Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium, in northwest London, has been the city’s premier national stadium since it was built in 1923. It’s where England traditionally plays its international matches and where the FA Cup final is contested in mid-May. Its greatest moment came when the victorious England captain, Bobby Moore, held the World Cup trophy aloft in 1966. Controversially, the great stadium and its two landmark towers were demolished in 2001, and even more controversially, the new 90, 000-capacity, state-of-the-art Norman Foster–designed complex, due to open in 2003, hosted its first game four years late: the FA Cup final in 2007. Even though it was abysmally late and cost twice the original budget (at £798 million, one of the most expensive stadium ever built), Wembley is one of the world’s most significant football landmarks.