nigeria | Brazil Global Tour | 20,385 | |
| 29 December 2021 | Indonesia | 0–4 | Thailand | 2020 AFF Championship Final First leg | 6,290 | Thailand won 6–2 on aggregate. |
| 1 January 2022 | Thailand | 2–2 | Indonesia | 2020 AFF Championship Final Second leg | 7,429 | Thailand won 6–2 on aggregate. |
| 15 July 2022 | Liverpool | 2–0 | Crystal Palace | Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy (Friendly) | 50,217 | |
| 26 July 2023 | Lion City Sailors | 1–5 | Tottenham Hotspur | Tiger Cup (Friendly) | 25,095 | |
| 30 July 2023 | Liverpool | 4–0 | Leicester City | Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy (Friendly) | 28,597 | |
| 2 August 2023 | Liverpool | 3–4 | Bayern Munich | Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy (Friendly) | 49,983 | |
| 21 March 2024 | Singapore | 2–2 | China | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | 28,414 | Singapore make a historic comeback after going 2–0 down with goalkeeper Hassan Sunny saving a penalty |
| 6 June 2024 | Singapore | 0–7 | South Korea | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | 49,097 | Record attendance for Singapore national football team game |
| 11 December 2024 | Singapore | 2-1 | Cambodia | 2024 ASEAN Championship | 12,391 | Group stage |
| 17 December 2024 | Singapore | 2-4 | Thailand | 2024 ASEAN Championship | 22,611 | Group stage |

#### Rugby

The stadium's inaugural event was the inaugural World Club 10s tournament in June 2014.
The stadium hosts the Singapore Sevens, a stop on the World Rugby Sevens Series.

### Concerts

Concerts from artists based outside Asia are highlighted in light blue.
Concerts held at the Singapore National Stadium :
| Date | Artist | Event | Note |
| 2014 ||||
| 5 July | Stefanie Sun | Kepler World Tour | |
| 24 October | Mariah Carey | The Elusive Chanteuse Show | First foreign artist to perform at the National Stadium |
| 27 December | Jay Chou | Opus Jay World Tour | |
| 2015 ||||
| 11 March | One Direction | On the Road Again Tour | |
| 7 August | More than 70 artistes (including JJ Lin, Stefanie Sun, Lang Lang, and Apl.de.ap) | Sing50: Celebrating 50 Years of Singapore Music | Attendance: 41,300 |
| 2016 ||||
| 9 January | A-mei | aMEI/AMIT UTOPIA World Tour | |
| 28 February | Madonna | Rebel Heart Tour | |
| 3 September | Jay Chou | The Invincible World Tour | |
| 2017 ||||
| 31 March & 1 April | Coldplay | A Head Full of Dreams Tour | First act in history to perform two shows on a single tour at the National Stadium. |
| 26 August | Foo Fighters | Concrete and Gold Tour | |
| 21 October | Backstreet Boys | Larger Than Life Tour | |
| 2018 ||||
| 6 January | Jay Chou | THE INVINCIBLE 2 JAY CHOU CONCERT TOUR | |
| 2 June | Mayday | Life Tour | |
| 27 October | Jason Mraz | Goods Vibes with Jason Mraz | |
| 2019 ||||
| 19 January | BTS | BTS World Tour: Love Yourself | |
| 7 March | Maroon 5 | Red Pill Blues Tour | |
| 26 April | Ed Sheeran | ÷ Tour | |
| 10 August | Westlife | The Twenty Tour | |
| 30 November & 1 December | U2 | The Joshua Tree Tour 2019 | |
| 21 & 22 December | JJ Lin | Sanctuary 2.0 World Tour 林俊杰《圣所2.0》世界巡回演唱会 | |
| 2020 ||||
| 10 & 11 January | Jay Chou | Carnival World Tour 周杰倫嘉年華世界巡迴演唱會 | |
| 2022 ||||
| 21 August | Billie Eilish | Happier Than Ever, The World Tour | |
| 4 & 5 November | JJ Lin | JJ20 World Tour 《JJ 林俊傑 JJ20 世界巡迴演唱會》 | |
| 12 November | Guns N' Roses | Guns N' Roses 2020 Tour | |
| 28 November | Maroon 5 | 2020 Tour | |
| 3 December | Mayday | Fly to 2022 World Tour 《五月天好好好想見到你 Mayday Fly to 2022 新加坡演唱會》 | |
| 17 & 18 December | Jay Chou | Carnival World Tour 周杰倫嘉年華世界巡迴演唱會 | |
| 2023 ||||
| 16 February | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Global Stadium Tour | |
| 17 March | Harry Styles | Love On Tour | |
| 13 & 14 May | Blackpink | Born Pink World Tour | |
| 2024 ||||
| 13, 14 January | Mayday | NOWHERE Re: Live 2024 Tour | |
| 23, 24, 26, 27, 30 & 31 January | Coldplay | Music of the Spheres World Tour | First act in history to perform, four, five and six shows on a single tour at the National Stadium. Total attendance: 321,113. |
| 16 February | Ed Sheeran | +–=÷× Tour | |
| 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 & 9 March | Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | First solo and female act in history to schedule three, four, five and six shows on a single tour at the National Stadium. Record attendance of 63,000 was set on final night. Total attendance: 368,000. |
| 3, 5 & 6 April | Bruno Mars | 2022–2024 Tour | |
| 31 August | A. R. Rahman | A Rahman Rhapsody | |
| 28 September | Stray Kids | Dominate World Tour | |
| 11, 12 & 13 October | Jay Chou | Carnival World Tour | |
| 28 & 29 December | JJ Lin | JJ20 Final Lap World Tour | |
| 2025 ||||
| 11 & 12 January | Mayday | #5525 Back To That Day World Tour | |
| 25 & 26 January | Seventeen | Right Here World Tour | Attendance: 74,000 |
| 14 & 15 February | Joker Xue | Extraterrestrial World Tour | First mainland China artist to perform at the National Stadium; first mainland China artist to perform two shows on a single tour at the National Stadium |
| 1 March | G.E.M. | I Am Gloria World Tour | First Hong Kong artist to perform at the National Stadium. |
| 18, 19, 21 & 24 May | Lady Gaga | Lion City Mayhem | |

