Two days before the Nations League match between France and Israel, scheduled for this Thursday (8:45 p.m.), the Stade de France is struggling to fill up. Many places are still for sale for this meeting placed under close surveillance, due to the tense geopolitical context surrounding the situation in the Middle East.
An extraordinary security device. The Nations League poster between the French team and Israel will be played under close surveillance this Thursday at the Stade de France (8:45 p.m.). The match is considered by all security sources as “the most sensitive of the year”, due to the tense geopolitical context surrounding the situation in the Middle East. As explained at the end of last week by RMC Sport, 4,500 members of the police will be deployed in the Paris region, including 2,500 near the Saint-Denis enclosure, which will be far from full.
Two days before the meeting, many places remain on sale. This Tuesday at the start of the day, the online ticket office of the French Football Federation still offers tickets for most categories. Only the “children's stand” and category 1 are sold out. For the rest, places are available in the “family stand” (23 euros), in category 5 (29 euros), in category 4 (55 euros), in category 3 (79 euros), in category 2 (95 euros) and in gold category (145 euros).
Three-quarters of the stadium should be empty
Despite fairly reasonable prices, tickets are struggling to find takers. Many fear incidents and a heavy atmosphere, a week after the violence which took place in Amsterdam on the sidelines of the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv (5-0). The declining enthusiasm around the France team also explains this situation, at a time when captain Kylian Mbappé has not been called up by Didier Deschamps.
Under these conditions, this France-Israel may well record the lowest attendance in the history of the Blues at the Stade de France, which can accommodate nearly 80,000 spectators. The authorities expect around 20,000 people, only a quarter of the stadium's capacity. Of this total, we also do not know the proportion of spectators benefiting from an invitation.
For comparison, the last France-Israel event attracted 43,527 spectators in September 2004. Twenty years later, the world vice-champions will have to deal with largely empty stands.
