Stadium de Toulouse is the largest multi-purpose stadium in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches, mainly those of the Toulouse Football Club, as well as

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 ...

matches for

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () ( oc, Estadi Tolosenc), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Tou ...

in the European Rugby Champions Cup or

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. It also hosts the test matches of France's national rugby union team. It is located on the island of Ramier near the centre of Toulouse. It is a pure football and rugby ground, and therefore has no athletics track surrounding the field. The stadium is able to hold 33,150 people.

History

The stadium was built in 1937 for the

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, be ...

(but again under construction, the World Cup matches were playing in the Stade du T.O.E.C., 4 kilometers further North) and has undergone two extensive renovations, in 1949 and 1997. The stadium staged six matches during the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It was also used as a host venue during the 2007 Rugby World Cup for games such as Japan-Fiji, won by the latter 35–31. On 13 November 2009 the stadium hosted international rugby again when France hosted South Africa. At the time, South Africa were leading the series by 20 wins to 10 (6 drawn).

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

performed in front of 40,000 people during his Dangerous World Tour on 16 September 1992.

Transport

The stadium is served by two bus stops (West and East), where

Tisséo Tisséo is the brand adopted in 2002 for the transport network of Toulouse, under the authority of the ''Syndicat mixte des transports en commun'' (SMTC). Tisséo operates two metro lines, two tramway lines, a hundred buses, and shuttle serv ...

buses L4 (Cours Dillon-Basso Cambo), 34 (Arènes-Université Paul Sabatier), L5 (Empalot-Roques/Roquettes) and 152 (Empalot-Roques/IUC) stop. Shuttle buses operate on match days from Esquirol metro (Line A), and the stadium is also a short walk (~10 mins) from metro stations Empalot and Saint Michel-Marcel Langer (Line B). It is also near the Croix de Pierre stop of the newly extended Toulouse tramway.

Tournament results

1938 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was initially one of the venues of the

but again under construction, the matches were played in the Stade du T.O.E.C. in Toulouse too.

1998 FIFA World Cup

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

2007 Rugby World Cup

The stadium was one of the venues for

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

's 2007 World Cup

UEFA Euro 2016

The stadium was one of the venues of UEFA Euro 2016, and hosted the following matches:

2023 Rugby World Cup matches

Rugby League Test matches

Stadium Municipal has hosted 14

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

internationals, 13 of them involving the French national team, since 1953.

Fronton facilities

Stadium de Toulouse is also home to several fronton walls on the stadium campus, which are used for local handball/pelota sports. Most recently, in August 2022, it played host to an international One-Wall handball/Wallball tournament, the 2022 French Open, part of the European 1-Wall Tour, with Great Britain's Dan Grant winning the Men's Open title and Helena Hernanz Sanchez of France winning the Women's Open title. The 2022 Open was organised with the help and support of the Tolosa Gaels GAA Club and the local Government.

References

Toulouse FC Stade Toulousain

Rugby League World Cup stadiums Rugby league stadiums in France Rugby union stadiums in France Rugby World Cup stadiums 1998 FIFA World Cup stadiums Multi-purpose stadiums in France Sports venues in Toulouse UEFA Euro 2016 stadiums Sports venues completed in 1937 Olympic football venues Venues of the 2024 Summer Olympics {{Summer-Olympic-venue-stub