- Address: Fritz-Walter-Straße 1, Kaiserslautern
- Country: Germany
- Capacity: 49,000
- Opened: 13 May 1920
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: 1. FC Kaiserslautern (football)
Extra stadium info – Fritz-Walter-Stadion
The stadium, which opened as the Betzenbergstadion, was renovated various times. It is named after Friedrich Walter, who was born in Kaiserslautern in 1920. He played hundreds of matches for 1. FC Kaiserslautern during his senior football career. Friedrich Walter won the 1954 FIFA World Cup after beating Hungary 3-2. He was the captain of his national football team during the 1954 FIFA World Cup final. Ferenc Puskás was the captain of Hungary in the final. He is widely regarded as one of the best football players of all time. Ferenc Puskás won various trophies with the world famous Spanish side Real Madrid. In 1960, he won a world championship title with Real Madrid.
The group stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup
The Fritz-Walter-Stadion hosted four group-stage matches for the FIFA World Cup in 2006. The first FIFA World Cup game at the venue was won by the national football team of Australia after defeating Japan 3-1. 46,000 spectators attended the game. The second FIFA World Cup match at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion was a game between the Italian Republic and the United States. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. The national football teams of Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago also played at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion during group stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
The knockout stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup
On 26 June 2006, the Fritz-Walter-Stadion hosted its only game in the knockout stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It was a game between the Italian Republic and Australia. The national football team of Australia played their first match in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup that day. Australia started the game with Craig Moore, Jason Culina, Lucas Neill, Luke Wilkshire, Mark Bresciano, Mark Schwarzer, Mark Viduka, Mile Sterjovski, Scott Chipperfield, Timothy Cahill and Vincenzo Grella. Guus Hiddink from the Netherlands was the manager of the national football team of Australia on 26 June 2006. Francesco Totti, who was born in the Italian city of Rome, scored the only goal in the match between the Italian Republic and Australia that day.
Die Roten Teufel
1. FC Kaiserslautern, nicknamed Die Roten Teufel (The Red Devils), use the stadium for home games. The club became one of the first sports clubs from Germany with 100,000 followers on its main social media page. 1. FC Kaiserslautern won the German top-flight league several times. In 1951, they were crowned German football champions for the first time in their history. 1. FC Kaiserslautern won the German cup tournament in 1990 for the first time in their history. They won the title after defeating Werder Bremen 3-2 in front of a crowd of 76,000. 1. FC Kaiserslautern drew an average home attendance of 25,000 during that domestic league season.
