Stade de France

Lore & Background

Initially built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the stadium's name was recommended by Michel Platini. On 12 July 1998, France beat Brazil 3–0 in the 1998 FIFA World Cup final held at the stadium. The stadium was a key player in the success of the city's bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and also the Paralympics, hosting athletics and the closing ceremonies of both events. It was the rugby sevens venue during the Olympic Games. The stadium hosted matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League finals in 2000, 2006 and 2022, the 2007 and 2023 Rugby World Cups, and seven matches at UEFA Euro 2016 including the final. It also hosted the Race of Champions in 2004, 2005, and 2006, the 2003 World Championships in Athletics, and the annual Meeting de Paris from 1999 to 2016. Domestically, it serves as a secondary home for Stade Français and Racing 92, and hosts the Coupe de France (football and rugby), Coupe de France Féminine, Coupe Gambardella, and Top 14 final.

In Their Own Story

The RER B train rattles north, windows fogged with the breath of a thousand supporters in blue. A teenager in a worn 1998 Zidane shirt presses his forehead to the glass, watching the flat farmland of the Seine valley blur past. Beside him, an older man hums the Marseillaise, off-key, to himself. The station at Saint-Denis swallows them into a river of scarves and flags, the air thick with the smell of hot chips and the low, building roar of the concourse. They climb the steps. The bowl opens above them, a vast amphitheatre of blue and white, the grass below impossibly green under the floodlights. The anthem begins. Eighty thousand voices join. The teenager's hands are shaking. The older man is weeping, though he will deny it. The ball is kicked into the air, and for a moment, the whole of France is one breath, one heartbeat, one blue shirt.

Reader's Guide

The stadium was inaugurated on 28 January 1998 with a friendly between France and Spain, won 1–0 by France with Zinedine Zidane scoring the lone goal in the 20th minute. The national rugby team's first match was on 2 February 1998, a 24–17 win over England. On 13 November 2015, the stadium was targeted in coordinated attacks, with explosions outside during a France–Germany friendly. In 2016, it hosted the UEFA Euro 2016 opening ceremony and final. The 2022 UEFA Champions League Final was delayed due to fan access issues, later found to be caused by organizational problems. In 2026, the NFL will host its first regular season game in France at the venue.

Did You Know?

• The stadium's name was recommended by Michel Platini.
• It is one of only two stadia in the world to have hosted both a FIFA World Cup final and a rugby union World Cup final (the other being Tokyo Stadium).
• The stadium lacks under-soil heating, causing a Six Nations match to be cancelled in 2012 due to a frozen pitch.