- Address: Avenida de las Olimpiadas 760, Mar del Plata
- Country: Argentine Republic
- Capacity: 35,000
- Opened: 21 May 1978
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: Aldosivi (football), Alvarado (football)
Extra stadium info – Estadio José María Minella
The stadium hosted its first-ever FIFA World Cup match in 1978. 42,000 people attended the match, which was won by the national football team of the Italian Republic. The Italians won the game after beating the French Republic 2-1. Bernard Lacombe scored the first FIFA World Cup goal at the Estadio José María Minella in the first minute of the match. He played professional football for the French clubs Olympique lyonnais, AS Saint-Étienne and the Girondins de Bordeaux. Paolo Rossi and Renato Zaccarelli both scored once against the French Republic in the first FIFA World Cup match at the Estadio José María Minella.
More FIFA World Cup matches
The second FIFA World Cup game at the Estadio José María Minella was a game between the national football teams of Brazil and Sweden. A crowd of 32,000 showed up for the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw. The Italian Republic won the third FIFA World Cup game at the Estadio José María Minella after beating Hungary 3-1. Three more FIFA World Cup group-stage games took place at the venue. The first one was a game between Brazil and Spain. The match ended in a goalless draw. The second one was won by the French Republic after beating Hungary 3-1. The third one was won by the national football team of Brazil after defeating Austria 1-0.
Youth football in 2001
In 2001, the Estadio José María Minella hosted seven matches for the youth football tournament which is currently known as the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Ecuador, the French Republic, Ghana, Iran and Paraguay played at the venue during the tournament. Six of those seven matches were group-stage matches. One of the games was a round-of-16 game. The round-of-16 match was won by Ghana after beating Ecuador 1-0.
