TheJohan Cruyff Arena (Dutch:Johan Cruijff Arena[ˈjoːɦɑŋˈkrœyfaːˌreːnaː]; officially stylised asJohan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city ofAmsterdam and the home stadium offootball clubAFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost equivalent to €140 million,^[3] it is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium was previously known as theAmsterdam Arena (stylised asAmsterdam ArenA) until the 2018–19 football season, when it was officially renamed in honour of Dutch footballerJohan Cruyff who died in 2016.^[4][5][6]

Johan Cruyff Arena

"De Arena" (The Arena)
UEFA
Full name	Johan Cruijff ArenA
Former names	Amsterdam ArenA (1996–2018) Stadion Amsterdam (project name, 1993–1995)
Location	ArenA Boulevard 1, 1101 AXAmsterdam, Netherlands
Coordinates	52°18′51″N4°56′31″E / 52.31417°N 4.94194°E /52.31417; 4.94194
Public transit	Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA station,Strandvliet metro station
Owner	Gemeente Amsterdam Stadion Amsterdam N.V.
Executive suites	76[2]
Capacity	55,865 (2024)[1] 51,200 (Original)[2] 71,000 (Music concerts)
Record attendance	55,076Ajax -Excelsior Rotterdam 24 April 2024
Field size	105 x 68 m
Surface	PlayMaster Hybrid Grass by Tarkett Sports
Construction
Built	1993–1996
Opened	14 August 1996; 28 years ago (1996-08-14)
Renovated	2015-2020
Construction cost	€140 million
Tenants
Football AFC Ajax (1996–present) Netherlands national football team selected matches (1996-present) AFC Ajax Women selected matches (2015-present) American Football Amsterdam Admirals (1997–2007)
Website
johancruijffarena.nl/en

It was one of the stadiums used duringUEFA Euro 2000, and also hosted the1998 UEFA Champions League final and2013 UEFA Europa League final. The stadium also hosted three group stage matches and one match in the round of 16 of theUEFA Euro 2020.

Both international and Dutch artists have given concerts in the stadium, includingTina Turner,Coldplay,U2,Take That,Celine Dion,Madonna,Michael Jackson,André Hazes,David Bowie,AC/DC,Justin Timberlake,One Direction,the Rolling Stones,Beyoncé,Rihanna,Taylor Swift andArmin van Buuren. The dance eventSensation was held in the stadium every year, up until the final edition in 2017.

The stadium has aretractable roof and a grass surface. Since 2022, the stadium has acapacity of 55,865^[1] during football matches, increased from 54,990.^[2] The stadium has a capacity of 68,000 during music concerts if a center-stage setup is used (the stage in the middle of the pitch); for end-stage music concerts, the capacity is 50,000; and for music concerts for which the stage is located in the east side of the stadium, the capacity is 35,000. It held UEFA five-star stadium status, which was superseded by a new system of classification.

Amsterdam was one of six cities that bid to host the1992 Summer Olympics. In 1986, a new Olympic stadium was designed, with a football field and an athletics track. It was to be built in the area of Strandvliet inAmsterdam Zuidoost. After Amsterdam lost the bid toBarcelona in October 1986, the plans for the new stadium were abandoned. In 1987, the Stichting Amsterdam Sportstad (English: "Amsterdam Sports City Foundation") was established, which made new plans for a sports stadium with an all-seated capacity of 55,000. In 1990, a new design was made based on both previous designs, with a football field, an athletics track, and completely covered by a roof. By this time,AFC Ajax needed a new stadium, as their previous home ground,De Meer, was far too small for most of Ajax's games. Since the late 1960s, Ajax had moved its most important games toOlympisch Stadion.^[7] Indeed, from the 1930s onward, Ajax had played most of their European fixtures and midweek night games at Olympisch Stadion.

Once more, the design was altered – the athletics track was removed, the capacity was reduced to 50,000 seats, and the fixed roof was replaced by aretractable roof. In 1992, theGovernment of Amsterdam authorised the plans for the stadium with aTransferium where people could transfer from their car to various forms of public transportation. In 1993, the Government of Amsterdam changed the development plan of the location and gave a permit to build the stadium.^[7]

The first pile of thedeep foundation of the stadium was placed on 26 November 1993. The construction work, undertaken byBallast Nedam andRoyal BAM Group,^[7] took almost three years. The highest point of the building was reached on 24 February 1995, after the roof construction was raised. The fly-over from the public road to the parking facilities was opened on 13 March 1996. The stadium received 180,000 visitors during the construction work, until the stadium was closed from 1 July 1996 until the opening ceremony.^[7] The stadium was officially opened on 14 August 1996 byQueen Beatrix.^[8]

At the grand opening, the queen made a curtain fall inside the stadium. This revealed the world's largest paintingDe Zee (English:The Sea) of 80 by 126 meters (262 ft × 413 ft). Two-dimensional ships were placed on the sea representing the clubs in theEredivisie.Trijntje Oosterhuis sang thehymn "De Zee", composed for the opening ceremony byJohn Ewbank. An eight-daytorch relay with 375 runners over 1400 km through the Netherlands reached the stadium. The first runner wasJohan Cruyff starting in the old stadium De Meer, and the last runner wasFrank Rijkaard arriving in the new stadium. After the grass was revealed and the roof opened, an inaugural football friendly was played between AFC Ajax andMilan, which Ajax lost 0–3.^{[citation needed]}Tina Turner opened the stadium with three concerts with 160,000 people, from her world breakingWildest Dreams Tour.

