Designed by Portuguese architect Manuel Salgado, the stadium was constructed to replace Porto's former ground, the Estádio das Antas, along with becoming one of the host venues for the UEFA Euro 2004 final tournament.

Construction works began in late 2001, and were completed in November 2003, some months after what was expected, since in February 2002, Porto mayor Rui Rio changed the estate distribution, criticizing the plan for including high-scale housing and shopping for the area.

[3] These actions forced the chairman of FC Porto, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, to halt all building operations, which were only resumed after a consensus was reached.

A major source of income granted by the infrastructure is the planned capability to monetize on organizing events outside of regular football matches.

[11] The 2019 ESSMA Summit is also noteworthy by having joined several clubs, leagues and federations representatives together at the venue to discuss matters on the developments and trends of the football industry.

Having its own station combined with the infrastructure, the metro functions as the main way of reaching the stadium, with different lines linking the various city areas and a direct connection to the international Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport.