Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, football stadium

The Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano is a multi-purpose stadium in San Pedro Sula with a natural-grass pitch, athletics facilities and stands for 37,325 spectators. Its press and dressing-room area was modernised with air conditioning and electronic screens, and the grandstand includes a lift-served box level with pullman seats. A security perimeter surrounds the ground, and a baseball and basketball complex, rebuilt in 2004, stands alongside.

Built by Jerónimo "Chombo" Sandoval for the sixth Central American Games, the stadium was inaugurated on 5 December 1997 after the Games were postponed. It replaced Estadio Nacional as Honduras's largest venue and has hosted the national team since the 1998 World Cup qualifiers. Its first league match, on 1 March 1998, saw Olimpia beat Maratón 3-2.

The stadium's name comes from the 1997 Central American Games, and its front displays a large "H" that was painted blue to match the Honduras national team's colours. Today it is the home ground of the national side, which played all its qualifying matches for the 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cups here, as well as of Marathón and Real España.

The stadium sits in the Valle de Sula metropolitan area, Honduras's largest urban zone, and is shared with the Olympic village built for the 1997 Central American Games. A security perimeter outside the grounds keeps crowds and supporters away from the entrances. The pitch is natural grass, and the site also holds baseball and basketball facilities, the latter rebuilt in 2004.

Builder Jerónimo "Chombo" Sandoval noticed only after construction that the stadium's front happened to form a large "H"; it was then painted blue for the national team. The same Sandoval organized the 1997 Central American Games that the venue was built for, a role that drew controversy.