built in a record period of 18 months, is the first in the world that was built in a mountainous landscape. The architects of the stadium were Koryun Hakobyan and Gurgen Musheghyan from Armenia. The construction process was supervised by engineer Edward Tossunian. The architectural group of the stadium was granted the award of the best construction of the year in 1971 and honoured by the Soviet Government. Significant games hostings Hrazdan Stadium hosted its first official football match on 19 May 1971 when Ararat Yerevan defeated Kairat Almaty 3-0 in front of 78,000 spectators, with Alexandr Kovalenko (58th min), Oganes Zanazanyan (74th min. pen.) and Nikolai Kazaryan (77th min.) scoring for the hosts. The stadium hosted some glorious moments of the Armenian football during Soviet era. The Armenians celebrated Ararat Yerevan's double of the Soviet football in 1973, which allowed them to play in the European Cup. Reaching the quarterfinals, they lost the first leg to the defending and future champions Bayern Munich with a result of 2-0 while they won the 2nd leg 1-0 in Hrazdan stadium in front of more than 70,000 spectators. In 1985, Hrazdan was one of the venues of the FIFA World Youth Championship took place in the Soviet Union. It hosted the matches of the 1st group as well as a match during the quarter finals. After the independence of Armenia, the arena hosted the matches of the national team until 1999 when the smaller Republican Stadium in downtown Yerevan became its home ground. The largest number of spectators for the National team was recorded on 9 October 1996 in a 1998 World Cup qualification match against Germany. Attended by 42,000 fans, the match ended in a 5-1 win for Germany. Renovation In 2003 the stadium was privatized and sold to the Hrazdan Holding CJSC, who began to set up a renovation process in 2005. By the end of 2008 the stadium became all-seater. Shortly after its renovation the Stadium hosted Armenia's match against Turkey on 6 September 2008, which was the first match Armenia had played at ground since a Euro 2000 qualifying match against France on 8 September 1999. The crucial match was attended by presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Abdullah Gul, with the presence of more than 30,000 spectators. After the 2008 renovation, Hrazdan held UEFA three-star status until that rating was superseded by a new system of classification. According to