Mineirão, Football stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Mineirão, officially Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto, is a football stadium in Belo Horizonte's Pampulha district. A continuous white roof of narrow radial panels rings an open centre above two tiers of dark grey seating with a few red sections, and blue solar panels line the outer roof edge. The pitch is green with white lines and two white goal frames.
State Bill 1947 of 12 August 1959, signed by Governor José Francisco Bias Fortes, created the Estádio Minas Gerais and the AEMG to administer it, with 10% of each Loteria Mineira ticket funding the works. Architects Eduardo Mendes Guimarães Júnior and Gaspar Garreto reworked a 30,000-seat university stadium plan into one for 100,000 people on UFMG land in Pampulha. The stadium opened in 1965 and was listed by Belo Horizonte's municipal heritage council in 2003.
The venue carries the name of a former governor but locals call it Mineirão, a reference to the state of Minas Gerais. On match days the surrounding area turns into a gathering spot where fans meet at food stalls and celebrate before kickoff.
Multiple entrances circle the venue and allow access to different sections inside. Buses and metro lines stop nearby so visitors can arrive without a car.
During the 2014 World Cup Germany and Brazil played a semifinal here that ended 7 to 1 for Germany. That match went down as one of the most surprising results in tournament history.
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