Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos


Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos is a stadium located in the neighbourhood of Engenho de Dentro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nilton Santos is the home stadium of Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, where games from the Copa Libertadores, Brasileirão, Copa do Brasil and other championships take place. It is used mostly for football matches and it hosted the athletics competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics.The stadium was built from 2003 through to 2007, opening in time for the 2007 Pan American Games. The stadium was one of the five venues for the 2021 Copa América.
The stadium is known by Nilton Santos. The nickname Engenhão refers to the location of the stadium in Engenho de Dentro neighbourhood. The previous name of the stadium was João Havelange Stadium, since 2015 the name is Estádio Nilton Santos. The name honors Nílton Santos, who spent his whole career with Botafogo and is regarded as one of the greatest defenders in the history of the game and a member of the World Team of the 20th Century. In February 2017, the city of Rio de Janeiro officially renamed the stadium Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. The stadium's capacity was increased to 60,000 for the Games. Nilton Santos is one of the 10 biggest stadiuns of Brazilian Série A. According to an exclusive survey conducted by BolaVip Brasil, Nilton Santos Stadium, leads the Série A ranking with 185 bars and restaurants within a 2km radius. It is the best-served stadium in the country in this regard and one of the best places for the pre-game with the fans.
FB EstadioNiltonSantos

History

Construction and opening

The stadium cost to build, which was six times the stadium's original construction budget of R$60,000,000 The Mayor's office estimated in 2003 that the total construction cost would be of R$60 million ; the actual cost was thus 533% higher than early estimates.
The stadium opened on 30 June 2007. The first match held was a Campeonato Brasileiro Série A game between Botafogo and Fluminense. 40,000 tickets were available for the match and were exchanged for donations of powdered milk. In all, 43,810 people were at the stadium to watch the inaugurating match, where Botafogo beat Fluminense 2–1. The first goal of the match was scored by Fluminense's Alex Dias. As Dias scored the first goal in the stadium's history, he was awarded the Valdir Pereira Trophy, which was named after retired footballer Didi. Because Botafogo won the stadium's inaugural match, the club was awarded the João Havelange Trophy.

Pan American Games, Botafogo, and the Olympics

During the course of the 2007 Pan American Games held in Rio de Janeiro in July, the stadium hosted athletics competitions, in addition to twelve games of the first stage of the men's and women's football tournaments. After the conclusion of the games, on 3 August 2007, Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas signed a deal with the City of Rio de Janeiro to lease the stadium for 20 years. Botafogo was the only organization to present a bid; the club agreed to pay $18.200 a month to lease Engenhão, plus maintenance costs which run at $2 million annually. On 11 August 2007, a 15-meter long and 6-meter high stadium wall collapsed, but nobody was hurt. On 10 September 2008, the Brazilian national team played for the first time at the Engenhão. The match, against Bolivia, for 2010 World Cup Qualification, ended 0–0.
The stadium remains owned by the City of Rio de Janeiro, but it has been leased to Botafogo until at least 2051. The Engenhão was the main venue for top football competitions in Rio de Janeiro while the Maracanã Stadium was being renovated in preparation for both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. Flamengo and Fluminense played their home matches at the Engenhão from the 2010–11 through 2012–13 seasons. The stadium was closed during two years in March 2013 after it was found the structural integrity of the roof was not up to standard. It was announced on 8 June 2013, that the stadium would need a minimum of 18 months of reconstruction work and remain closed until 2015 while the repairs were carried out to the roof. The Stadium was reopened since 2015 for the Olympic Games Rio 2016

Biggest audiences

These are the ten biggest crowds at the Nilton Santos Stadium, in Botafogo games
NºTotal audiencePaying audienceTeam 1Game scoreTeam 2CompetitionDate
143 81040 000Botafogo2–1FluminenseCampeonato Brasileiro30/06/2007
243 07138 951Botafogo4–1CoritibaCampeonato Brasileiro30/07/2023
342 98239 393Botafogo5–0Peñarol Copa Libertadores23/10/2024
442 00036 995Botafogo4–0CearáCampeonato Brasileiro07/09/2011
541 98636 967Botafogo2–1São PauloCampeonato Brasileiro08/12/2024
641 899N/ABotafogo0–0CuiabáCampeonato Brasileiro09/11/2024
741 38735 321Botafogo3–1VascoCampeonato Carioca29/04/2012
840 76938 346Botafogo1–2FlamengoCampeonato Brasileiro02/09/2023
940 08937 037Botafogo0–0São PauloCopa Libertadores18/09/2024
1040 05036 133Botafogo2–0Nacional Copa Libertadores10/08/2017

Transportation

From Zona Sul, Downtown, Tijuca or Barra, passengers can go to Central do Brasil subway and train station, and from there reach Nilton Santos stadium in 25 minutes taking the Japeri, Santa Cruz or Deodoro lines, leaving the train in Olímpica de Engenho de Dentro station. To go back Downtown, Zona Sul, Tijuca or Barra, the fans must leave the stadium and go to the west sector with the south sector, continue to the station and take the train to Central do Brasil.
LineTermini
DeodoroCentral do Brasil ↔ Deodoro
Santa CruzCentral do Brasil ↔ Santa Cruz
JaperiCentral do Brasil ↔ Japeri

Tournament results

2016 Summer Olympics

DateTime Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance
3 August 201613:00'1–0Group E13,439
3 August 201616:00'3–0Group E27,618
4 August 201615:00'3–2Group D20,000
4 August 201618:00'2–0Group D37,407
6 August 201619:000–2'Group E25,000
6 August 201622:00'5–1Group E43,384
7 August 201615:001–2'Group D32,928
7 August 201618:00'2–1Group D37,450

2021 Copa América

DateTime Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance
14 June 202118:001–1Group A0
17 June 202121:00'4–0Group B0
20 June 202118:002–2Group B0
23 June 202121:00'2–1Group B0
28 June 202121:00'1–0Group A0
2 July 202121:00'1–0Quarter-finals0
5 July 202120:001–0Semi-finals0