World Cups, Johnny Hallyday… The Stade de France in 10 memorable dates

After nearly thirty years of management, the Stade de France is changing hands. The Lyon-based group GL Events announced on Monday, May 12, that it had been designated by the French government as the beneficiary of the Stade de France's operating concession for the next thirty years. After months of legal proceedings, the events group officially replaces Vinci-Bouygues, the long-standing concession holder of the 80,000-seat arena.

Since its inauguration, France's largest sports arena has hosted the French national and rugby teams, among others. But the Stade de France has also hosted more than 450 events and attracted over 36 million spectators in its nearly three decades of existence. A look back at the milestones that shaped its history.

"The cathedral of sport that we've been waiting for for almost a century." This is how television news anchor Daniel Bilalian describes the stadium inaugurated during the France-Spain friendly football match. On January 28, the ceremony was grandiose: a spectacular 40-minute show, broadcast live on TF1, preceded kickoff.

In the middle of winter, the temperature is freezing, the pitch is frozen. But in this arena, which holds twice as many spectators as the previous home of the Blues, the Parc des Princes, the crowd is boiling. As history would have it, it ends up exulting over a goal by Zinédine Zidane , forever the first goalscorer in the history of the Stade de France.

"For eternity," read the headline in the daily L'Équipe the day after Les Bleus won their World Cup. For the first time in its history, France is the football world champion, after a tumultuous journey that ended with a 3-0 victory over Brazil in the final.

That July evening in 1998, more than 20 million French people watched this victory in front of their televisions. A lucky 80,000 were in the stands of the Stade de France, the scene of the most beautiful chapter in the history of French football.

After the Rolling Stones at the end of July, Johnny Hallyday took up residence at the Stade de France. While the first concert was canceled due to torrential rain, the second, on the evening of September 5, was memorable. And for good reason: the star arrived on the roof of the arena by helicopter, to the cheers of a white-hot crowd, before appearing on stage.

A legendary scene, replayed for the two other performances, on September 6 and 11, 1998. If Le Parisien finally revealed that the person being airlifted was a stand-in, the spectacle was no less grandiose at the time.

The first female artist to perform at the Stade de France, Céline Dion didn't do things by halves: a central stage sits in the middle of the arena, offering a 360-degree view to the 90,000 spectators present on June 19 and 20, 1999.

By filling the stadium during these two concerts, the Quebec artist proves her popularity and shows that the Saint-Denis stadium is not limited to rock and sports, and opens the door to many artists who will follow.

Naval battles, gladiatorial combats and, of course, chariot races: the Stade de France takes on the appearance of a Coliseum with Robert Hossein's Ben-Hur .

The first performance, on September 20, 2006, was a shock. The succession of immense tableaux vivants intoxicated the 60,000 spectators present, who were enthralled by the legendary chariot race. Twelve minutes long, it involved 28 horses, seven chariots, and dozens of stuntmen for an epic performance, set in a breathtaking ancient setting.

In the first Rugby World Cup held on home soil, the French XV were held back in the opening match by Argentina (17-12 defeat). But in the quarter-finals, the Blues achieved a monumental feat by defeating New Zealand (20-18), the competition's big favorite.

On October 13, 2007, they faced the English in front of 80,000 fans, intent on reaching the end of their competition. Weighed down by a try conceded after two minutes of play, France fell from a high and bowed out just outside the final. In a 2023 edition where observers had expected them to win, the French lost in the quarter-finals to South Africa, again at the Stade de France.

Since the end of 2006, the French national football team's level and popularity have been in freefall. So much so that it must face a perilous playoff against Ukraine if it wants to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. After a 2-0 defeat in kyiv in the first leg, Didier Deschamps' men have their backs against the wall. No team has ever come back from such a low score.

However, during the return match, an incandescent atmosphere spurred Hugo Lloris's teammates on, who turned the evening into a irrational affair: an improbable brace from defender Mamadou Sakho and a goal from Karim Benzema propelled France into Brazil. During this 3-0 victory, the Stade de France hosted an exceptional celebration, the foundation of the French renaissance.

The first explosion sounded in the ^17th minute of the France-Germany friendly. A second in the ^20th . In less than forty minutes, three suicide bombers blew themselves up around the Stade de France, after being prevented from entering. They killed one person and injured 63 others, sparking an evening of horror throughout Paris.

The news, initially suppressed, gradually spread through the stands of the Stade de France. The stunned spectators were taken to safety on the pitch, and the players spent much of the night confined to the locker rooms. Three days later, during the England-France match, Wembley Stadium (London) paid a vibrant tribute to the victims of these attacks.

A two-hour, forty-five-minute fireworks display, 28 songs played, guests, and, above all, a stunning attendance record for Indochine : 97,036 spectators. Never before has the Stade de France welcomed so many people.