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Stade de la Beaujoire

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Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau
La Beaujoire
Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau is located in Nantes
Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau
Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau
Location in Nantes
Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau is located in France
Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau
Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau
Location in France
LocationRoute de Saint Joseph 44300, Nantes, France
Coordinates47°15′22″N 1°31′30″W / 47.256°N 1.525°W / 47.256; -1.525
Capacity35,318
Field size117 m × 78 m (384 ft × 256 ft)
SurfaceDesso GrassMaster
Construction
Opened1984[1]
ArchitectBerdje Agopyan
Tenants
FC Nantes (1984–present)
Website
fcnantes.com

The Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau, mostly known as Stade de la Beaujoire (French pronunciation: [stad la boʒwaʁ]), is a stadium in Nantes, France. It is the home of French football club FC Nantes, known as the canaries.

The stadium was built in a hexagon shape for football use. The construction was purposely finished in 1984 for use in the European Football Championship, then was renovated for the Football World Cup in 1998. The Beaujoire stadium has also hosted international rugby union matches, such as the group stages of both Rugby World Cups in France during 2007 and 2023. Then, it also hosted men's and women's football games in 2024 Paris Olympics in France.[2] As well as sports, the venue also hosts music concerts.

History

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The current stadium is in use for FC Nantes football team, it was built as a second stadium in the city of Nantes replacing the Marcel-Saupin stadium as the team's home ground. The club's owners chose Berdje Agopyan as the architect of their new stadium, he was also responsible for the design of Parc des Princes stadium in Paris in the 1970s. The project took almost 3 years to complete from the city council's approval in June 1982.[3]

The stadium opened for the first time on 8 May 1984, for a friendly game between FC Nantes and Romania in front of 30,000 fans. It was named after Louis Fonteneau, who was president of FC Nantes between 1969 and 1986. It was renovated in 1998 for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. While its original capacity was 52,923, in 1998 it was converted to an all-seater stadium and its current capacity is 35,322.[4] Highest attendance was 51,359 for France-Belgium match in 1984.

The stadium also hosts international rugby matches, including France against New Zealand (16–3) on 15 November 1986. In September 2007, it hosted three pool matches of the 2007 Rugby World Cup: Wales vs Canada on 9 September, England vs Samoa on 22 September and Wales vs Fiji on 29 September. In domestic rugby, La Beaujoire hosted both Top 14 semifinal matches in 2013, and Paris-area Top 14 side Racing Métro 92 played their final "home" match of the 2013–14 season against Clermont at La Beaujoire on 19 April 2014.

La Beaujoire hosted matches during the UEFA Euro 1984, including a 5–0 victory for France over Belgium with three goals from Michel Platini. Six matches were also played there during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, including the quarter-final between Brazil and Denmark. The stadium was not selected for the UEFA Euro 2016.

The France national football team have played here on five occasions, most recently in 2019 where they played a friendly match against Bolivia.

Tournament results

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Wales v. Canada, RWC 2007.

Since 1984, the stadium in Nantes has hosted international tournament matches for football and rugby competitions in France.[3]

UEFA Euro 1984

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The stadium was selected as one of the venues for the 1984 UEFA European Championship and held the following matches:[5][6]

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
16 June 1984  France 5–0  Belgium Group 1 51,359
20 June 1984  Portugal 1–0  Romania Group 2 24,464

1998 FIFA World Cup

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The stadium was one of the venues of the 1998 FIFA World Cup and held the following matches:[7]

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
13 June 1998  Spain 2–3  Nigeria Group D 35,500
16 June 1998  Brazil 3–0  Morocco Group A 35,500
20 June 1998  Japan 0–1  Croatia Group H 35,500
23 June 1998  Chile 1–1  Cameroon Group B 35,500
25 June 1998  United States 0–1  FR Yugoslavia Group F 35,500
3 July 1998  Brazil 3–2  Denmark Quarter-finals 35,500

2007 Rugby World Cup

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The stadium was used in the group stage of the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.[8]

Date Time (CET) Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
9 September 2007 14:00  Wales 42–17  Canada Pool B 37,500
22 September 2007 16:00  England 44–22  Samoa Pool A 37,022
29 September 2007 17:00  Wales 34–38  Fiji Pool B 37,080

2023 Rugby World Cup

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The stadium was one of the venues of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and hosted the following matches:[9]

Date Time (CET) Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
16 September 2023 21:00  Ireland 59–16  Tonga Pool B 35,673
30 September 2023 15:00  Argentina 59–5  Chile Pool D 37,000
7 October 2023 15:00  Wales 43–19  Georgia Pool C 33,580
8 October 2023 13:00  Japan 27–39  Argentina Pool D 33,624

2024 Summer Olympics

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The football tournament for Men and Women at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[10]

Date Team #1 Result Team #2 Round Attendance
24 July 2024  Egypt 0–0  Dominican Republic Men's group C 13,945
25 July 2024  Spain 2–1  Japan Women's group C 10,377
27 July 2024  Uzbekistan 0–1  Egypt Men's group C 20,658
28 July 2024  Spain 1–0  Nigeria Women's group C 11,079
30 July 2024  Israel 0–1  Japan Men's group D 11,671
31 July 2024  Japan 3–1  Nigeria Women's group C 6,480
3 August 2024  France 0–1  Brazil Women's quarter-finals 32,280
8 August 2024  Egypt 0–6  Morocco Men's bronze medal match 27,391

Music concerts

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Since the stadium's inauguration in 1984, many musical acts have played concerts in the stadium, memorable concerts include:[3]

Potential replacement

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A new stadium named YelloPark was planned to replace the Stade de la Beaujoire, which was to be demolished for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 2023 Rugby World Cup.[11] On 26 February 2019, the project was cancelled.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau". soccerway. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Stade de la Beaujoire". Olympics.com. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "The Beaujoire stage is 40 years old". metropole.nantes.fr. 18 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Les tribunes du stade de la Beaujoire". FC Nantes. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Portugal - Romania, Group Stage". uefa.com. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Belgium-France, Group stage". uefa.com. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  7. ^ "World Cup 1998". footballhistory.org. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Rugby World Cup 2007 results". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  9. ^ "RWC 2023 all matches". rugbyworldcup.com. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  10. ^ "2024 Olympics Football". fifa.com. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Le FC Nantes aura son nouveau stade, le YellowPark, en 2022" (in French). FranceInfo. 19 September 2017.