The need for a new national stadium arose during the bid process for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Following France's selection to host the tournament, announced on 2 July 1992, the French government and the French Football Federation guaranteed construction of a stadium for more than 80,000 people. Manufacturers Bouygues, Dumez, and SGE were selected, building permits were signed on 30 April 1995, and construction commenced on 2 May 1995 with the first cornerstone laid five months later on 6 September. The stadium was constructed on the site of an old gasworks; concerns about potential explosions led to it being built without under-soil heating. The total cost was €364 million.
During the developmental phase the stadium was referred to in French as the Grand Stade. On 4 December 1995, the Ministry of Sport launched a design competition to decide on a name. French football legend Michel Platini, head of the organising committee, recommended the name Stade de France, and the Ministry adopted it.
The stadium was inaugurated on 28 January 1998 with a friendly football match between France and Spain. The match was played before 78,368 spectators — including President Jacques Chirac — and France won 1–0 with Zinedine Zidane scoring the first-ever goal at the stadium in the 20th minute. Five days later, France defeated England 24–17 in rugby, with Philippe Bernat-Salles converting the first try at the stadium in the 11th minute.
The stadium features a movable stand which can be retracted to uncover part of the athletics track. The rear sections are lowered 7.1 m, then inner sections retract 15 m; the transition takes 40 people and lasts 80 hours. The retracted tier retains 22,000 seats.
The roof, costing over €45 million, is elliptical in shape with an area of six hectares and a weight of 13,000 tons. It was designed to protect 80,000 spectators without covering the playing field. All 550 lights and 36 blocks of five speakers are housed inside to avoid obstructing visibility. Tinted glass in the centre distributes natural light while filtering out red and infrared radiation. The architecture was inspired by the Worldport terminal of Pan American at John F. Kennedy International Airport. In 2002, the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering awarded a prize recognising the stadium's structure.
The playing area measures 9,000 square metres (120 metres long and 75 metres wide), located 11 metres below the court level. The stadium was designed with software simulation of crowd movement. It was intended to help develop the Plaine Saint-Denis area straddling the communes of Saint-Denis, Aubervilliers, and Saint-Ouen.
Stade de France 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, alongside Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. On 12 July 1998, France defeated Brazil 3–0 in the 1998 FIFA World Cup final held at the stadium. The stadium also hosted the 1999, 2007, and 2023 Rugby World Cups, and seven matches at UEFA Euro 2016, including the final where France lost to Portugal 1–0 in extra time. The 2000, 2006, and 2022 UEFA Champions League finals were held at the venue.
On 9 May 2009, Stade de France set the national attendance record for a sporting match in France with 80,832 spectators watching Guingamp defeat Rennes 2–1 in the Coupe de France Final. An earlier record was set at a Stade Français vs Toulouse Top 14 fixture on 15 October 2005, with 79,454 attending — the then-national record for a league match in any sport.
On 13 November 2015, during a series of coordinated attacks across Paris, two small explosions occurred outside the stadium during an international friendly between France and Germany with French President François Hollande in attendance. The attackers were unable to enter the stadium stands. The authorities chose to continue the match to avoid causing panic.
The 2022 UEFA Champions League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid was moved to Stade de France from the Gazprom Arena in Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The independent review commissioned by UEFA found that its initial explanation — that delays in admitting fans were caused by late-arriving supporters — was "objectively untrue", citing the absence of overall control and inappropriate assumptions about Liverpool FC supporters.
On 11 February 2012, a Six Nations match between France and Ireland had to be cancelled just before kick-off because the pitch froze, as the stadium lacks under-soil heating.
The primary tenants are the French national football and rugby union teams. Paris Saint-Germain declined to move there upon the stadium's construction, choosing to remain at the Parc des Princes. The Paris rugby club Stade Français established themselves as a semi-regular tenant from October 2005 onwards, drawing successive French attendance records for league matches. Racing 92 also uses the stadium for some fixtures. The stadium hosts the Coupe de France (football and rugby), Coupe de France Féminine, Coupe Gambardella, and the Top 14 final.
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