# Estádio da Luz

The Estádio da Luz (Portuguese pronunciation:), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club Benfica, its owner.
Opened on 25 October 2003 with an exhibition match between Benfica and Uruguayan club Nacional, it replaced the original Estádio da Luz, which had 120,000 seats. The seating capacity of the new stadium is currently set at 64,642. The stadium was designed by HOK Sport Venue Event (now Populous) and had a construction cost of €162 million.
A UEFA category four stadium and one of the biggest stadiums by capacity in Europe (the biggest in Portugal), Estádio da Luz hosted several matches of the UEFA Euro 2004, including its final, as well as the 2014 and 2020 finals of the UEFA Champions League. It was elected the most beautiful stadium of Europe in a 2014 online poll by L'Équipe. By its fifteenth birthday, Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica Luz had welcomed more than 17 million spectators. The stadium is one of the potential venues for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Portugal will co-host along with Morocco and Spain.

## Naming

While the previous Benfica stadium was also officially named "Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica", both the old and the new stadia are invariably referred to by their unofficial name, Estádio da Luz. Luz is the name of the neighborhood the stadium was built on, on the border between the parishes of Benfica and Carnide, which itself derives its name from the nearby Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Luz (Church of Our Lady of Light). This unofficial name caught on soon after the original stadium's construction; the people of Lisbon used to simply call it a Luz ("the Light"). Therefore, the stadium's common name became "Estádio da Luz", which is usually anglicised to "Stadium of Light". This translation, however, could be argued to be inaccurate, since Luz refers not to "light" but to the original address of the stadium: Estrada da Luz ("Road of Light").

## Characteristics

Architect Damon Lavelle, from HOK Sport Venue Event (now Populous), designed the stadium to focus on light and transparency. Its polycarbonate roof allows the sunlight to penetrate the stadium in order to illuminate it. The roof, which is supported by tie-beams of four steel arches, seems to float on the underlying tribunes. The arches are 43 metres (141 feet) high and help define the look of the stadium, after having been shaped to be similar to the wavy profile of its three tiers. According to Lavelle, the seating capacity may be increased up to 80,000. However, the most realistic option is to expand by selling standing places, which would require a change in the law.
In June 2024, Sport Lisboa e Benfica announced that it would increase the stadium's capacity to nearly 66,000 spectators by adding 950 seats in a row of seats around the stadium reserved for people with motor disabilities.

## Sports events
### Opening game

In the opening match, Benfica beat Uruguayan side Nacional 2–1 with goals from Nuno Gomes, who became the first ever scorer at the Estádio da Luz.

### Highest attendance official match

On round 33 of the 2016–17 Primeira Liga, in a match where Benfica were crowned national champions for a fourth consecutive season (a new achievement for them), Estádio da Luz recorded its best attendance in official matches.

### 2019–20 UEFA Champions League

Quarter-finals
Final

### Portugal national team matches

The following national team matches were held in the stadium.
| # | Date | Score | Opponent | Competition |
| 1 | 16 June 2004 | 2–0 | Russia | Euro 2004 Group Stage |
| 2 | 24 June 2004 | 2–2 | England | Euro 2004 Quarter-Finals |
| 3 | 4 July 2004 | 0–1 | Greece | Euro 2004 Final |
| 4 | 4 June 2005 | 2–0 | Slovakia | 2006 World Cup qualification |
| 5 | 8 September 2007 | 2–2 | Poland | Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 6 | 10 October 2009 | 3–0 | Hungary | 2010 World Cup qualification |
| 7 | 14 November 2009 | 1–0 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2010 World Cup UEFA play-offs |
| 8 | 17 November 2010 | 4–0 | Spain | Friendly |
| 9 | 4 June 2011 | 1–0 | Norway | Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 10 | 15 November 2011 | 6–2 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs |
| 11 | 2 June 2012 | 1–3 | Turkey | Friendly |
| 12 | 7 June 2013 | 1–0 | Russia | 2014 World Cup qualification |
| 13 | 15 November 2013 | 1–0 | Sweden | 2014 World Cup UEFA play-offs |
| 14 | 29 March 2015 | 2–1 | Serbia | Euro 2016 qualifying |
| 15 | 8 June 2016 | 7–0 | Estonia | Friendly |
| 16 | 25 March 2017 | 3–0 | Hungary | 2018 World Cup qualification |
| 17 | 10 October 2017 | 2–0 | Switzerland | 2018 World Cup qualification |
| 18 | 7 June 2018 | 3–0 | Algeria | Friendly |
| 19 | 10 September 2018 | 1–0 | Italy | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League |
| 20 | 22 March 2019 | 0–0 | Ukraine | Euro 2020 qualifying |
| 21 | 25 March 2019 | 1–1 | Serbia | Euro 2020 qualifying |
| 22 | 11 November 2020 | 7–0 | Andorra | Friendly |
| 23 | 14 November 2020 | 0–1 | France | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League |
| 24 | 14 November 2021 | 1–2 | Serbia | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 25 | 17 June 2023 | 3–0 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
| 26 | 5 September 2024 | 2–1 | Croatia | 2024–25 UEFA Nations League |
| 27 | 8 September 2024 | 2–1 | Scotland | 2024–25 UEFA Nations League |

### Euro 2004 matches

| Date | Team #1 | Result | Team #2 | Round | Attendance |
| 13 June 2004 | France | 2–1 | England | Group B | 62,487 |
| 16 June 2004 | Russia | 0–2 | Portugal | Group A | 59,273 |
| 21 June 2004 | Croatia | 2–4 | England | Group B | 57,047 |
| 24 June 2004 | Portugal | 2–2 (6–5 on pen.) | England | Quarter-finals | 62,564 |
| 4 July 2004 | Portugal | 0–1 | Greece | Final | 62,864 |

### Benfica matches in UEFA competitions

    As of match played 5 March 2025
* All-time statistics
    117 matches: 71 wins, 21 draws, 25 losses
    201 goals scored, 108 goals conceded

## Other events
### Ceremonies

| Date | Organizing Entity | Event | Total audience |
| 7 July 2007 | New 7 Wonders Foundation | New 7 Wonders of the World | 50,000 |

### Concerts

| Date | Artist/band | Concert tour | Total audience |
| 1–2 June 2019 | Ed Sheeran | ÷ Tour | 120,716 |
| 26 June 2023 | Rammstein | Rammstein Stadium Tour | 50,000 |
| 24–25 May 2024 | Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | 120,000 |
| 26 June 2025 | Imagine Dragons | Loom World Tour | - |

### Religious meetings

| Date | Organizing Entity | Event | Total audience |
| 28–30 June 2019 | International Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses | Love Never Fails | 63,390 |
| 4 August 2023 | World Youth Day | The Change | 44,000 |