The Non-Existed Stadiums once held FIFA Club World Cup predecessor

 

Two stadiums which were once used to host the games in FIFA Club World Cup predecessor, Intercontinental Cup, no longer exist today.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is heading to the knockout stage. Some groups have completed their games with two European sides, FC Porto and Atletico Madrid, going home early, which should be good for their players’ wellness considering the congested fixtures ahead in the 2025/26 season.

This expanded FIFA CWC is unlike the previous ones, with definitely more venues to be utilised. In the old format, only two or three stadiums were used during the competition, whereas this year, there are 12 venues in total spread all across the country.

In its predecessor, the Intercontinental Cup, only one stadium was used to hold the game in each edition, as it was merely a one-off clash between the European Cup/UCL and Copa Libertadores champions from 1980 to 2004. Previously, the match was held in a two-legged format.

There have been plenty of stadiums which have been witnesses to how this tournament would develop. Sadly, two of them have no longer existed. They used to hold such decisive matches more than once. These are the forgotten yet historic venues in FIFA CWC predecessor, the Intercontinental Cup.

La Dolbe Visera, Avellaneda, Argentina

It was the home turf of Independiente, one of the Argentine elite sides. La Dolbe Visera, or the Double Visor, was already demolished in 2008. Its remaining site has been used for rebuilding the new stadium, which has been their current home base, Estadio Libertadores de America.

La Dolbe Visera was historic as it became the second stadium in the world to be built using concrete. The construction began in 1926 and took two years for its completion. The venue was located in a swampy land called Pantano de Ohaco and designed by Brazilian architect Federico Garofalo.

From its opening in March 1928, the stadium had been renovated three times, in 1930, 1960 and 1971, before its demolition. Its capacity was 33,500 people but did hold over 80,000 fans in 1954 when Independiente thumped Boca Juniors in the Primera Division.

La Dolbe Visera was not exactly Independiente’s first home base. It was the second after Crucecita Stadium, which had been previously used by the team from 1906 to 1928. In the Intercontinental Cup, the venue hosted the matches in four editions: 1964, 1965, 1972 and 1974.

The Argentine side were unbeaten while playing host to their European oppositions at home. Throughout the history, Independiente managed to win the title twice. Their first was in 1973, when they did not have to play at their home turf. At that time, their opponent, Juventus, could not spare the suitable date to fly to Argentina. Thus, their clash was contested in Roma for a one-off game only instead.

Despite its long history, the stadium, which was closed down in 2006 due to its structural decay, had never been selected to host any major international tournaments. Its rebuilding was eventually materialised following the sale of young Sergio Aguero to Atletico Madrid for 20 million euros. It was used to fund the rebuilding project.

Capacity	33,500 spectators
Intercontinental Cup matches	vs Inter Milan 1-0 (1964) vs Inter Milan 0-0 (1965) vs Ajax 1-1 (1972) vs Atletico Madrid 1-0 (1974)
International and continental notable games	ARG vs Uruguay 1-0 (Copa Newton 1928) ARG vs Uruguay 3-0 (Copa Mignaburu 1935) ARG vs Uruguay 1-0 (Copa Mignaburu 1936) ARG vs Uruguay 5-1 (Copa Lipton 1937) ARG vs Brazil 5-1 (Copa Roca 1940) ARG vs Bolivia 4-0 (1958 World Cup qualifiers in October 1957)

Estadio Vicente Calderon, Madrid, Spain

It was Atletico Madrid’s famous homebase before being demolished in the mid 2010s. Vicente Calderon was one of Spain’s major stadiums in the past and had been chosen to host several important international fixtures, including 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Its original capacity was 62,000 before being reduced to 55,000 prior to its demolition. This venue had been renovated twice, in 1972 and 1982, after its opening back in 1966. Atletico Madrid previously played in Estadio El Metropolitano for the home games from 1923 until the construction of Vicente Calderon was completed.

The stadium which was designed by Miguel Angel Lomas and Javier Barroso had also been named the venue of 14 editions of Copa del Rey final from 1970s to 2010s. Meanwhile, in Intercontinental Cup, it hosted one single match in 1974 when Luis Aragones’ men crushed Independiente 2-0 and led them to lift the trophy despite not winning European Cup. It was due to the dark years of the tournament when many European Cup winners opted to withdraw and was replaced by their runner up. Los Rojiblancos was one of them after covering Bayern Munich’s absence.

