Football (or soccer, to us North Americans) is such a big part of South American culture that many visitors to the continent try to incorporate attending a match into their itinerary. And there is probably no place more iconic to watch football than at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But it can be daunting, as a foreigner, to try to procure tickets and figure out the logistics around attending a match. There are also some Maracana Stadium safety pointers to keep in mind. Here, we’ll share our experience attending a match, and tell you about some of the options that exist for how to watch a football match at Maracana Stadium.
Maracana Stadium
Maracana Stadium (or Estádio do Maracana, in Portuguese, and also officially known as Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho) opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup. The stadium has held more than 150,000 fans at a time, though with recent seating modifications, the current stadium capacity is approximately 73,000. It is managed by two of Rio’s most popular football clubs, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (commonly known as Flamengo) and Fluminense Football Club.
Flamengo is the more popular team and therefore it’s harder to buy tickets to a Flamengo match. If you’re simply interested in the Maracana experience then it is easier to buy a ticket to a Fluminese match. In addition to Flamengo and Fluminese, you might also see one of Rio’s other football clubs play a match here – Botafogo or Vasco da Gama. If two of Rio’s clubs face off against one another in what is known as a derby, attendance will be even higher.
Safety precautions at Maracana Stadium
Brazilian football fans have a reputation for being rowdy, and Maracana Stadium is a bit off the beaten path for many tourists to Rio de Janeiro. Here are a few basic safety precautions to keep in mind for how to watch a football match at Maracana Stadium.
The North and South sectors are where the teams’ most ardent fans sit. These are the areas that tend to be rowdiest, so if you are looking for a calm experience, they are best to avoid. The West sector tends to be the calmest. When in doubt, sit with fans of the team you are supporting. Wearing club merchandise and sitting with fans from the opposing team could be asking for trouble.
Another tip is to sit with families with children. If there is trouble brewing, they will likely be the first to notice and react to it.
When fan violence breaks out, it tends to be after a match, not before it. There tends to be a strong police presence on the streets after a match to ensure that they empty quickly. Don’t linger on the street; head directly to the subway or your taxi or Uber once the match ends.
Getting to Maracana Stadium
Maracana Stadium is in the North end of Rio de Janeiro, and most tourists stay in the South Zone, about 12 km away. From there, take the green line (Line 2) towards Pavuna. Get off at the Maracana subway stop. The metro exit leads directly to the stadium, and there will likely be legions of fans you can follow. This is a pretty safe option, though you should be wary of pickpockets on the train.
You can also take a taxi or Uber to the stadium – Ubers in Rio de Janeiro are incredibly cheap! The ride will cost about R$30 outside of peak hours. However, be prepared for the fact that it might be difficult to obtain a return ride once the match ends, at least until the crowd disperses a bit.
How to buy tickets to Maracana Stadium
Ticket prices vary depending on the match you want to see. The cheapest tickets usually start at R$60 and can go up to about R$350 for VIP seats. There are 3 ways to buy tickets to a football match at Maracana Stadium.
Buying Maracana Stadium football tickets online
The football clubs all partner with an official platform to handle their ticket sales, so there are multiple sites that sell match tickets online. The issue for foreigners is that you must have a Brazilian CPF, or taxpayer identification number (similar to a Social Security Number) in order to make an online purchase. If you don’t have a Brazilian friend or family member who can make the purchase for you, you must obtain tickets another way. If you do buy a ticket online, you must pick it up in-person at a ticket exchange location such as a club store.
Buying Maracana Stadium football tickets in person
The football clubs also sell tickets in person. You can buy tickets at some club stores, or at the Maracana Stadium box office. Tickets typically go on sale during the week of the match, though specific timing varies.
Buying Maracana Stadium football tickets through an agency
There are several agencies that offer their services to buy tickets for foreign fans. This makes for a hassle-free experience as the tickets will be purchased for you in an appropriate part of the stadium, transportation will be provided to and from the match, and you’ll be escorted into the stadium. Of course, you’ll pay a premium for this service.
In addition to the ‘official’ agencies, there are lots of unofficial ticket resellers. During our stay in Rio de Janeiro we had an Uber driver try to sell us a tickets-plus-transportation service to a match.
Our experience using an agency to watch a match at Maracana Stadium
We were in Rio de Janeiro for 4 days in mid-March 2023. We knew that the league would likely be playing semifinal matches during our visit. From a timing perspective, the semifinal matches were not scheduled until the second week of March. We needed to maintain some flexibility in our schedule until the last minute in order to be able to fit the match in.
Maracana football agencies in Rio de Janeiro
In the months leading up to our trip, we were in touch with a local tour guide named Sergio. He has built his own business escorting fans to games. While he was a wealth of information for us leading up to our trip, he was unavailable to assist us during our stay.
We decided to use an agency to arrange our tickets and transportation, but we didn’t want to use a generic third party like Get Your Guide or Tiquets (though they both offer the service). We wanted instead to support a local business. As luck would have it, our hotel was advertising the services of a local agency called Follow Me Brazilian Football Experience. As far as I know, they don’t have a website, but are on Instagram as @followmebrxp. We decided to use them to help us watch a football match at Maracana Stadium. (Another local option we found out about afterwards is Rio de Janeiro By Cariocas – however we have no experience with this agency).
The Follow Me Brazilian Football Experience
We wound up seeing Flamengo vs. Vasco on Monday, March 13. The match had a start time of 9:10 p.m. We booked our excursion through our hotel, paying R$450 per person. (See? Premium!) We met in the hotel lobby several hours before the match. There’s usually gridlock around the stadium before matches begin. This allowed plenty of time for us to get to the stadium, enter and get settled. Our transfer was a mini-bus that made stops at a couple more hotels before heading to the stadium. In total, there were about 15 people in our group.
Once we had picked up all the participants, our host distributed our tickets to us. We soon arrived at the stadium, and were led to the appropriate gate. We were scanned into the stadium and then gathered on the concourse outside of the field to hear our instructions. Seating was open within our designated area, and food and drinks were on our own. We were to meet back in the same location once the match was over.
From that point forward, our evening was pretty straightforward. We enjoyed the match surrounded by plenty of Flamengo supporters whose enthusiasm for their team was contagious! When the match ended, we met back in our designated spot, and our host re-joined us. He led us through the streets of Rio de Janeiro back to where our shuttle was waiting. This was a longer walk than we’d had to the stadium, as the bus wasn’t able to park quite so close. There was a heavy police presence in the streets when the match ended. There were lots of vendors in the streets selling food, drinks, and souvenirs. Thousands of fans were streaming out of the stadium. Once we were all accounted for on the bus, we drove back around the same loop of hotels to drop all of the guests off.
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In conclusion…
Attending a football match at Maracana Stadium is a fabulous activity to do if you are visiting Rio de Janeiro. Football is a big part of the culture in Brazil, and Maracana Stadium is a notable landmark in the city. I hope these tips on how to watch a football match at Maracana Stadium are helpful. Have any more questions? Let us know in the comments below.
