Top 10 Stadiums in Honduras
Football is the dominant passion of Honduras, a country that has qualified for three World Cups and whose 1969 qualifying matches against El Salvador became entangled with the conflict known as the Football War. The country's stadiums are concentrated in the two great rival cities — the capital Tegucigalpa in the highlands and the industrial port of San Pedro Sula on the northern coast — whose clubs dominate the domestic Liga Nacional. Every stadium below is on the map.
1. Estadio Nacional José de la Paz Herrera (Chelato Uclés), Tegucigalpa
Capacity: around 35,000. The national stadium of Honduras, in the capital Tegucigalpa, was renamed in honour of the legendary coach José de la Paz "Chelato" Uclés. Opened in 1948 and renovated since, it is the principal home of the Honduras national team and hosts the biggest domestic matches. Its highland location at altitude makes it a demanding venue for visiting national teams in CONCACAF qualifying.
2. Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula
Capacity: around 42,000. The largest stadium in Honduras, opened in 1997 in the industrial city of San Pedro Sula. It is a frequent venue for the national team, often preferred for its larger capacity and the fervent support of the northern coast. The ground hosts CD Marathón and Real España and has staged numerous World Cup qualifiers, drawing some of the most intense crowds in CONCACAF.
3. Estadio Francisco Morazán, San Pedro Sula
Capacity: around 23,000. A historic San Pedro Sula ground used by the city's clubs before the Olímpico Metropolitano. It carries decades of Liga Nacional history and remains a significant venue in Honduras's footballing heartland on the northern coast.
4. Estadio Carlos Miranda, Comayagua
Capacity: around 18,000. Home to CD Comayagua and host to clubs from the central region. Located in the historic city of Comayagua, a former colonial capital, the ground extends top-flight football beyond the two dominant cities.
5. Estadio Humberto Micheletti, El Progreso
Capacity: around 10,000. Home to Honduras Progreso in the city of El Progreso in the Yoro department. The club's rise to the Liga Nacional brought top-flight football to this northern industrial town, and the compact ground produces a strong local atmosphere.
6. Estadio Marcelo Tinoco, Danlí
Capacity: around 8,000. Located in Danlí in the eastern El Paraíso department, near the Nicaraguan border. The ground represents the spread of competitive football into Honduras's eastern regions, away from the main population centres.
7. Estadio Ceibeño / Estadio Municipal, La Ceiba
Capacity: around 18,000. La Ceiba, a Caribbean coastal city, has a strong footballing tradition, and its grounds host clubs from the northern coast. The coastal heat and humidity shape the conditions, and the city's clubs add to the rivalry between the northern coast and the highland capital.
8. Estadio Roberto Suazo Córdova, La Paz
Capacity: around 6,000. A regional ground in the La Paz department, hosting clubs that have reached the upper divisions. It reflects the Liga Nacional's reach into the smaller highland towns of central Honduras.
9. Estadio Emilio Williams, Choluteca
Capacity: around 8,000. Located in Choluteca in the hot southern lowlands near the Gulf of Fonseca. The southern location makes it one of the hottest venues in the country, and the ground anchors football in the Pacific-facing south.
10. Estadio Excélsior, Puerto Cortés
Capacity: around 6,000. In the major Caribbean port city of Puerto Cortés. The port's clubs have featured in the national divisions, and the ground extends football to Honduras's most important Atlantic harbour.
The Tegucigalpa-San Pedro Sula rivalry
Honduran football is shaped by the rivalry between the highland capital and the coastal industrial city. The capital's clubs Olimpia and Motagua, and San Pedro Sula's Marathón and Real España, dominate the Liga Nacional, and matches between them — the clásicos of Honduran football — fill the national stadiums. The geographic and cultural division between highland and coast runs through the domestic game.
World Cups and the Football War
Honduras qualified for the World Cup in 1982, 2010 and 2014, and its footballing history is inseparable from the 1969 qualifying matches against El Salvador, which coincided with rising tensions and a brief war between the two nations. The episode, often called the Football War, remains a stark example of how deeply football is woven into Central American national life.
Visiting Honduran grounds
The two main stadium clusters sit in Tegucigalpa, reachable via Toncontín or the newer Palmerola airport, and San Pedro Sula, with its own international airport on the northern coast. The two cities are connected by road across the central highlands. The map shows the full distribution, from the highland capital to the Caribbean coast and the hot southern lowlands.