Incheon, South Korea

Incheon Munhak Stadium

Incheon Munhak Stadium Ben Radford/Allsport

Capacity: 50,256 (49,256 under cover) Completed: December 2001 Pitch Size: 110 meters x 71 meters CNN.com: Weather Other Korean Venues Busan | Daegu | Daejon | Gwangju | Incheon | Jeonju | Seogwipo | Suwon | Ulsan Venues Main Page

Venue information

Incheon, on the central west coast of the Korean peninsula, is South Korea's second largest port and fourth biggest city, home to 2.5 million people. The dlrs 248 million stadium opened on Dec. 2, 2001.

The multipurpose stadium is 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the city center.

The stadium is 40 kilometers (24 miles) from Incheon International Airport.

The design of the stadium recalls the sailboats that symbolize Incheon's historical role as Korea's leading maritime gateway.

Incheon is said to be the birthplace of soccer in Korea. A group of children imitated crewmen from a visiting British warship playing kick-about in 1882. The sailors left a couple of leather soccer balls behind when they left and the sport kicked on.

Incheon is known to the world for a large-scale amphibious landing assault launched by Allied troops during the Korean War in 1950. The assault, led by U.S. Gen. Douglas McArthur, turned the tide of the war.

Costa Rica in Group C will play one of its first round matches against Turkey in the stadium on June 9. Denmark in Group A will meet France on June 11 and Portugal will play South Korea in a Group D match on June 14.

Match Schedule
Day	Teams	Time (local)
June 9	Turkey vs.Costa Rica	5 a.m.
June 11	France vs. Denmark	2:30 a.m.
June 14	South Korea vs.Portugal	7:30 a.m.
Full Schedule

The Associated Press contributed to this report.