This is how the biggest stadiums in South Africa look

·21 Apr 2018

South Africa is home to some truly iconic stadiums.

The country’s biggest stadium – the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, which seats over 94,700 people – was built especially for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and has been used a venue for various international acts and sporting events since the football tournament’s end.

However, other stadiums built for the World Cup have not been as well utilised.

It has been widely reported that the Cape Town Stadium (the 6th largest by capacity) has struggled to find a use since 2010.

However, the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban – which also sports its own unique design – has been more successful as a venue for events like bungee jumping, concerts, cricket, football, and rugby union.

Aside from the well-known World Cup stadiums, however, South Africa still has a host of large and popular venues, which are still some of the largest structures in the country.

From Loftus Versfeld to Ellis Park and Orlando, major stadiums around the bigger metro areas are still used frequently, mostly for sporting events.

One of South Africa’s biggest stadiums, Odi Stadium in Mabopane, however, has fallen into disrepair having not been used for over a decade.

When the stadium was in use, it could hold 60,000 spectators – making it the third largest stadium overall – but its fate is now in the hands of the community.

A design twin of Odi Stadium, and only marginally smaller with a capacity of 59,000 people, is Mmabatho Stadium in Mahikeng. Over and above sport events, the stadium is also most notably used to host political rallies, and is also a a training ground for North-West University.

These are the 15 biggest stadiums in South Africa

Rank	Stadium	Capacity	Location
1	FNB Stadium	94 730	Johannesburg
2	Ellis Park	62 560	Johannesburg
3	Mmbatho Stadium	59 000	Mahikeng
4	Cape Town Stadium	55 000	Cape Town
5	Moses Mabhida Stadium	54 000	Durban
6	King Park Stadium	52 000	Durban
7	Loftus Versfeld	51 760	Pretoria
8	Newlands Stadium	51 100	Cape Town
9	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	48 460	Port Elizabeth
10	Royal Bafokeng Stadium	42 000	Rustenburg
11	Peter Mokaba Stadium	41 730	Polokwane
12	Mbombela Stadium	40 930	Nelspruit
13	Free State Stadium	40 910	Bloemfontein
14	Orlando Stadium	40 000	Soweto
15	Johannesburg Stadium	37 500	Johannesburg

The images below were captured using Google Earth‘s impressive 3D-modelling technology, which covers a surprisingly large portion of South Africa’s cities, including 12 of South Africa’s big stadiums. Stadiums that are not within the coverage area were not included.

FNB Stadium