The United States will begin play at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in the oldest of 10 venues in use across Australia and New Zealand, the 1900-opened Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Late in the tournament all eyes will shift to the largest venue in the repertoire, with Stadium Australia in Sydney hosting a semifinal and the championship. But the newest member to the stadium collection, the Sydney Football Stadium, is now less than a year old and gives Sydney another key player in the global tournament.

The opening of the 38,841-seat venue in August 2022 didn’t come without its own unique story of controversy and design. Next door to the Sydney Cricket Ground amidst a mixture of sports and recreation fields and structures in Moore Park, the original Sydney Football Stadium opened in 1988. Just 30 years later the controversial debate about demolishing the structure and building new took over local politics. Building fresh ruled the day and a new $569 million stadium started taking shape, thanks to the work of Cox Architecture.

Now planned to host five group matches and a round-of-16 knockout fixture, Sydney Football Stadium, known commercially as Allianz Stadium, serves as the home of soccer and rugby—the Sydney Roosters, NSW Waratahs and Sydney FC all call the venue home—and will take its turn on the world stage.

“It is something that is simultaneously sculptural and highly functional,” says Patrick Ness, Cox director. “It is lighter, kinder to the environment and more self-sufficient as a structure than any other major stadium in Australia.”

Dubbed a “stadium in the park,” the architects say the design builds on the legacy of the original stadium, designed by Cox founding partner Philip Cox. With a “dynamic roof form” that covers 100% of the seats, it also gives the building its signature design. Adding a façade with a veil of bronze fins, the architects say it allows the stadium to blend into the park while helping connect visitors to the area.

“Variations in density and porosity allows the veil to reveal internal programmatic intensity, shield functional zones, curate vistas and connect the seating bowl to the park,” the architects say. “Undulating in harmony with the sweeping profile of the saddle-shape roof, the façade unifies competing components of the large building perimeter, creating a coherent and expressive stadium.”

“The overarching vision for both the architecture and the interior is to create a harmonious relationship between (the stadium) and its surrounding environment,” says Brooke Lloyd, Cox director. “We have created a place that is imbued with the soul of Sydney, driven by the rich tapestry of its past, its present and its people.”

Designed for a LEED gold rating, the roof structure comes with 40% less steel in construction than previously while containing venue noise and protecting visitors from the weather. Under the roof, the team says they improved both sightlines and amenities, including boosting the stadium to host over 48 food and beverage outlets. Landscaping doubled the number of trees on site and improved pedestrian and transit access.

“Creating something that bot fits in yet stands out in that part of Sydney is a tough ask for any design team,” says Pete Sullivan, Cox director. He says fitting the needs of multiple teams and public groups in one building proves tricky, but doing so without detracting from their needs is even tougher. “And of course,” Sullivan says, “there was the added responsibility to craft a form which progresses the elegance, balance and recognition of Philip Cox’s original design.”

The U.S. Women’s National Team doesn’t have a planned trip to the new Sydney Football Stadium in its group stage plans, instead playing all three of its scheduled contests in two of the four stadiums in New Zealand.

The USWNT will play both its first and third games at Eden Park in Auckland, a 40,500-seat venue built in 1900. The team’s second game will take place at “the Cake Tin,” the Wellington Regional Stadium, a 31,000-seat circular metal-clad venue on Wellington’s harbor that was built in 2000.

In Australia, along with Stadium Australia in Sydney, which was built for the 2000 Olympics and is the largest venue featured in the tournament, and the new Sydney Football Stadium, the 2023 Women’s World Cup stadium list will also highlight the 56,800-seat Brisbane Stadium, the 13,300-seat Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, the 28,800-seat Melbourne Rectangular Stadium and the 1910-opened 13,900-seat Perth Rectangular Stadium.

In New Zealand, along with Eden Park and Wellington Regional Stadium, the tournament will visit the 16,000-seat Waikato Stadium in Hamilton and the 24,000-seat Dunedin Stadium. Also known as The Glasshouse, Dunedin Stadium was the first fully enclosed stadium in the world to successfully grow a natural grass field inside.