So it’s official. This France-Israel, meeting on the 5th day of the group stage of the League of Nations, will become the worst crowd in the history of the Blues at the Stade de France.
We feared very little popular success, and that is the case. But even having prepared for it, the images of the Stade de France as the two teams enter are quite astonishing. While it is used to being full, and welcoming nearly 80,000 spectators, the Dionysian enclosure is terribly empty: the third floor has not been opened for sale, the second floor is very little filled, and the bottom floor wasn’t full either. There are certainly less than 20,000 people in the bays of Saint-Denis.
France-Israel, the reasons for a hiccup
There are obviously several explanations for this sadly historic influx. The poster is not very exciting, on a sporting level, and the stakes are far from immense. There is also a certain distance taken by the Blues lovers from their team, after a disappointing Euro 2024 in terms of the game. Finally, and this is undoubtedly the main reason, this meeting is played in a context very heavy geopolitics around the state of Israel, which may have deterred many potential spectators.