The construction of the stadium cost an equivalent of €140 million^[3] (at the time, the currency of the Netherlands was theDutch guilder).

The stadium combines a retractable roof with a grass surface. This caused some problems in the beginning: the turf's grass would not grow in the shade of the open roof and had to be replaced up to four times a year.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2015, plans were presented to renovate the stadium's facade.^[9] The renovation should provide better quality and service to visitors by widening the walkway rings around the stadium, creating more room for the visitors and for new facilities (the number of seats remains the same). As a result, the outside of the stadium transforms from a concave shape to a convex shape, drastically altering its appearance. The renovation has only been completed on the east side in 2020, when four matches of theUEFA Euro 2020 championship were played in the Arena.

Construction works started in June 2017.^[10] The first phase is to renovate the east side of the stadium, where construction of the new facade was completed in April 2018.^[11]

On 25 April 2017, it was announced that the Amsterdam Arena would be renamed to "Johan Cruijff Arena" in memory of Ajax legendJohan Cruyff.^[12][13] Later that year, on 9 August, it was stated that the name change would take place on 25 October 2017.^[14][15] However, this was postponed as that date proved to be infeasible due to the many matters that needed to be settled, such as arranging compensation for possible loss of income, transferring part of the shares from the municipality of Amsterdam to Ajax and having a discussion with the Cruyff family.^[16][17]

On 5 April 2018, it was announced that the stadium would officially change name at the start of the 2018–19 football season.^[4][5] The stadium's new logo was revealed on 25 April 2018, the birthday of Johan Cruyff.^[18] According to the spokeswoman of Cruyff's family, the original Dutch spelling of his name (Cruijff) was chosen for the stadium's official name "to stay close to the Dutch Johan".^[6]

The stadium's original architect is the Dutchman Rob Schuurman. The original all-seated capacity was 54,990.^[2] After the 2019–20 season, but before Euro 2020, capacity was expanded by 660.^[1][19] The final increased capacity after the 2017-2021 renovation project is 56,120,^[1] an increase of 1,130. The original capacity during music concerts – the stadium's maximum capacity – is 68,000 visitors.^[3] The parking capacity of theTransferium is 500 cars (inside); there are an additional 12,000 parking spots outside.^[3]

The Johan Cruyff Arena is one of two stadiums in the Netherlands that is rated asCategory 4 byUEFA, the other being theFeijenoord Stadion inRotterdam.^[20]

The Ajax Museum is located in the stadium, which shows Ajax's more than 120 years of history.^[21]

The nearest train and subway (metro) station isAmsterdam Bijlmer Arena. The metro lines 50 and 54 (Amsterdam Central Station and city center) stop here.

The stadium is the home ofAFC Ajax for bothEredivisie and European matches. The inaugural match on 14 August 1996 was a friendly between the home teamAjax andAC Milan, which ended with a 3–0 win for Milan. The first goal was scored byDejan Savićević. The first Ajax goal was scored byKiki Musampa in the first competition match againstNAC Breda.

The stadium hosted the1998 UEFA Champions League final,Real Madrid defeatedJuventus by 1–0 due to a goal byPredrag Mijatović. It was one of the venues inUEFA Euro 2000. The stadium also hosted the2013 UEFA Europa League final, whenChelsea defeatedBenfica by 2–1.

It hosts oftenDutch national team's international matches, though the Netherlands does not have one dedicatednational stadium for football.

Since 2023, the Arena regularly hosts matches of theAjax Women squad. TheKlassieker home game againstFeyenoord of that year was the first, with an attendance of 33,742 visitors. A year later the same game was played in the stadium as well. The home games of the group stage of the2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League and thequarter-final home game againstChelsea Women were played at the stadium. The game against Chelsea recorded an attendance of 35,991 spectators, a record for a women's football game in the Netherlands.

Additionally, the stadium hosts pre-season friendlies of Ajax 1 (men) and games ofAjax's reserve team, as well tournaments, such as theAmsterdam Tournament

The stadium hosted three group stage matches and one round of 16 match at theUEFA Euro 2020, which was postponed to 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Also there was a smaller attendance because of this.

The stadium was home of theAmerican football teamAmsterdam Admirals of theNFL Europe, until theNational Football League (NFL) ended its European competition in June 2007.^[26] The team played over 50 matches in the stadium from 1997 to 2007.^[8]World Bowl IX was played at the Arena in 2001, when theBerlin Thunder defeated theBarcelona Dragons.

Askickboxing is a popular combat sport in the Netherlands, theIt's Showtime andK-1 promotions have held a number of fight cards at the arena. Many of the sport's biggest stars such asPeter Aerts,Semmy Schilt,Badr Hari andErnesto Hoost have fought there.^[27]

Dutch music groupDe Toppers have played annually at the venue since 2005. In total, they have sold out more than 50 concerts; no other act has performed at the stadium that many times. The arena was listed as a potential venue in Amsterdam's bid to host the65th Eurovision Song Contest. However, the city later withdrew its bid due to venues, including the Johan Cruyff Arena, being fully booked.^[28][29]

• Halte Amsterdam ArenA
• Football in the Netherlands
• Lists of stadiums

• Official website 
• Ajax Museum