Melbourne Cricket Ground set to host the Boxing Day Test Match

Capacity: 114,000
Key event hosted: Arirang Festival

The world’s largest stadium was born out of a contest of one-upmanship between the two Koreas. After Seoul hosted the 1988 Olympic Games, North Korea intensified efforts to build something grand. This resulted in Pyongyang successfully bidding for the World Festival of Youth and Students in 1989. Among the large-scale preparations for these games was the construction of the Rungrado May Day Stadium. Inaugurated on May 1, 1989, the stadium can seat 114,000, although North Korea claimed it’s 150,000.

Today, it hosts the annual Arirang games, recognised by the Guinness Records as the largest gymnastic display in the world.

Capacity: 109,318
Key event hosted: US President Lyndon B Johnson’s Great Society program

The Michigan Stadium was built in 1927, originally meant to house 72,000. But following several renovations, it can now seat nearly 110,000. The largest capacity crowd it has ever witnessed, however, came during an inter-college football match. As the University of Michigan and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish faced off, 115,109 people were in the stands. In 1964, President Lyndon B Johnson gave a speech at the stadium, whereby he outlined his ‘Great Society’ program.

Capacity: 100,024
Key event hosted: 1992 and 2015 World Cup finals

Until this week, the fabled MCG was the world’s largest cricket arena. It’s also one of the oldest grounds in the world, built in 1853. Known simply as the ‘G’, it’s primarily a cricket stadium, although it also hosts Aussie Rules Football matches. And while cricket gives the ground its name, football provides it with the funds, since crowds at AFL outnumber anything cricket can throw up.

Capacity: 101,799
Key event hosted: 1994 World Cup final

Pasadena’s Rose Bowl has seen two Olympic finals, two World Cup finals and five Super Bowls. But what gives it its annual moment in the sun is the Rose Bowl Game, a post-season college football match on New Year’s Day. It also has the privilege of hosting the Independence Day fireworks on July 4, and the Pasadena fireworks are said to be among the best in the country.

Built in 1922, the Rose Bowl originally looked like a horseshoe, but authorities soon realised they could put the space to better use and built some more stands, making it now resemble a bowl.

Capacity: 94,807
Key event hosted: Nelson Mandela’s first speech upon release from prison

The newest stadium on this list, Johannesburg’s Soccer City, only came into being in 1989. Within a year, it was already witnessing history. Nelson Mandela, upon his release from prison, addressed his first speech at this ground. When the anti-apartheid icon died in 2013, the ground hosted a memorial service.

In between, the ground, then known as FNB Stadium, was renamed as Soccer City, just in time for the 2010 World Cup. This came about following a tussle with FIFA, which had disallowed grounds with sponsors’ names to host matches.