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 Interactive map of Sammy Ofer Stadium | |
| Full name | The International Sammy Ofer Stadium |
|---|---|
| Address | 2 Pinchas and Abraham Rotenberg Street |
| Location |  Haifa,Israel |
| Public transit |  Coastal Railway Line atHaifa Hof HaCarmel |
| Owner | Haifa Municipality |
| Operator | Haifa Municipality |
| Executive suites | 35 |
| Capacity | 30,950[1] |
| Record attendance | 30,464 (Maccabi Haifa vsBenfica Lisbon, 2 November 2022) |
| Field size | 22,000 m2 (240,000 sq ft) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Scoreboard | LCD |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 2009 |
| Opened | 27 August 2014 |
| Construction cost | ₪ 530 million |
| Architect | KSS Design Group |
| Tenants | |
| Maccabi Haifa (2014–present) Hapoel Haifa (2014–present) Israel national football team (selected matches) | |
| Website | |
| Sammy Ofer Stadium | |
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Sammy Ofer Stadium (Hebrew:אצטדיון סמי עופר), also known asHaifa Municipal Stadium (האצטדיון העירוני חיפה), is a 30,950 seatsmulti-purpose stadium inHaifa,Israel.[2] Construction began in late 2009 and was completed in 2014. The stadium was developed and built by the Haifa Economic Corporation, managed by Adv. Gal Peleg.
Currently, the stadium is used mostly forfootball matches, hosting the home games ofMaccabi Haifa andHapoel Haifa. The stadium replacedKiryat Eliezer Stadium, which was closed in 2014 and demolished in 2015. The stadium is named after the late Israeli billionaireSammy Ofer (1922–2011), who donated $20,000,000 to build the stadium. Ofer's contribution was 19% of the total cost of the stadium.
Statue of World Peace, a 15-meter high stainless steel sculpture created and donated by Chinese artist We Yuan Yan (Yao Yuan), adorns the stadium plaza.[3][4] The design features a woman and adove poised as if about to take flight.
On 16 September 2008, the Haifa Construction Committee approved the stadium's plans and gave it the green light. In August 2009, official plans for the stadium were released. In September 2009, it has been announced that the works on building the foundations of the stadium would begin at the end of September 2009.
The first official match ever at Sammy Ofer Stadium was played on 27 August 2014.Hapoel Haifa hostedHapoel Acre (Toto Cup) and won 2–0. The first historic goal in the new stadium was scored by Hapoel Haifa strikerTosaint Ricketts. The first league match was played on 15 September 2014.Maccabi Haifa hostedBnei Sakhnin, who they defeated by a score of 4–2. The historic first goal by a Maccabi Haifa player was scored by Israeli national team midfielderHen Ezra during stoppage time of the first half. Over 28,000 supporters were in attendance.[5]
The firstUEFA Champions League match was played on 30 September 2015 byMaccabi Tel Aviv againstDinamo Kyiv,[6] Dinamo won 2–0 with goals byAndriy Yarmolenko andJúnior Moraes.
The first match of theIsrael national football team was played on 16 November 2014. Israel hosted theBosnia and Herzegovina national football team in theUEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match and won 3–0. The stadium was sold out, which resulted in an atmosphere beyond compare, helping Israel win their 3rd game in a row in the tournament.[7]
The first concert at the stadium was byOmer Adam on 24 May 2018, there were 30,000 people in the audience, and all the tickets were sold within an hour of being released.[8][9]
On 5 January 2017, four goals were scored by a single player at the stadium for the first time, whenHanan Maman scored in Hapoel Haifa's 6–1 victory overKfar Qassem in a cup match.[10] On 7 February 2022, this achievement was repeated, whenOmer Atzili scored in Maccabi Haifa's 6–0 win overF.C. Ashdod in theIsraeli Premier League.[11]
In the2022–23 Israeli Premier League, Maccabi Haifa won their third consecutive championship, with a home record of 18 wins, one draw, and no losses, accumulating 52 points out of a possible 54.[12]
International matches
| Date | Result | Competition | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 November 2014 | Israel | 3–0 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2016 Euro qualifying group stage | 28,300 |
| 28 March 2015 | Israel | 0–3 |  Wales | 2016 Euro qualifying group stage | 30,200 |
| 3 September 2015 | Israel | 4–0 |  Andorra | 2016 Euro qualifying group stage | 22,650 |
| 5 September 2016 | Israel | 1–3 |  Italy | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | 29,300 |
| 11 June 2017 | Israel | 0–3 |  Albania | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | 15,150 |
| 2 September 2017 | Israel | 0–1 |  North Macedonia | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | 11,350 |
| 11 October 2018 | Israel | 2–1 |  Scotland | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League | 10,234 |
| 21 March 2019 | Israel | 1–1 |  Slovenia | UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying | 12,430 |
| 24 March 2019 | Israel | 4–2 |  Austria | UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying | 16,150 |
| 11 October 2020 | Israel | 1–2 |  Czech Republic | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League | 0 |
| 4 September 2021 | Israel | 5–2 | Austria | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | 13,550 |
| 2 June 2022 | Israel | 2–2 |  Iceland | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League | 13,150 |
| Gate | Entrance | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Club | A, B | 301–305, 307, 309-312 |
| Press Box | A, B | 306, 308 |
| Gold and Diamond Club | VIP | 401–410 |
| Sky Box | VIP | 501–536 |
| North Tribune | C, D | 101–109, 201-212 |
| Family Tribune | E, G | 110–113, 119–122, 213–217, 223-227 |
| East Tribune | F | 114–118, 218-222 |
| South Tribune | H, J | 123–128, 228-234 |
| Guest Tribune | K | 129–132, 235-240 |
32°47′0″N34°57′55″E / 32.78333°N 34.96528°E /32.78333; 34.96528