### National Day Parade

On 9 August 2016, the new National Stadium hosted Singapore's National Day Parade (NDP). The event had been frequently held at the old National Stadium in the past, and had been temporarily held at The Float at Marina Bay–a temporary venue on Marina Bay built to host outdoor sports and cultural events while the new National Stadium was being constructed. The design of the stadium resulted in limitations and modifications to the event, including the traditional military flypast and fireworks being obstructed by the stadium's dome, armoured military vehicles being unable to drive on the stadium's tracks, and the Red Lions being unable to parachute into the dome due to safety concerns. The parade thus incorporated different features, such as light shows (including a segment featuring models of Singaporean landmarks illuminated with projection mapping effects), large "puppets", and other artistic presentations.
The event faced mixed reception for its increased costs over the event held at The Float. Under the contract between the Sports Hub and Singapore Government, NDP organisers were allowed 45 days of free annual usage of the venue. However, technicians and performers reported that the time frame needed to be extended to 80 days, to which the Sports Hub requested an additional $26 million but was reportedly reduced to $10 million.
In October 2017, it was announced that The Float would be redeveloped as a permanent venue known as NS Square, and serve as the primary venue for the NDP when not held at the Padang every five years. The decision raised questions over whether the costs of renting the stadium would diminish the legacy that the former National Stadium had as a site for community events. Contrarily, it was argued that not hosting the NDP at the new National Stadium would free up its schedule for major international sporting events, especially during the summer months. Bids to host the Asia Masters Athletics Championships and the Merlion Cup at the stadium had also previously been stalled by costs demanded by the facility. Organizers raised the possibility of hosting the NDP at the stadium again in 2024 due to the construction of NS Square, but ultimately chose to host the 2024 and 2025 parades at the Padang instead.

### Religious gatherings

In May 2019, the National Stadium hosted the Celebration of Hope, a three-day evangelistic event led by Rennis Ponniah.
On 12 September 2024, Pope Francis held a mass at the National Stadium as part of a tour of Southeast Asia and Oceania. It was attended by around 50,000 visitors.