Five curiosities you may not know about the San Siro Stadium

The Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, also known as the San Siro Stadium, is an Italian multi-purpose sports facility in Milan. It stands in the San Siro district, to which it owes its name, but was named in 1980 after Meazza, the historic Milanese footballer who won two consecutive World Cups with the national team in 1934 and 1938. Home to famous concerts, it is mainly known for being one of the most famous, important and popular stadiums in the world, 'home' of Milan's two main teams, A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale. The stadium boasts a very long history, and many champions have trodden this stage. Some curiosities about its history and architecture, however, may not be known to everyone.

Few people know that the real name of the San Siro stadium is actually Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, changed in 1980 in honour of the Italian footballer (San Siro is the name of the district where it is located). Meazza, considered by many to be the best Italian player of all time, played for Inter for 14 seasons, winning three championships. He is still the Nerazzurri team's top scorer today. In addition to this, Meazza won two world championships, at the time called the Rimet Cup, in 1934 and 1938 with the national team.

Outside Italy, it may be little known that both Inter and Milan wish to build a new stadium of their own, to keep up with modern clubs. However, for years, the city administration has not granted the necessary permits. Having discarded the idea of renovating the San Siro, the two Milanese clubs are now looking to each build their own independent stadium, although there was initially talk of a new shared stadium to be built next to the current San Siro, which is owned by the Milan City Council itself after it bought it from AC Milan in the 1930s. The Rossoneri are considering leaving Milan, moving to one of its suburban towns. No word yet on what Inter want to do.

The inaugural match played in the San Siro stadium could only be a derby. In 1926, after just 13 months of construction work, the inaugural match was played on 19 September. The winner was the Nerazzurri, who triumphed with a score of 6-3 over their opponents. The first goal, however, was a Rossoneri one: it was Giuseppe Agostino who scored the first goal in the new stadium. The first official match, however, would have to wait a few weeks, on 3 October to be precise. On that date Milan faced Sampierdarenese for the start of the '26-'27 season.

San Siro holds the record for the largest attendance at a boxing match at European level, when in 1960, 53,043 spectators saw the world title bout between Duilio Loi and Carlos Ortis.

In addition to football matches, the San Siro has hosted major international events, including concerts by famous artists such as The Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna, Rihanna and many others who have gone down in music history.