Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium — widely known as Fatorda Stadium after the neighbourhood it occupies — is Goa's principal football ground and the largest sports venue in the state. With a capacity of around 19,000, it is one of the few venues in India certified to host international football matches, and it regularly does: the Indian national team plays here, and the stadium was one of the chosen venues for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Football in Goa has a different character from elsewhere in India — a legacy of the Portuguese colonial period when the sport embedded itself into village life, producing a tradition of technically skilled players. On match days, particularly when FC Goa is playing, the stadium fills with a crowd whose knowledge of the game and intensity of support would not look out of place in Europe. For a visitor with any interest in football, catching a match here is a significantly better experience than most Indian sporting events.