- Address: 345 avenue de Heidelberg, Montpellier
- Country: French Republic
- Capacity: 32,000
- Opened: 13 January 1972
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: MHSC (football)
Extra stadium info – Stade de la Mosson
The Stade de la Mosson became one of the largest stadiums by capacity in the French Republic. It became a venue for several events, like football, rugby league and rugby union. The stadium hosted 1998 FIFA World Cup matches of the national football teams of Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Germany, Iran, the Italian Republic, Morocco, Norway, Paraguay, Tunisia and the United Mexican States.
FIFA World Cup matches
On 10 June 1998, the national football team of Morocco faced Norway in the first-ever FIFA World Cup game at the stadium. 29,000 spectators attended the match, which ended in a 2-2 draw. Mustapha Hadji from Morocco scored the first-ever FIFA World Cup goal at the venue. The second world championship game at the stadium was a match between Paraguay and Bulgaria. It ended in a goalless draw. The Italians won the third match after beating Cameroon 3-0 and the Colombians won the fourth match after defeating Tunisia 1-0. The fifth and sixth games were won by Germany.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup
In 2007, the Stade de la Mosson hosted its first-ever Rugby World Cup games. The national rugby union teams of Australia, Fiji, Samoa, South Africa, Tonga and the United States played Rugby World Cup matches at the stadium. The tournament was won by South Africa after beating England. The final took place in Saint-Denis in front of 80,000 spectators.
The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup
The Stade de la Mosson hosted five FIFA Women’s World Cup matches in 2019. The first game was won by the women’s national football team of Canada after beating Cameroon 1-0 in front of 10,000 spectators. Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Germany, the Italian Republic, New Zealand and South Africa also played at the stadium during the tournament.
Montpellier Hérault Sport Club
Montpellier Hérault Sport Club, nicknamed La Paillade, use the Stade de la Mosson for home games. The club was founded in 1919 under a different name. They won the French top-flight football league in 2012 for the first time in their history. MHSC drew an average home attendance of 17,000 in that domestic league season. In 2012, they played their first-ever UEFA Champions League games. MHSC finished below the German side Schalke, the English side Arsenal and the Greek side Olympiacos in their first-ever UEFA Champions League group stage participation.
