Manaus, Belo Horizonte: Manaus is the most remote of Brazil’s World Cup cities, and probably the most fascinating, too.
With its industrial zone and slums, Manaus sits in the middle of the Amazon rain forest in far northwestern Brazil, surrounded by unmatched natural splendour.
It will be home to some very interesting matches as well, including England’s game against Italy on June 14 and Portugal’s clash with the United States on June 22.
The city made headlines even before the World Cup draw last year, when England coach Roy Hodgson said it was “the place ideally to avoid” because of the humid and steamy weather in the region, remarks that insulted local officials and prompted an apology.
Kick-off times were moved from 4 pm local time to 6 pm to try to reduce the effects of the region’s heat and humidity.
The 42,000-capacity Arena da Amazonia, with its lattice roof of diamond panels that look like snake scales, will also host Cameroon’s match with Croatia on June 18 and the Honduras’ tussle with Switzerland on June 25.
Construction at the Arena da Amazonia was marked by three workers’ deaths.
Many in Brazil criticised the choice of Manaus as a host city because it is distant from the country’s football centres and doesn’t have traditional clubs or significant championships.
Belo Horizonte, meanwhile, was one of the first Brazilian cities to be ready for the World Cup, avoiding the delays that marked the preparations of nearly all other host cities.
Matches will be played at the renovated Mineirao Stadium, one of Brazil’s most revered football venues. It was inaugurated in December 2012, and was one of the two (along with Fortaleza’s Castelao Stadium) not to miss Fifa’s deadline for the Confederations Cup.
The venue was used in the semi-finals of the World Cup warm-up tournament, when Brazil beat Uruguay to stay on track to eventually win the title.
The Mineirao will seat more than 62,000 fans and will host four group matches: Colombia versus Greece on June 14, Belgium versus Algeria on June 17, Argentina versus Iran on June 21, and Costa Rica versus England on June 24. It will also host a match in the round of 16 on June 28, possibly with Brazil playing, and a semi-final match on July 8.
The southeastern city, which is also home to the training camps of Argentina and Chile, is filled with football tradition, fuelled by the rivalry between Cruzeiro and Atletico Mineiro, two of the country’s most successful clubs.
