The Stade de Luxembourg is the

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

of the

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, located in the

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...

quarter of

Gasperich Gasperich () is a quarter in southern Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. , the quarter has a population of 7,607 inhabitants. In 2017, major building works began on a new development providing for dozens of large office buildings, hundre ...

. The stadium is host to Luxembourg's national football and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

teams and is listed as a Category 4 stadium by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

allowing it to host international matches. Construction on the stadium occurred between September 2017 and July 2021, missing the original 2019 target date for completion. On 1 September 2021, the stadium marked its official opening by hosting its first international match between the Luxembourg and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

men's football teams as part of the

2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

. The inauguration ceremony for the stadium took place later that month, on 25 September. The Stade de Luxembourg replaces the outdated Josy Barthel stadium, due for demolition.

Design and construction

The stadium's design was drawn up by local architectural firm Beng Architectes Associés in conjunction with the Hamburg-based

Gerkan, Marg and Partners Gerkan, Marg & Partners (gmp) is an international architectural company based in Hamburg, Germany. The company was founded in 1965 by Meinhard von Gerkan and , and now has more than 300 employees in 13 offices. In the same year the archit ...

, and selected from a total of 25 submissions by Luxembourg's Minister of Sport and the

Mayor of Luxembourg City The Mayor of Luxembourg City is the mayor of Luxembourg's capital and largest city, Luxembourg City. The officeholder, like other mayors in Luxembourg, is appointed by the Grand Duke amongst council members. Due to the city's importance within the ...

in September 2014. The final design and construction plans were approved by a unanimous vote of Luxembourg City councillors on 5 December 2016. Initial ground works on the stadium began in March 2017, with construction work commencing on 21 August 2017, and an official ground breaking ceremony in the presence of Mayor

Lydie Polfer Lydie Polfer (born 22 November 1952, in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgish politician who has served in a number of capacities, including Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mayor of Luxembourg City, as well as a Member of ...

held on 18 September 2017. Works were due to be completed by October 2019, with an estimated cost, at the beginning of construction, of 61.1 million euros, with 40 million euros to be covered by the Ministry of Sport, and the rest by the Luxembourg City municipality. However, due to construction delays, the stadium's completion was initially put back until 2020, before finally being completed in July 2021. Construction costs were revised up to approximately 80 million euros, with the Luxembourg City administration paying for the overrun.

Specifications

Due to its location alongside the A6 motorway, the stadium is situated along an east–west axis, in place of the more traditional north–south axis used for stadia. The stadium is designed to hold a capacity of 9,386 spectators with fully covered seating for sporting events, and can hold up to 15,000 spectators for

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

. The main grandstand is situated along the south side of the field. To cope with its dual purpose as a football and

venue, as well as hosting occasional concerts, the stadium is equipped with a

hybrid grass Hybrid grass or reinforced natural grass is a product created by combining natural lawn grass with reinforcing synthetic fibres. It is used for stadiums and training pitches used for association football, rugby, gridiron football and cricket. Rein ...

playing surface.

Name

The name of the stadium was revealed as the "Stade de Luxembourg" at a press conference in July 2020. In September 2020, the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies rejected a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...

to amend the name using the

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...

language after it failed to gather the minimum amount of required signatures.

Public transit

Upon the completion of Luxembourg City's new tramline in 2023, the stadium will be served by the future "Stadion" tram terminus. A 2,000-space

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...

car park, under construction across from the stadium's Route d'Esch entrance, is due to be completed in mid-2023.

References

External links

*
Stadium Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Football venues in Luxembourg

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Sports venues in Luxembourg City Gerkan, Marg and Partners buildings