DISCOVER MATCHES AND CUPS

The trophy awarded to the winner of this competition is called the William Webb Ellis Trophy, in honour of the student who is said to have invented rugby in 1823. According to legend, he showed "contempt for the rules" by grabbing the ball and running with it.

Every year, there is a major competitive event pitting football clubs from all over France against each other. The President of the Republic and many French public figures attend. The pinnacle of the French Cup is, of course, the final at Stade de France.

The French League Cup final has taken place at Stade de France for more than fifteen years now. This is the opportunity for the national venue to provide football fans with its 80,000 seats in a particularly favourable setting for major events.

The fourteen best French rugby clubs compete each year in one of the most high-profile championships in the world, better known as the Top 14! At the end of the season, the winner receives the Brennus Shield, a prestigious award, which it retains until the end of the following season.

Each year, it is an unchanging tradition. During the month of February, the major European players in rugby take to the field for the famous Six Nations Tournament. As its name suggests, each year, six teams compete again for the previous year's trophy: England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy. Each team plays, by definition, five matches, and the ranking established after these different matches determines that year's winner.

Attending a friendly football match at Stade de France is the opportunity to see big teams and extraordinary players play, in a more family-friendly and convivial atmosphere than in major competitive matches. But what is a friendly match? What are the differences between competitive and friendly matches? Why are friendly matches important for competitions?

18 years old in 2016, Stade de France, commonly called STADEFRANCE, is already a great monument of international football. Built for the World Cup, it started construction on June 2 1995 and opened its turnstiles on January 28 1998.

Since 1998, Stade de France has regularly hosted the French football team so that it can play its qualifying matches in the best possible conditions. Around twenty European teams have come to face the French team in epic matches that will remain in the history of French sport. One thinks in particular of the famous qualifying match against Ukraine for the 2014 World Cup, where the French team managed to qualify after beating "the Blue and the Yellows" 3-0. An extraordinary match that delighted the 80,000 spectators that evening.

As every year, the biggest rugby matches take place at Stade de France; during the 6 Nations Championship. Guy Noves’s French team will have to go out of their way after the last defeat against the All Blacks (19-24) in order to win titles again, while the titanic battle for the French Cup is in full swing for the Top 14.

The national team plays its rugby test matches at Stade de France. Test matches are special and magical moments when anything can happen. Each year, the French team accustoms us to memorable performances. Being at Stade de France is always a special moment of festivity and communion.

Each year, Stade de France hosts the final of the TOP 14, the top championship in French rugby. The best French teams compete throughout the season with the same final goal: to win the prestigious Brennus Shield.