Stade De France, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, France. It is used mostly for association football matches, rugby union matches and music concerts, hosting the home games of the French national football and rugby teams.
Opened on 28 January 1998 with a friendly match between France and Spain, it was built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The seating capacity of the stadium is currently set at 80,698. The stadium was designed by Michel Macary, Aymeric Zublena, Michel Regembal, and Claude Costantini and had a construction cost of €290 million.
A UEFA category four stadium and one of the biggest stadiums by capacity in Europe (the biggest in France), Stade De France hosted several matches of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, including its final, as well as the 2000 and 2016 finals of the UEFA Champions League. It also hosted the 2003 World Athletics Championships. By its twentieth birthday, Stade De France had welcomed more than 20 million spectators. The stadium was one of the venues for the 2024 Summer Olympics, which France hosted.
Although the previous Stade de France was officially named 'Stade de France', both the old and the new stadiums are invariably referred to by their official name, Stade De France. France is the name of the country the stadium is located in, in the commune of Saint-Denis, which itself derives its name from the patron saint of Paris, Saint Denis. This official name was used soon after the original stadium's construction; the people of France used to simply call it Le Stade ('The Stadium'). Therefore, the stadium's common name became 'Stade De France', which is usually anglicized to 'Stadium of France'. This translation, however, could be argued to be inaccurate, since France refers not to 'France' but to the original location of the stadium: Saint-Denis, a suburb just north of Paris.
The Stade De France is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the eighth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for international competition. It is the largest in Europe for track and field events, seating 78,338 in that configuration. Despite that, the stadium's running track is mostly hidden under the football pitch. The stadium has been used for concerts, mass events, and other sporting events.
Construction on the stadium began in 1995, following France's selection as host of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and was completed in 1998, just in time for the World Cup. It was designed by architects Michel Macary, Aymeric Zublena, Regembal Michel, and Claude Costantini, and built by Bouygues. The stadium was officially inaugurated on 28 January 1998 by President Jacques Chirac. Since then, it has hosted matches at the 1998 World Cup, including the final, and the 2003 Confederations Cup, including the final. It also hosted the 2000 and 2006 UEFA Champions League finals. In addition to football, it has hosted rugby matches at the 1999 and 2007 Rugby World Cup, including the final of both tournaments. It also hosts other major events, including the annual French national rugby team's home matches in the Six Nations Championship, and the Top 14's annual final of French rugby.
Stade De France, located in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris, was identified as an ideal location for a world-class stadium due to its good accessibility and ample space for future expansion. This area, being in the heart of Saint-Denis, gave the stadium its name 'Stade De France'.
The objective was always to have the stadium owned and managed by the French Football Federation. Initially, the land was leased from the local government, with the final purchase only occurring in 1995. The design and plans for the sports complex had been in the works since the late 1980’s, under the guidance of architects Michel Macary, Aymeric Zublena, Michel Regembal and Claude Costantini.
Driven by the French Football Federation, the associates were subjected to an increased fee to support the building costs for the new stadium, and large donations were made. Some members even volunteered to work on the construction site during weekends or holidays. There was also a 'cement campaign', whereby large quantities of cement bags were donated to the project.
The construction officially began on 2 May 1995. Less than three years after, and at a cost of 1.67 billion francs, on 28 January 1998, a crowd of 80,000 spectators filled the stadium for the inaugural match between France and Spain.
'Stade De France (1998)' (in French). French Government. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2015. http://www.gouvernement.fr/stade-de-france-1998
'Stade De France (Le Grand Stade) – until 2003'. StadiumDB.com. Retrieved 7 February 2015. http://www.stadiumdb.com/stades/stade-de-france
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