Estadio Centenario: The 1930 World Cup Stadium and the Museo del Fútbol

Hours, Price and Match Days

The entrance is on Av. Ricaldoni in the Tribuna Olímpica, next to Gate 13. The museum opens Monday to Saturday 10:00-17:00 and Sunday 11:00-15:00.

The stadium's own history page gives weekdays only, so check before a Sunday trip. Foreigners pay $9.92 (UYU 400), Uruguayans $4.96 (UYU 200), retirees $2.23 (UYU 90), and children under 12 go free. The rate includes phone photos without flash.

There is an online reservation form on the museum's site. The single rule that catches visitors out is match days: when there is a game, the museum stays closed. Staff speak Spanish, English, Portuguese and French, which helps most first-time visitors.

The Collection

The museum opened on 15 December 1975 and was remodelled in 2004. It covers about 3,000 square metres on two floors. The oldest piece is the 1916 furniture used when Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Chile ratified the founding of CONMEBOL, the South American football body.

Cases hold flags, trophies and shirts from the Olympic titles at Colombes 1924 and Amsterdam 1928, plus items from the 1930 and 1950 World Cups. You can see belongings of the two great Uruguay captains, José Nasazzi and Obdulio Varela. There are also Copa Libertadores items.

For anyone who follows football, this is the room where Uruguayan football stops being a quiz answer and becomes real objects.

The Auditorium, the Screens and the Stand

The ground floor hosts temporary shows and an auditorium. Its film shows the 1928 Olympics, the building of the stadium and the 1930 World Cup. An audiovisual runs every half hour on three screens moved by robot arms, which is more theatre than museum case.

The visit also takes you out onto the Tribuna Olímpica, the side stand, where you stand inside the bowl. This stand access is the reason to buy the museum ticket rather than just photographing the stadium from the street.

The Torre de los Homenajes

The tower rises over the Olímpica stand. Its designers shaped it like a ship's rudder as a nod to the immigrants who came across the Atlantic to Uruguay, and it carries nine balconies for the nine stripes of the Uruguayan flag. A panoramic lift was added in 2004.

The foundation stone laid in July 1929 lies beneath the tower. The museum page prints no separate price for the lift, so ask at the desk when you buy your ticket.

A Stadium Against the Clock

The cornerstone went in on 21 July 1929. Works ran from February to July 1930 under the architect Juan Antonio Scasso. About 1,100 labourers worked in three shifts a day, moving 160,000 cubic metres of earth and pouring 14,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete.

Heavy rain delayed the project, so six of the 18 World Cup matches had to be played at two other stadiums. The stadium opened on 18 July 1930, the centenary of the oath of the Constitution, with Uruguay beating Peru 1-0 before a crowd of 57,735.

30 July 1930: the First Final

On 30 July 1930 Uruguay came from 2-1 down to beat Argentina 4-2 and take the first World Cup. The final crowd is recorded as 68,346 (Wikipedia). Its attendance record came at the 1930 semifinal: 79,867 for Uruguay against Yugoslavia (Wikipedia).

FIFA settled the question of the stadium's place in history on 18 July 1983, declaring it a Historic Monument of World Football, the only construction anywhere with that title.

Colombes, Ámsterdam, Olímpica and América

The Colombes stand takes the north side, named for the Paris stadium where Uruguay won Olympic gold in 1924. The Ámsterdam stand is the south, honouring the 1928 Olympic title. The Olímpica is the side stand, its name covering both Olympic triumphs, and the América stand sits opposite, holding the official box and the press.

School No. 100 operates under the Olímpica stand, an ordinary school a few metres from the pitch. The stadium is managed by CAFO, made up of the Uruguayan football association and the Intendencia de Montevideo. Capacity today is about 60,235 (Wikipedia), well below the 79,867 who packed in for the 1930 semifinal.

Fixtures, Tickets and Match-Day Rules

The Estadio Centenario is the home of the Uruguayan national team. Uruguay won the Copa América all four times it hosted the tournament after the stadium was built, in 1942, 1956, 1967 and 1995. The first Intercontinental Cup match was played here in 1960, Peñarol against Real Madrid, 0-0.

Peñarol used the stadium for home games from 1933 to 2016 (Wikipedia). No ticket price is posted in official visitor material, so fixtures and tickets are announced by the clubs and the national association close to each date, and you buy through their channels. Remember the museum is closed on match days, so a game and a museum visit cannot happen the same day.

For general city precautions before and after a match, read is Montevideo safe.

The Centenary Match

FIFA has set the opening game of the 2030 World Cup for the Estadio Centenario. It is one of three centenary matches, one each in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, honouring the tournament's South American birth. Morocco, Portugal and Spain host the rest of the competition.

For a football traveller, the practical point is simple: the stadium where the first final was played on 30 July 1930 will open the centenary World Cup, and Montevideo will be busier than usual when it does.

Ten Minutes, Ninety Minutes or a Match

Most visitors see the stadium through a city tour, which stops about ten minutes outside for photos and a guide's talk. The Montevideo tours listed below all work this way. If you come on your own for the Museo del Fútbol and the Tribuna Olímpica, our estimate is an hour to an hour and a half.

The third way is a match day, which means the full experience but no museum. Two rules decide everything: the museum closes when there is a match, and Sunday hours are short, 11:00-15:00, with the stadium's own history page listing weekdays only. Check both before you set out.

Details That Change the Visit

- The tower is shaped like a ship's rudder in honour of the immigrants who arrived by sea, with nine balconies for the nine stripes of the flag (FIFA). - Six of the 18 matches at the 1930 World Cup were played at two other stadiums because heavy rain delayed construction (FIFA). - The stadium's attendance record is not the final: 79,867 watched the 1930 semifinal Uruguay v Yugoslavia (Wikipedia). - An ordinary state school, School No. 100, operates under the Olímpica stand a few metres from the pitch (stadium history page). - The oldest piece in the museum is the 1916 furniture used when four nations ratified the founding of CONMEBOL (stadium history page).

Pairing the Stadium with the Rest of the City

On a weekday, the natural pairing is the Palacio Legislativo, which opens at 11:00, then the football museum in the early afternoon. On a cruise call, take one of the port tours listed on this page and add the museum only if your ship stays late enough. Afterwards, walk or ride east to the Rambla for the waterfront, and use our list of what to see in Montevideo to fill the rest of the day.

If you need a bed near 18 de Julio or the centre, browse Montevideo hotels. Match days aside, the stadium rewards half a day at most.