The Armenian government has approved the construction of two UEFA Category 4 football stadiums, in Vanadzor and Ijevan, each seating at least 10,000, reports Zartonk Sports. The decision was presented at the Cabinet meeting on October 1 by Education, Science, Culture and Sports Minister Zhanna Andreasyan.
The stadiums are being built for the 2029 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which Armenia will co-host with Georgia. It will be the first FIFA tournament ever held in either country, awarded to the two nations at a FIFA Council meeting in Vancouver on April 28, 2026. The biennial under-20 championship, first played in 1977, features 24 teams and 52 matches, half of which will be staged in Armenia.
“It is planned to hold 15-17 matches in Yerevan and a total of 9-11 matches in Ijevan and Vanadzor. For this, we need UEFA Category 4 stadiums with at least 10,000 seats,” Andreasyan said.
In Vanadzor, the existing stadium will be reconstructed, while Ijevan will get an entirely new stadium, to be built in the Getahovit settlement. The government will use an urgent procurement procedure to meet the timeline, with the contract expected to be signed within a month.
The tournament is scheduled for September and October 2029, and international rules require the venues to be certified at least six months in advance, by March 2029. “At this point, we have 30 months,” Andreasyan said. The contractor, VenueEra Holding, which designed the stadiums and has international experience with similar projects, has proposed completing the work in 24 months, targeting the end of 2028.
The company’s total price proposal comes to about €52.2 million, excluding VAT and import duties. Of that, roughly €49.7 million is the contract price for the two stadiums and about €2.5 million is a reserve for possible material-price changes. The Vanadzor stadium is priced at €22.55 million and the Ijevan stadium at about €27.17 million, with the Ijevan build using SPS composite terracing technology to speed construction. UEFA is providing professional consultancy on the project.
Armenia has drawn a series of football investments this year. The country has opened Juventus academy branches in Yerevan, including the UEFA Category 2 Freedom Arena, and the Football Federation of Armenia announced a partnership to open a Benfica academy from the 2027-28 season, modernizing its Technical Centre in the capital. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the stadium projects an important step toward building institutional foundations for football, noting that the sport is increasingly becoming an economic sector in the country. Andreasyan added that the venues will serve their communities and Armenian sport well beyond the tournament.
