France-Israel will take place at the Stade de France on November 14. But in front of sparsely filled stands. As indicated by Le Figaro this Friday, the French Football Federation (FFF) expects very low attendance for this Nations League meeting of the Blues. Several sources involved in the organization of this match expect a maximum of 20,000 people in Saint-Denis on Thursday evening. For a capacity of 80,000 seats.
Several reasons explain this very low figure for the reunion of the vice-world champions a year and a half after their last outing in Seine-Saint-Denis against Greece. One, the security context, already very tense since the attacks of October 7, 2023 and the invasion of Gaza by the Israeli army, became even more tense after the attack on several Maccabi Tel-Aviv supporters in Amsterdam on Thursday evening. A very substantial security system will be put in place by the French authorities during this meeting. According to our information, all the shops and restaurants located around the Stade de France square and on the public transport access route will have to close the curtain on the afternoon of the match.
Two, the late sale of tickets for the meeting. The FFF only got the green light from the authorities to launch ticket sales in mid-October, when the Paris police chief, Laurent Nuñez, confirmed that the match would be held with the public. Without having certified at the time that he would compete at the Stade de France. In this context, the places did not have the same time as usual to sell to the general public.
Some of the seats located in the first rows of the lower ring of the Stade de France will also be closed to the public, according to several consistent sources. The reason? Complicate a possible invasion of land feared by the authorities. A month after the great success of the Blues (4-1) during the first round played in Budapest, Hungary, the reunion of the two teams promises to be highly scrutinized in terms of security.
