Largest Stadium in the World (2026): Full Capacity Ranking

The largest stadium in the world is the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, which holds 132,000 spectators. Second is the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, at roughly 113,000 on independent seat counts. Below those two, every venue that clears 100,000 is either an American college football stadium or the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Which stadium is the largest in the world in 2026?

Narendra Modi Stadium, by a margin of almost 19,000 seats. It is a cricket ground, which is why it goes missing from lists written for football audiences. The old Motera stadium on the site was demolished in 2015 and rebuilt to a Populous design by contractor Larsen & Toubro, reopening in February 2020 at a reported cost of ₹800 crore (roughly US$100 million). It was renamed for the Indian prime minister in February 2021. The Gujarat Cricket Association owns and operates it.

That cost is the number most lists leave out, and it reframes the whole ranking. At about $760 per seat, the world’s biggest stadium was built for around a fiftieth of what SoFi Stadium and the modern NFL venues cost per seat.

World’s largest stadiums by capacity (2026)

Capacity here is permanent total capacity, including permanent standing areas and excluding temporary seating. Costs are as originally reported, not inflation-adjusted.

#	Stadium	Capacity	City, country	Opened	Build / rebuild cost	Owner or operator	Main sport
1	Narendra Modi Stadium	132,000	Ahmedabad, India	2020 (rebuild)	₹800 crore (~US$100m)	Gujarat Cricket Association	Cricket
2	Rungrado 1st of May Stadium	113,281	Pyongyang, North Korea	1989	Not disclosed	DPRK government	Football, mass games
3	Michigan Stadium	107,601	Ann Arbor, USA	1927	$950,000; $226m 2010 works	University of Michigan	College football
4	Beaver Stadium	106,572	University Park, USA	1960	$1.6m; $700m rebuild under way	Penn State University	College football
5	Ohio Stadium	102,780	Columbus, USA	1922	$1.34m	Ohio State University	College football
6	Kyle Field	102,733	College Station, USA	1927	$485m 2013–15 rebuild	Texas A&M University	College football
7	Tiger Stadium	102,321	Baton Rouge, USA	1924	$1.82m (1936 horseshoe)	Louisiana State University	College football
8	Neyland Stadium	101,915	Knoxville, USA	1921	$42,000; $136.4m 2004–10 works	University of Tennessee	College football
9	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium	100,119	Austin, USA	1924	$275,000	University of Texas	College football
10	Bryant–Denny Stadium	100,077	Tuscaloosa, USA	1929	$196,000	University of Alabama	College football
11	Melbourne Cricket Ground	100,024	Melbourne, Australia	1853	A$725m (redevelopments)	Victorian Government / Melbourne Cricket Club	Cricket, Australian rules
12	FNB Stadium	94,736	Johannesburg, South Africa	1989, rebuilt 2009	ZAR 3.3bn (~US$440m) rebuild	City of Johannesburg / Stadium Management SA	Football, rugby

None of these venues carries a corporate naming-rights deal. That is unusual at this scale, and it is a direct consequence of who owns them: universities, national governments and member-owned clubs, none of which need to sell the name on the building.

Why is the North Korean capacity figure disputed?

Because no independent body has ever been allowed to audit it. North Korean state media put Rungrado 1st of May Stadium at 150,000, a figure repeated for decades and still quoted in tourist material. The venue does have around 80 entrances, and official sources say those can admit 150,000 people in 15 minutes.

The problem is seats. When StadiumDB’s editors counted every seat in the bowl from photography, including VIP and press areas, the total stopped just under 114,000. That is the basis for the 113,281 figure used above. Treat 150,000 as a claimed throughput number, not a verified seating capacity, and treat 113,281 as the best available count rather than an audited one.

Largest by seated capacity versus venues with standing room

The ranking above mixes two different things, and separating them changes the order. All-seater venues like Narendra Modi Stadium and the American college stadiums report a seat count. Venues with permanent standing terraces report seats plus terrace allowance, so their listed capacity is not a seat count at all.

Two consequences follow. First, record attendances routinely exceed listed capacity: the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s listed 100,024 has been beaten by crowds packed into standing and temporary areas. Second, motorsport circuits and racecourses sit outside this list entirely, because their capacity is a licensed site figure rather than a stand figure. Tokyo Racecourse alone is licensed for 223,000, more than any stadium on earth, which is covered in the ranking of the world’s largest horse racing venues.

Why do Michigan Stadium and Beaver Stadium dominate the American list?

Because American universities built enormous bowls in the 1920s and never stopped adding to them, while professional leagues capped themselves. Michigan Stadium opened in 1927 with room for 72,000 and was expanded six times before the $226 million 2010 project. Beaver Stadium was literally moved and reassembled at its current site in 1960, then expanded nine times.

Professional football went the other way. The NFL’s old broadcast blackout rule punished any team that failed to sell out, so no franchise built far past 80,000 seats. The result is that eight college stadiums outrank every venue in the ranking of the biggest stadiums in the US, and the largest NFL stadium, MetLife, seats 82,500.

Which stadium could top the list next?

Nothing under construction beats 132,000. The Grand Stade Hassan II, being built on a 100-hectare site near El Mansouria north of Casablanca, is designed for about 115,000 with completion targeted for late 2028 and a reported budget near 5 billion dirhams. That would put it second, ahead of Rungrado.

Two other projects are worth watching. Penn State’s $700 million Beaver Stadium revitalization should push capacity to roughly 108,000 to 109,000 during the 2026 season, taking the American record from Michigan before the project finishes in 2027. And Spotify Camp Nou is heading for 105,000 once Espai Barca completes; through 2026 it has been operating under a partial licence at around 62,600, so it is deliberately left out of the table above rather than listed at a capacity it cannot currently use.

Bookmark the stadiums hub for the capacity tables as these rebuilds land.