Hamburg - AOL Arena

Hamburg

Hamburg is Germany's second largest city (after Berlin) and its principal port. Located spectacularly in the centre of the City, Hamburg's inland seaport is one of the world's seven largest container ports, and is the largest in Europe. The port, and the 80,000 people who work there, are a distinguishing feature of Hamburg. The city on the Elbe and Alster rivers is also one of Germany's major media centres. Hamburg is also one of Germany's richest cities, with more millionaires than any other German city.

Scheduled Matches

Five World Cup games will be staged at Hamburg's AOL Arena - four group matches, and a quarter-final. The match schedule is as follows:

Match #	Date & Time	Group	Teams		Result	Venue
5	Sat 10th Jun 21:00	C	ARG	CIV	2 - 1	Hamburg
18	Thu 15th Jun 15:00	A	ECU	CRC	3 - 0	Hamburg
32	Mon 19th Jun 18:00	H	KSA	UKR	0 - 4	Hamburg
41	Thu 22nd Jun 16:00	E	CZE	ITA	0 - 2	Hamburg
58	Fri 30th Jun 21:00	QF	ITA	UKR	3 - 0	Hamburg

Match times shown are local times for Germany (CEST/GMT+0200). Click on match date/time to view match statistics.

AOL Arena

The Hamburg venue for the FIFA World cup is Hamburger SV's ground, the AOL Arena, renamed FIFA World Cup Stadium, Hamburg for the World Cup. Formerly the Volksparkstadion, it was renovated in 1998. The old stadium was totally demolished and the new arena was rotated 90° to provide an equal viewing experience for all the stands and to take advantage of sunlight. The main stands were reconstructed, the functional, VIP and media areas renewed and the spectator's area equipped with a roof covering the whole area. The estimated cost of the new stadium was anywhere from €90-100 million Euros. The new arena serves both as a football ground and a concert hall.

In the summer break in 2001, 400 seats were added to the VIP area to provide a total of 2,100 business seats. The capacity of the stadium during club matches is 55,000 but will accommodate around 40,000 for World Cup 2006 matches when the standing sections in the north grandstand are converted into seated areas. The AOL Arena is one of UEFA's 5 star stadiums which enables it to host the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League Final.

World Cup Fan Fest in Hamburg

In Hamburg a colourful World Cup village is being planned for a five-week period on the site of the "Dom" funfair on the Heiligengeistfeld. It will offer free entertainment and a supporting programme for the expected crowds of up to 60,000 guests.

Travelling to Hamburg

Hamburg Airport is the fifth largest airport in Germany and is 20 minutes from Hamburg city centre. There is no direct rail service, but bus 110 will take you to Ohlsdorf Station and suburban trains into the city. There are direct airport buses to the airport from the Hauptbahnhof (Central Station).

Hamburg is well served by U-Bahn (subway) and S-Bahn (suburban rail) links, which run throughout the night on Friday and Saturday nights. On other days there is an all-night bus network from the main bus station near the Rathaus (Town Hall). There are a variety of one-day and multiple-day travel passes available.

Useful links & information:

Stadium address:

AOL Arena
Sylversterallee 7
22525 Hamburg
Tel. +49 (0)40 415 51 550