Editing Belo Horizonte (section)

===Football===
[[File:Mineirão (Top View).jpg|thumb|right|[[Mineirão]]]]
[[File:Pré-jogo_-_18-11-12.JPG|thumb|right|[[Arena Independência]]]]
{{See also|Football in Brazil|Campeonato Brasileiro Série A|Campeonato Mineiro}}

As in the rest of Brazil, [[Association football|football]] is the most popular sport. The city's major teams are [[Clube Atlético Mineiro|Atlético Mineiro]], [[Cruzeiro Esporte Clube|Cruzeiro]] and [[América Futebol Clube (MG)|América Mineiro]].

The oldest stadium in the city is the [[Arena Independência]], built for the [[1950 FIFA World Cup]], and site of the so-called ''Miracle Match'', when an amateur United States national soccer team beat heavy favourites England in [[United States v England (1950 FIFA World Cup)|an unexpected 1–0 win]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://national.soccerhall.org/Monthly%20Column/MC.May.2005.htm |title=Soccerhall |publisher=Soccerhall |year=2005 |isbn=85-240-3919-1 |location=Belo Horizonte, Brazil |language=pt |format=PDF |access-date=2007-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715154838/http://national.soccerhall.org/Monthly%20Column/MC.May.2005.htm |archive-date=July 15, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It is currently the home ground of América Mineiro.

The city has one of the biggest football stadiums in the world, officially called ''Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto'', but widely known as [[Mineirão]]. It was built to provide the city of Belo Horizonte with a larger alternative for the Arena Independência, then the prime venue of the city. The stadium was meant to become the most modern stadium of Brazil and the new home of Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro. Construction took almost five years, and officially opened on September 5, 1965. Mineirão hardly changed in the following decades, and by the 1990s still had its original capacity. When Brazil [[2014 FIFA World Cup bids|won their bid]] to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup, it was clear that Mineirão needed to undergo a large redevelopment.[[File:Atlético Mineiro v Botafogo, Arena MRV, Horizonte, 2023.jpg|thumb|[[Arena MRV]]]]
The project included the complete reconstruction of the bottom tier, an extension of the roof, and further refurbishments to upgrade the stadium to [[FIFA]] standards. Building works took a total of three years and were completed in December 2012. The first match at the reopened Mineirão was played on February 3, 2013, with a state championship match between Cruzeiro and Atlético. Mineirão hosted a total of six matches during the [[2014 FIFA World Cup]]. The stadium also was one of the playing venues of the [[2013 FIFA Confederations Cup]] and the [[Football at the 2016 Summer Olympics|Olympic football tournament in 2016]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Mineirão – The Stadium Guide |url=https://www.stadiumguide.com/mineirao/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706225903/http://www.stadiumguide.com/mineirao/ |archivedate=July 6, 2013}}</ref>

While Cruzeiro agreed on a lease to play the next 25 years at Mineirão, Atlético decided to build its own arena in the Califórnia neighbourhood, in the northeast region of the city. The original project intended to build one of the most modern football grounds in Latin America, and the second largest sports arena in the state of Minas Gerais, with a capacity of over 46,000 people. Construction kicked off in 2017, broke ground on April 20, 2020, after delays due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], and works were completed in 2023. The stadium was inaugurated on April 15, 2023, and saw its first official match on August 27, 2023, with Atlético Mineiro hosting [[Santos FC|Santos]] for the [[2023 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A]]. The naming rights for the stadium were sold to Belo Horizonte-based home building and real estate company MRV, and the location became known as [[Arena MRV]].

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Football/soccer teams
|-
! Club
! League
! Venue
! Established (team)
|-
! [[Clube Atlético Mineiro|Atlético Mineiro]]
|[[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A|Série A]]
|[[Arena MRV]]
46.000 (44.048 record)
|1908
|-
! [[Cruzeiro Esporte Clube|Cruzeiro]]
|[[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A|Série A]]
|[[Mineirão]]
61.846 (132,834 record)
|1921
|-
! [[América Futebol Clube (MG)|América Mineiro]]
|[[Campeonato Brasileiro Série B|Série B]]
|[[Arena Independência]]
23,018 (32,721 record)
|1912
|}

In addition to football, Belo Horizonte has one of the largest attendances at volleyball matches in the entire country. They are played either at [[Mineirinho]], home of [[Brazil men's national volleyball team|Brazil's national volleyball team]], or at [[Minas Tênis Clube]].