The Croatian national football team will face a crucial qualifying match for the 2024 European Championship against Armenia on Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. The match will take place at Maksimir, a stadium that requires renovation. Plans for the reconstruction of Maksimir have been in discussion for years, with talks of building a completely new stadium. It appears that the City of Zagreb, the state, and the Zagreb Archdiocese have finally come to an agreement on necessary land for the stadium’s construction in Maksimir, which is set to be signed in December. In exchange, the Archdiocese will receive new land in the city for building new churches.
In addition to Maksimir, another stadium that requires renovation is Kranjčevićeva street. Currently home to HNL matches between Lokomotive and Rudeš, the stadium has a little over 5,000 seats. However, it is planned that after renovation, which is set to begin in spring, the stadium will have between 10,000 and 12,000 seats. The newly renovated stadium in Kranjčevićeva would serve as Dinamo’s home during the construction of the new stadium in Maksimir. The budget for renovating Kranjčevićeva street is only three million euros from the City of Zagreb’s 2024 budget allocation which may not be sufficient for such a large-scale project.
One potential investor for the new stadium project in Maksimir is French construction company Bouygues known for building Stade de France and Franjo Tuđman Airport in Zagreb. According to Sportske novosti other options are open as well for potential investors but this information was not disclosed yet.