Stade de la Beaujoire

Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau

La Beaujoire
Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau Location in Nantes Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau Location in France
Location	Route de Saint Joseph 44300, Nantes, France
Coordinates	47.256°N 1.525°W / 47.256; -1.525
Capacity	35,322
Field size	117 m × 78 m (384 ft × 256 ft)
Surface	Desso GrassMaster
Opened	1984
Tenants
FC Nantes (1984–present)

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

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 1969–1986. 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 38,128. Highest attendance was 51,359 for France-Belgium match in 1984. Previously, the team played at Stade Marcel Saupin.

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

Future

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. On 26 February 2019, the project was cancelled.

1984 European Championship (Euro 1984)

The stadium was selected as one of the venues of 1984 UEFA European Championship and held the following matches

Date	Team	Team	Result
16 June 1984	France	Belgium	5-0
20 June 1984	Portugal	Romania	1-0

1998 FIFA World Cup

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

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

2023 Rugby World Cup

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

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