- Address: Adenauerring 17, Karlsruhe
- Country: Germany
- Capacity: 34,000
- Opened: 7 August 1955
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: Karlsruher SC (football)
Extra stadium info – BBBank Wildpark
The stadium opened with a football match between Karlsruher SC and RW Essen. The game ended in a 2-2 draw. Karlsruher SC, the first sports club from Karlsruhe with 100,000 followers on its main social media page, was founded in 1894 under a different name. In 1909, they were crowned German football champions for the first time in their history. KSC won the German cup tournament in 1955 for the first time in their history. They won the title after beating FC Schalke 04 in Braunschweig in front of a crowd of 25,000. KSC drew an average home league attendance of 10,000 in that football season. In 1956, Karlsruher SC won the German cup tournament for the second time in their history after defeating Hamburger SV in Karlsruhe in front of 25,000 spectators.
Oliver Kahn
Oliver Rolf Kahn started his professional football career with Karlsruher SC. In 1994, he left the club for the German football giants FC Bayern München. The former goalkeeper played 429 games for Bayern. He won several German top-flight football league titles with Bayern München. On 23 May 2001, Kahn won the UEFA Champions League with Bayern after beating Valencia CF from Spain in a penalty shoot-out.
A decisive world championship match
On 27 November 2001, Oliver Kahn played his first decisive world championship game. Bixente Jean-Michel Lizarazu, Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio, Élber de Souza, Niko Kovač, Oliver Rolf Kahn, Owen Lee Hargreaves, Paulo Sérgio Silvestre do Nascimento, Robert Kovač, Samuel Osei Kuffour, Thorsten Fink and Willy David Frédéric Sagnol started for Bayern in the decisive world championship match. Kahn won a world championship title with Bayern after defeating the Argentine side Boca Juniors on 27 November 2001.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup final
Oliver Kahn played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup final with the national football team of Germany. He lost the final with Germany against Brazil. The Brazilian football legend Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima scored the only two goals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup final. The final, which was refereed by Pierluigi Collina from the Italian Republic, took place in the Japanese city of Yokohama. 69,000 people showed up for the world championship match.
