The Camp Nou. Santiago Bernabeu. Stamford Bridge. La Bombonera. Emirates Stadium. Estadio Centenario. Etihad Stadium. Craven Cottage.
These are some of the most famous stadium in the world and for venerable soccer magazine FourFourTwo who compiled a list of the 100 best soccer stadium in the world, many of those are on the list. But as for the highest ranked stadium in the U.S. and Canada? Portland's own Providence Park.
Citing the field's iconic wood elements on the eastern roof and north and west side, FourFourTwo calls the environment "cathedral-like."
Involving a months-long decision process with numerous writers, editors and supporters, FourFourTwo examined stadiums thusly: "Each candidate was judged on five criteria: history; atmosphere; capacity; architecture and environment; and that almost indefinable but viscerally obvious 'wow factor'. In short, how desperately would football fans want to go there?"
For Providence Park, all those factors fit the bill:
"When the rain is pelting down (as it often does in the region) and the fans are singing, nothing else matters – and part of that is due to this wonderfully historic building that the Timbers call home."
Familiar grounds of BC Place (No. 95), Red Bull Arena (No. 86), CenturyLink Field (No. 63) and the Rose Bowl (No. 49) all make the list. However, given the Timbers raucous environment on a matchday, not to mention the 15,000-21,000 that pack the same stadium for Thorns FC games in the NWSL, it should come as no suprise that Providence Park is the highest ranked stadium in the U.S. and Canada.
