The world’s best-attended football club have unveiled plans to increase their stadium capacity to 101,000 in time to host a 2030 World Cup game – and make it one of the biggest football grounds on the planet.
Argentina’s River Plate – formerly home to Argentina legend Alfredo di Stefano as well as future Premier League stars Hernan Crespo, Javier Mascherano and Julian Alvarez – welcomed an average 85,018 fans to Buenos Aires for each home game in 2025, beating out Borussia Dortmind (81,241), Bayern Munich (75,000) and Real Madrid (74,307).
Their famous Monumental Stadium – which hosted the 1978 World Cup final in which Argentina beat the Netherlands – was at full capacity for the club’s home games last year. It was the third year in a row River had been the most attended club.
And they have now announced plans to construct a new upper tier with a roof which will increase the number of fans to by 16,000, working with the German company responsible for the roof at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Bayern’s Allianz Arena. They anticipate starting in April.
Argentina’s River Plate have announced plans to have one of the world’s biggest stadiums
River Plate aim to increase the capacity of their Monumental Stadium to 101,000 in time to host a marquee fixture at the 2030 World Cup
River Plate’s stadium was at full capacity for each of their home matches last season
A new upper tier with a roof has been unveiled as part of their latest plans, with work expected to begin in April
The stadium should be completed in time for the 2030 World Cup, which will be hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco after the first three games, which will be held in South America to mark the 100th anniversary of the inaugural competition. Monumental will host one of them, with the first winners Uruguay hosting another and Paraguay, as head of the South American football confederation CONMEBOL, taking a third.
Between 2020 and 2023 capacity at the Monumental was increased from 70,000 with extensive renovation work which included removing the athletics track around the pitch.
That made it the biggest stadium in South America and now this new work will see its capacity beat almost anything in Europe, with only Barcelona’s revamped Nou Camp set to top it – with plans underway to increase it to 105,000 by next year.
It would have some way to go to rival the biggest in the world, though – that will still be North Korea’s Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang, which can hold 114,000 for football.
