St DenisThe city of Saint-Denis, at the gates of Paris, is now indisputably one of France’s historic centres for two reasons: The first is the sacred basilica located at the centre of the city, considered to be one of the great masterpieces of Gothic art and is also the final resting place of a good many French kings.
The second reason is that not too far away from that Basilica stands the magnificent Stade de France.
The stadium will forever be dear to the French for what happened there on 12 July 1998 when a soccer team led by a certain Zinédine Zidane dominated Brazil in the Soccer World Cup final to win 3-0 and capture the FIFA World Cup for the first time.
The history of the Stade de France had begun with FIFA’s decision to select France to organise the FIFA World Cup on 2 July 1992.
The following year, the Saint-Denis site was chosen. In 1995, a huge construction operation began, with operations only completed after 31 months of work. The designers envisaged a stadium with a large elliptical diameter measuring 274 metres, covering a surface area of 17 hectares. A distinguishing feature of this ultra-modern facility is its immense roof, covering six hectares, and which is illuminated for evening matches.
The stadium’s inauguration took place in freezing cold weather on 28 January 1998 with, as a bonus, a first win for the Tricolores against Spain (1-0). At that time, the Stade de France took over from the Parc des Princes for matches involving the French national rugby and soccer teams, but many other events have also been held there, such as the 2003 World Athletics Championships, motorcycle races, ice driving events, and even equestrian events.
The seating capacity of 80,000 can be raised to 100,000 for certain shows (operas, concerts).
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