Stade de France

Lore & Background

Initially built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2008 Summer Olympics failed bid, the stadium's name was recommended by Michel Platini, head of the organizing committee. 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 and in addition to hosting athletics and the closing ceremonies of both events. The stadium was rugby sevens venue during the Olympic Games. Stade de France, listed as a Category 4 stadium by UEFA, hosted matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League finals in 2000, 2006 and 2022. It has as well hosted the 1999, 2007 and 2023 Rugby World Cups, making it one of only two stadia in the world to have hosted both a FIFA World Cup final and a rugby union World Cup final (along with Nissan Stadium in Yokohama). It also hosted seven matches at UEFA Euro 2016, including the final, where France lost to Portugal 1–0 in a tense extra time. The facility also hosted the Race of Champions auto race in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The stadium hosted the 2003 World Championships in Athletics, and from 1999 to 2016, it hosted the annual Meeting de Paris athletics event. Domestically, Stade de France serves as a secondary home facility of Parisian rugby clubs Stade Français and Racing 92, hosting a few of their regular-season fixtures. The stadium also hosts the main French domestic cup finals, which include the Coupe de France (both football and rugby), Coupe de France Féminine, and the Coupe Gambardella, as well as the Top 14 rugby union championship match.

In Their Own Story

The roar of the crowd was a living thing, a beast that swelled and ebbed with every stride on the purple track. Under the floodlights of the Stade de France, the air hummed with the weight of history. In that moment, the stadium was not just concrete and steel; it was a vessel for human will, where the line between athlete and spectator dissolved into a single, electric pulse.

Reader's Guide

The stadium was inaugurated on 28 January 1998, with a friendly football match between France and Spain. The match was played in front of 78,368 spectators, which included President Jacques Chirac, with France winning the match 1–0 with Zinedine Zidane scoring the lone goal, and the first-ever at Stade de France, in the 20th minute. Six months later, France returned to the stadium and defeated Brazil in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final to earn their first World Cup title. Stade de France has hosted group, quarter-final, semi-final and the final match of 1998 FIFA World Cup. The national rugby team's first match in the facility was held five days after its opening, on 2 February, with France earning a 24–17 win over England in front of 77,567 spectators. Philippe Bernat-Salles converted the first ever try at the stadium, scoring it in the 11th minute of play. On 24 May 2000, Stade de France hosted the 2000 UEFA Champions League Final. In the match, which saw 78,759 spectators attend, Spanish club Real Madrid defeated fellow Spanish club Valencia 3–0. In 2003, Stade de France was the primary site of the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. Three years later, event returned to the stadium with another Spanish club Barcelona defeating England's Arsenal 2–1. On 9 May 2009, Stade de France set the national attendance record for a sporting match played in France with 80,832 showing up to watch Guingamp upset Brittany rivals Rennes 2–1 in the 2009 Coupe de France Final. On 22 May 2010, Stade de France hosted the 2010 Heineken Cup Final. On 11 February 2012, a Six Nations international rugby game between France and Ireland had to be cancelled just before kick-off due to the pitch freezing as the stadium lacks under-soil heating. On 13 November 2015, in one of a series of coordinated shootings and bombings across Paris, Stade de France was targeted. Two small proportion explosions occurred outside the stadium during an international friendly between France and Germany, with French President François Hollande in attendance. The terrorists, however, were unable to enter the stadium stands. The explosion was heard inside the stadium, and many thought it was a firework going off inside the stadium. The attacker wanted to infiltrate the stadium, but was scared away when he saw security and was forced to detonate outside the park. The authorities, aware of what had occurred

Did You Know?

• The stadium's name was recommended by Michel Platini, head of the organizing committee, not chosen by public contest.
• 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 (along with Nissan Stadium in Yokohama).
• The stadium lacks under-soil heating, which caused a Six Nations rugby match to be cancelled in 2012 due to a frozen pitch.
• The 2022 UEFA Champions League Final at the venue was delayed due to organisational problems, not late arriving fans as initially claimed.