The 68,000-capacity venue will host its first sporting event since it was opened when Vissel Kobe take on Kashima Antlers in the final of the Emperor's Cup, a prestigious Japanese national football tournament.

A number of footballing legends are will take to the pitch, with Andres Iniesta and David Villa of Spain and Lukas Podolski of Germany expected to feature for Vissel Kobe. 

The match will provide organisers with the chance to test the main venue for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

The New National Stadium, built for Tokyo 2020, was completed on November 20. 

An inauguration event took place earlier this month, with members of the public invited to test out the track at the Stadium.

Jamaican eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt then participated in a combined relay event with Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

The venue will host athletics competition during the Games, as well the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics.

The new arena, constructed on the site of the National Stadium originally built in 1958 and which staged the 1964 Olympic Games, features a plant-covered facade designed to maintain harmony with the natural landscape of the neighboring Meiji Jingu Gaien area.

The eaves of the distinctive roof are made of wood gathered from the country's 47 prefectures.

The Stadium is the second to be approved after initial plans were scrapped in 2015 by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe due to spiralling costs.

It meant construction began about 14 months later than planned after the original design by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid was discarded following a public outcry.

The completed Stadium is believed to have cost ¥157 billion (£1.2 billion/$1.4 billion/€1.3 billion).