Sweden's New National Stadium

Stockholm’s new 50,000-capacity Friends Arena opened Oct. 27 but it’s unlikely the inauguration ceremony will get as much media attention as the stadium’s first soccer match or rock concert.

The soccer kicks off Nov. 14 when Sweden’s new national stadium will host the country’s exhibition match against England.

So far it looks as if the music will have to wait until July 13, when Iron Maiden will be the first act to play there.

The new multipurpose stadium in Stockholm’s Solna district is now the largest stadium in the Nordic countries and among the largest indoor stadiums in Europe.

The new building’s close to Solna’s local train station, which is less than 4 miles from the centre of the Swedish capital. It has parking for 300 buses and about 4,000 cars.

The facility is reckoned to have cost 2.3 billion Swedish kronor ($257 million) to build.

It’s part of a new complex that will be called the “Mall of Scandinavia,” a multipurpose development that will have 400 hotel rooms, restaurants, a shopping mall and conference centre, enough office space for 10,000 employees and about 2,000 flats.

Apart from the national soccer team, the main tenants will be AIK (or Allmänna Idrottsklubben), which roughly translates as “The Public Sports Club.”

The side regularly qualifies for one of Europe’s major soccer competitions.

The national team and AIF were previously at Råsunda Stadium, the former national stadium that opened in 1937. It will now be leveled to make way for office buildings and more than 700 flats.