Tianhe Stadium

Tianhe Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, located in Tianhe, Guangzhou, China. With the capacity of 58,500, it is the ninth-largest stadium in China. Currently, it is serving as the home for Guangzhou Evergrande FC, a popular local football club.

History

It was built by city of Guangzhou and province of Guangdong. The construction of the stadium had begun in 1984 and took three years to be completed. It was opened on 30 August 1987, as a principal venue for 6th National Games of China.

In the year of 1991, FIFA organised first ever Women's World Cup and chose Tianhe stadium to host opening and closing ceremonies as well as final of the tournament.

In 2001, the stadium again hosted National Games and later in 2010 it was picked up as a principal venue for football finals of the Asian Games.

Major Matches

Inaugural Women's World Cup final was held here on 30 November 1991, and the match was played between the United States and Norway. United States won the game by 2-1 and became first team to win the title.

In 2010, some matches of Asian Games played here including one quarter final, one semi final, bronze medal match and the final. In the semifinal match, UAE defeated South Korea by 1-0. The final of the tournament took place on 25 November and Japan emerged as the winner by beating UAE by 1-0.

On 9 November 2013, venue hosted AFC Champions League Final between FC Seoul and home team Guangzhou Evergrande. Though, match ended on a draw but Guangzhou Evergrande was declared winner on away goals.

In 2015, venue hosted final of the AFC Champions League once again, this time between Al-Ahli and Guangzhou Evergrande. Appearing for the second time in the final of the tournament, Guangzhou Evergrande won by 1-0 on aggregate.

Controversies

On March 2017, during the match between Guoan and Evergrande, referee gave Guoan a questionable penalty and took several other wrong decisions, which led fans to criticise match officials.