The stadium which was initially named Estadio Manzanares referring to its location was finally pulled down at the end of 2016/17 season as Diego Simeone’s side move to the current Metropolitano stadium.

Capacity	55,000 spectators
Intercontinental Cup match	vs Independiente 2-0 (1974)
International and continental notable games	Austria vs France 0-1 (1982 FIFA World Cup) Austria vs Northern Ireland 2-2 (1982 FIFA World Cup) France vs Northern Ireland 4-1 (1982 FIFA World Cup)

 

National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan

This venue had been essential to Intercontinental Cup history. It was firstly used in the 1980 edition, marking the end of the turnament’s dark age in the previous decades.

Japan and its main sponsorship, Toyota, rebranded the competition with stricter policy alongside for the participants, UEFA and CONMEBOL. Each continental champion were not allowed to withdraw from the scheduled clash without facing serious legal contract breach from the organizer and the sponsorship. No wonder that Tokyo National stadium, which was used for the tournament till 2001, signified its role to witness the beginning of new era.

The venue was built ahead of 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics and designed by Mitsuo Katayama. Its construction was completed in 1958 and used for hosting 1958 Asian Games. It could hold 48,000 people and was frequently utilized for a number of international major competition, including two FIFA global championships, 1979 FIFA U20 World Cup and 1993 FIFA U17 World Cup.

The stadium which was barely damaged in 2011 Tohoku earthquake also held Japan Cup finals, Emperor’s Cup, annually from 1967 to 2013. It was eventually demolished in 2015 and rebuilt for the new Japan National Stadium for hosting 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.  

Capacity	48,000 spectators
Intercontinental Cup matches	Nacional vs Nottingham Forest 1-0 (1980) Flamengo vs Liverpool 3-0 (1981) Penarol vs Aston Villa 2-0 (1982) Gremio vs Hamburg 2-1 (et) (1983) Independiente vs Liverpool 1-0 (1984) Juventus vs Argentinos Juniors 2-2 (4-2 pen) (1985) River Plate vs Steaua Bucharest 1-0 (1986) Porto vs Penarol 2-1 (et) (1987) Nacional vs PSV Eindhoven 2-2 (7-6 pen) (1988) AC Milan vs Atletico Nacional 1-0 (et) (1989) AC Milan vs Olimpia 3-0 (1990) Red Star vs Colo Colo 3-0 (1991) Sao Paulo vs Barcelona 2-1 (1992) Sao Paulo vs AC Milan 3-2 (1993) Velez Sarsfield vs AC Milan 2-0 (1994) Ajax vs Gremio 0-0 (4-3 pen) (1995) Juventus vs River Plate 1-0 (1996) Dortmund vs Cruzeiro 2-0 (1997) Real Madrid vs Vasco da Gama 2-1 (1998) Man United vs Palmeiras 1-0 (1999) Boca Juniors vs Real Madrid 2-1 (2000) Bayern Munich vs Boca Juniors 1-0 (2001)
International and continental notable games	Hungary vs Morocco 6-0 (1964 Olympic- group stage) Germany vs UAE 3-1 (1964 Olympic –3rd place playoff) Hungary vs Czechoslovakia 2-1 (1964 Olympic –final) Mexico vs Algeria 1-1 (1979 FIFA U20 WC – group A) Japan vs Spain 0-1 (1979 FIFA U20 WC – group A) Spain vs Mexico 2-1 (1979 FIFA U20 WC – group A) Algeria vs Japan 0-0 (1979 FIFA U20 WC – group A) Spain vs Algeria 0-1 (1979 FIFA U20 WC –group A) Japan vs Mexico 0-1 (1979 FIFA U20 WC – group A) Argentina vs Algeria 5-0 (1979 FIFA U20 WC –1/4 final) Argentina vs Uruguay 2-0 (1979 FIFA U20 WC – semifinal) Uruguay vs Poland 1-1 (5-3 pen) (1979 FIFA U20 WC 3rd place playoff) Argentina vs USSR 3-1 (1979 FIFA U20 WC final) Japan vs Ghana 0-1 (1993 FIFA U17 WC – group A) Ghana vs Chile 3-0 (1993 FIFA U17 WC – semifinal) Chile vs Poland 1-1 (4-2 pen) (1993 FIFA U17 WC – 3rd place) Nigeria vs Ghana 2-1 (1993 FIFA U17 WC – final) Pohang Steelers vs Al-Ittihad 2-1 (AFC Champions Cup final 2009) Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam vs Zob Ahan 3-1 (AFC Champions Cup final 2010)