The Mbombela Stadium is located on open land near Mbombela, the capital of the Mpumalanga province, in South Africa. It is an all-seater stadium and was one of the ten venues chosen for the FIFA World Cup in 2010. Construction of the stadium was started in February 2007 and ended in November 2009. The bowl design of the venue has been adopted to put all the seats as close as possible to the field action as well as to maintain excellent sight above the heads of the spectators. The stadium has a cantilever roof that covers most of the seats. It is the home ground of the Pumas, which is a South African rugby union team.
Trivia
The stadium has been designed in resemblance with the nearby Kruger National Park. The signature feature of the venue is the 18-foot roof supports that look like giraffes. The seats of the stadium are arranged in a zebra stripes pattern.
Significance
The pitch of the stadium is dimensioned for football as well as the Rugby Union events.
The venue was officially opened on 16th May 2010 with an international friendly match between Thailand and South Africa.
The first rugby match held at the stadium was a Currie Cup match, played between the Pumas and the Blue Bulls in 2010.
The qualifier match of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations between Niger and South Africa has been played at the venue.
The significant matches of the 2013 African Cup of Nations were held at this stadium.
The second Test of 2014 South African tour of Wales was held here.
The venue is floodlit in conformance with the FIFA standards.