FORGET rugby – football superstars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or even Kaka could be the first sporting legends to thrill a crowd at the new Aviva stadium.

But alas, not in person. As part of a dry run for massive crowds at the new €410m stadium, Aviva is inviting around 10,000 special guests to watch the World Cup final on 11 July live on the stadium's big screens.

Lucky winners entered competitions online and in branches for the prize of watching the biggest sporting event in the world in style.

It may not be the 88,400 capacity Soccer City ground in Johannesberg, but for the thousands cramming into the Aviva it will be a historic day and a chance to view the architectural masterpiece of south Dublin.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for us, to screen the World Cup final at the stadium and for Aviva to be able to bring in some of its customers and staff to see the new infrastructure," a spokesman said.

Many of the ground's state-of-the-art bars, restaurants and other facilities will be opened specially to serve the 10,000 lucky punters.

It will also give the management company an early experience of dealing with crowds with future live matches expected to regularly fill out its 50,000 seat capacity.

In the last few weeks, Aviva held an open 'fun day'. which saw a similar number of people pile in to inspect the views.

The first live match to take place at the ground, on 31 July, will be a composite of the Leinster and Ulster rugby teams against Connaught and Munster.